V.V
How can you begin to fathom what is going through the mind of a man, who in the name of God and without warning sets out to blow himself up and as many of his fellow citizens as he can? It is hard to see anything more than sheer hatred-that the desire to achieve martyrdom is added to the desire to kill. It may reveal an intensity of feeling, deranged as it might be, but how does this explanation help to get inside the terrorist’s mindset or help in curbing the scourge? Mark Edmundson’s The Death of Sigmund Freud: Fascism, Psychoanalysis and the Rise of Fundamentalism (Bloomsbury paperback, Special Indian Price, Rs 499) turns to a Freudian analysis of a terrorist’s psyche and what makes him discard all scruples in the choice of means to achieve the ends: “No pity for anything on earth, including themselves and death enlisted for good in the service of humanity.”
Because the book has been spun out of a series of BBC radio broadcasts, it is addressed to the common reader—simple and direct without the paraphernalia of academic scholarship which renders a work either boring or incomprehensible, or both. Against the historical background of the rise of Hitler and fascism, Edmundson uses Freudian analysis to reach into the minds of would-be terrorists.
At the center of Freud's work was a fundamental perception: Human beings were not unified creatures. Our psyches were not whole but divided into parts and those parts were usually in conflict with each other, “in tension that bordered on civil war.” One the one hand, the ego “wants what it wants and does not take no easily for an answer;” on the other, the “superego, the internal agent of authority, often looks upon the id and its manifold wants rather harshly.” Hence the perpetual conflict, but individuals are often unaware of the tensions because they lie in the unconscious mind.
Human beings have come up with different solutions to the problems of internal conflict and the pain it inevitably brings. Many of these solutions could be described as forms of intoxication. What these intoxications did was to soften the superego, make it milder and less harsh in its judgments, and so more bearable. The most common intoxicant, and the one often resorted to because it was the easiest to access, was alcohol. If we have a glass or two of wine, it relaxes the demands of the superego because of the toxicity of alcohol. But this doesn’t mean that the tension that is inherent in an individual has been banished forever; it reasserts itself once the toxicity is diluted.
The weakness of intellectual ability, the lack of emotional restraint and the incapacity for moderation and delay makes the individual look for a higher authority that would provide a sense of order. It follows that when the world seems to be most disordered, incoherent, and inconsistent, when “the world is drowning in its own confusion,” the need for order and the need for indulgence is especially sharp. Edmundson uses this paradigm to explain the rise of Hitler, fascism and the rise of fundamentalism. Pre-war Germany that saw the rapid rise of Hitler is described in the Marxist phrase, “all that was once solid had melted into air.”
Freud tells us that we all long for inner peace. At one point in The Ego and the Id, he says that one of the reasons we need to withdraw regularly to sleep is that the work of maintaining tensions, between various agencies of the psyche, is so taxing. We need diversions but more importantly, a strong man with a simple doctrine that would account for our sufferings or to indulge in our desires with the best conscience.
Edmundson’s analysis may not help to curb terrorism-that is essentially a policing and intelligence job-but it would help to get a cue on the minds of terrorists who lead empty lives on the margins of society.
Nov 29, 2008
India - Failures at the top
T N Ninan
The quote that stands out from the last three days is of the soldier who escorted to safety guests who had been herded into a salon in the Taj Mahal Hotel. “Don’t worry, the first bullet will hit me,” he said as he asked his frightened flock to follow him. That remark showed this unnamed hero's awareness that a wry sense of humour can help break the tension, it showed that he was not looking to his own safety, and it showed a confidence in his ability to manage the situation: he knew what he was doing. The question is, did the country’s leaders?
Think of Kargil. It was the soldiers who went willingly on suicide missions up steel mountain slopes as the enemy fired on them from above, paying with their lives for the failures of their generals. Or, to come back to the hotels under attack, every hotel guest who went through the ordeal has spoken of staff who kept their cool as they worked out options, were unfailingly courteous, looked to their guests’ comfort in every possible way, and even telephoned some guests to warn them not to come near the hotel because there was trouble. India has good luxury hotels with a high standard of service, but it would be hard to beat this demonstration of grace under pressure.
Do our politicians come off quite so well? It is impossible to not think of the relentless campaign mounted by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar against the officers of the anti-terrorist squad of the Mumbai police, for following the leads they had in the Malegaon case. All manner of accusations were made. So what do the critics have to say now, after Mr Karkare and Mr Kale have laid down their lives? Were these the kind of people who would have been playing political or communal games, or were they simply officers who did not shrink from doing their duty?
It was a great sight to see the professionalism of the commandos who shimmied down ropes from a helicopter onto building rooftops in order to storm into the floors below. But did Shivraj Patil cover himself in glory by revealing the time when the National Security Guard would reach Mumbai? And has he cared to admit his mistake publicly, or apologise to his forces? Or just resign?
The same pattern is repeated in different contexts and situations: the guys in the frontline do themselves credit, the chaps at the top fail at their jobs—and the poor sods lower down the food chain as well as innocent citizens pay the price. Among the people in the dock are those at the helm of government, for being unable to stop the steady stream of terrorist outrages month after relentless month, and for not finding a way to respond to 25 years of sustained low-grade warfare by Pakistan; the intelligence agencies for either not providing intelligence or not acting on them even when the terrorist operation involved is such a massive one (can we have a three-level warning system for the public as they do in the US: green, orange and red?); all those on the crisis management group who could not coordinate even a proper media briefing (or why would there be separate media briefings by the Mumbai police, the NSG, the army and so on?); and, to complete the list, hotel managements who should have thought of proper security, especially after what happened to the Marriott in Islamabad (why don’t our best hotels have even two-decade-old technology like access control swipe facilities inside elevators, so that only guests can access the rooms above?). Our failures are the failures of our leaders. But none of them ever pays the price. Or offers his head.
The quote that stands out from the last three days is of the soldier who escorted to safety guests who had been herded into a salon in the Taj Mahal Hotel. “Don’t worry, the first bullet will hit me,” he said as he asked his frightened flock to follow him. That remark showed this unnamed hero's awareness that a wry sense of humour can help break the tension, it showed that he was not looking to his own safety, and it showed a confidence in his ability to manage the situation: he knew what he was doing. The question is, did the country’s leaders?
Think of Kargil. It was the soldiers who went willingly on suicide missions up steel mountain slopes as the enemy fired on them from above, paying with their lives for the failures of their generals. Or, to come back to the hotels under attack, every hotel guest who went through the ordeal has spoken of staff who kept their cool as they worked out options, were unfailingly courteous, looked to their guests’ comfort in every possible way, and even telephoned some guests to warn them not to come near the hotel because there was trouble. India has good luxury hotels with a high standard of service, but it would be hard to beat this demonstration of grace under pressure.
Do our politicians come off quite so well? It is impossible to not think of the relentless campaign mounted by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar against the officers of the anti-terrorist squad of the Mumbai police, for following the leads they had in the Malegaon case. All manner of accusations were made. So what do the critics have to say now, after Mr Karkare and Mr Kale have laid down their lives? Were these the kind of people who would have been playing political or communal games, or were they simply officers who did not shrink from doing their duty?
It was a great sight to see the professionalism of the commandos who shimmied down ropes from a helicopter onto building rooftops in order to storm into the floors below. But did Shivraj Patil cover himself in glory by revealing the time when the National Security Guard would reach Mumbai? And has he cared to admit his mistake publicly, or apologise to his forces? Or just resign?
The same pattern is repeated in different contexts and situations: the guys in the frontline do themselves credit, the chaps at the top fail at their jobs—and the poor sods lower down the food chain as well as innocent citizens pay the price. Among the people in the dock are those at the helm of government, for being unable to stop the steady stream of terrorist outrages month after relentless month, and for not finding a way to respond to 25 years of sustained low-grade warfare by Pakistan; the intelligence agencies for either not providing intelligence or not acting on them even when the terrorist operation involved is such a massive one (can we have a three-level warning system for the public as they do in the US: green, orange and red?); all those on the crisis management group who could not coordinate even a proper media briefing (or why would there be separate media briefings by the Mumbai police, the NSG, the army and so on?); and, to complete the list, hotel managements who should have thought of proper security, especially after what happened to the Marriott in Islamabad (why don’t our best hotels have even two-decade-old technology like access control swipe facilities inside elevators, so that only guests can access the rooms above?). Our failures are the failures of our leaders. But none of them ever pays the price. Or offers his head.
India - Mumbai;Insurance cos ready to clear claims
Shilpy Sinha
Insurance industry is gearing up to clear claims from the attack on Mumbai even as many of the injured are finding it tough to produce the required documents.
Sources at Life Insurance Corporation said most of the top cops who died fighting terrorists over the last two days were insured by it and it was ready with cheques, including those for the next of kin of Hemant Karkare, the former anti-terror squad chief, additional commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
“We will hand over the cheques within 24 hours of filing of a claim with a confirmation of death by the police. Death certificate is also not required in such cases and other conditions such as a copy of the post-mortem report are also being dispensed with,” said an LIC executive.
“The claimant’s name on the deceased list prepared by the municipal body or any public authority is enough for anyone to seek a claim,” said Max New York Life’s Sanjeev Moga, adding that the claims would be cleared within two to three days.
Though it is still early for insurers to gauge the extent of damage and the claims arising out of the terror strikes, companies are not expecting the claims to be significant.
To process the claims, the companies have set up help desks in Mumbai. ICICI Lombard, for instance, has sent its call centre number through SMS to all its customers. “This has less implication compared to the July 26 deluge. We will look at each case with utmost sensitivity and urgency. Out of the 500 injured, some will be covered under corporate claims, some under group insurance and others under personal accident,” said ICICI Lombard Managing Director and CEO Sanjeev Bakshi.
Some of the injured, who have health insurance covers, however, said that they may find it tough to get their claims. Many of the injured were discharged by the hospitals in less than 24 hours as the medical staff found it tough to handle the flow of people. Also, those who were not seriously injured were often shifted from one hospital to another and do not have proper records. The friend of a man injured in the Leopold attack on Wednesday said that the police had not filed a first information report (FIR) and was not sure if the insurer will clear the bills.
An executive at state-owned United India Insurance General, however, said that the company would not insist on the 24-hour hospitalisation clause as prescribed in most medical insurance covers. “Fine print is something we are not going to use,” said an executive with a private company.
As for the lack of documents, Bakshi said, “Those who could not register their name at the company’s call centre can later collect claim under reimbursement and cash list facility (instead of the cashless claim settlement process though third-party administrators).”
Insurance industry is gearing up to clear claims from the attack on Mumbai even as many of the injured are finding it tough to produce the required documents.
Sources at Life Insurance Corporation said most of the top cops who died fighting terrorists over the last two days were insured by it and it was ready with cheques, including those for the next of kin of Hemant Karkare, the former anti-terror squad chief, additional commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
“We will hand over the cheques within 24 hours of filing of a claim with a confirmation of death by the police. Death certificate is also not required in such cases and other conditions such as a copy of the post-mortem report are also being dispensed with,” said an LIC executive.
“The claimant’s name on the deceased list prepared by the municipal body or any public authority is enough for anyone to seek a claim,” said Max New York Life’s Sanjeev Moga, adding that the claims would be cleared within two to three days.
Though it is still early for insurers to gauge the extent of damage and the claims arising out of the terror strikes, companies are not expecting the claims to be significant.
To process the claims, the companies have set up help desks in Mumbai. ICICI Lombard, for instance, has sent its call centre number through SMS to all its customers. “This has less implication compared to the July 26 deluge. We will look at each case with utmost sensitivity and urgency. Out of the 500 injured, some will be covered under corporate claims, some under group insurance and others under personal accident,” said ICICI Lombard Managing Director and CEO Sanjeev Bakshi.
Some of the injured, who have health insurance covers, however, said that they may find it tough to get their claims. Many of the injured were discharged by the hospitals in less than 24 hours as the medical staff found it tough to handle the flow of people. Also, those who were not seriously injured were often shifted from one hospital to another and do not have proper records. The friend of a man injured in the Leopold attack on Wednesday said that the police had not filed a first information report (FIR) and was not sure if the insurer will clear the bills.
An executive at state-owned United India Insurance General, however, said that the company would not insist on the 24-hour hospitalisation clause as prescribed in most medical insurance covers. “Fine print is something we are not going to use,” said an executive with a private company.
As for the lack of documents, Bakshi said, “Those who could not register their name at the company’s call centre can later collect claim under reimbursement and cash list facility (instead of the cashless claim settlement process though third-party administrators).”
Business - Q&A;Chairman,Europe - Microsoft Corp
Narayani Ganesh
Jan Muehlfeit, chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation, is responsible for engaging with European governments and policy makers, academics and other societal stakeholders in Brussels and across EU member states. He believes that the current global financial crisis of recession is essentially a crisis of governance. It is now more than ever important to take our corporate social responsibilities seriously, he said at the international business and leadership symposium on business and ethics at the EU capital convened by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s International Association for Human Values:
Hemmed in by global recession, how can businesses be talked to today about the need to be more socially responsible?
Doing business is not only about making money; it is also about creating value and connecting people. Adam Smith wrote 200 years ago in his Wealth of Nations that the first thing people do is to take care of themselves. I believe profit and care should go together. Profit gives only money. Emotional connection with others gives more value. Technology in the next ten years will play an unprecedented role in society and will even more dramatically influence further globalisation.
People, organisations and states will mainly compete through their ability to use technology in innovation, creativity and design. It is our ability and potential to balance profit with care — and the way we use technology to do that — that will really count as a long-term competitive advantage for individuals, companies and countries. What Bill Gates is doing through his Foundation is creating a good balance between success and happiness.
Gates is able to do this now because earlier he routed competition to make Microsoft the undisputed software leader.
Gates is competitive because we’re in a competitive industry but we have also gone through a learning process. In Davos recently Gates talked of creative capitalism and how to make it work for large numbers of people.
He talked of the benefits of micro-financing that helps people at the bottom of the pyramid to move up. Technology is helping people do this in Africa with greater telephonic connectivity where none existed earlier. India and China in the 21st century are going to be very successful. Africa too should be part of inclusive globalisation.
Education is important for jobs. A study conducted in Europe revealed that 97% of children in kindergarten said they would like to be entrepreneurs when they grow up. The percentage dropped to 17% when they reached university and plunged to 4% after that. So we need to unlock human potential and talent not through encouraging memorisation and mnemonic learning but through appreciation of innovative and creative ideas.
How can technology help businesses ride out the recession?
All budgets — of corporations and countries — are under severe pressure today. Technology can help by showing us how to save money and be more productive. Technology helps in saving travel budgets by making possible video-conferencing, for example.
Similarly, as far as social problems are concerned, technology can help us find solutions. When you use your credit card anywhere in the world, your credit details are available on tap. Why cannot we use technology to place on tap health details to promote healthcare around the world? E-health has immense potential. Technology is also being helpful as one of the most important solutions to the global environment crisis we’re faced with by helping us to make production and consumption less polluting.
E-waste, a big challenge, is the outcome of technological advancement, isn’t it? So too cyber crime, child safety and phising.
Microsoft doesn’t produce computers (hardware) so it doesn’t generate e-waste. However, we do make software better so that you don’t have to change computers often. Some banks in the US and Germany replace their computers every two years. They can be used in emerging economies provided, of course, those sending it take the responsibility to upgrade them with better microprocessors, etc.
Governments and individuals need to cooperate to tackle cyber crime through vigilance and enforcement agencies. When your child goes to play in a park, you supervise, don’t you? You know who he is playing with or talking to. The same safety measures need to be exercised in cyberspace, in e-chats and so on. As for phising, it cost the world $3 billion in 2007. These problems have to be dealt with.
Jan Muehlfeit, chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation, is responsible for engaging with European governments and policy makers, academics and other societal stakeholders in Brussels and across EU member states. He believes that the current global financial crisis of recession is essentially a crisis of governance. It is now more than ever important to take our corporate social responsibilities seriously, he said at the international business and leadership symposium on business and ethics at the EU capital convened by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s International Association for Human Values:
Hemmed in by global recession, how can businesses be talked to today about the need to be more socially responsible?
Doing business is not only about making money; it is also about creating value and connecting people. Adam Smith wrote 200 years ago in his Wealth of Nations that the first thing people do is to take care of themselves. I believe profit and care should go together. Profit gives only money. Emotional connection with others gives more value. Technology in the next ten years will play an unprecedented role in society and will even more dramatically influence further globalisation.
People, organisations and states will mainly compete through their ability to use technology in innovation, creativity and design. It is our ability and potential to balance profit with care — and the way we use technology to do that — that will really count as a long-term competitive advantage for individuals, companies and countries. What Bill Gates is doing through his Foundation is creating a good balance between success and happiness.
Gates is able to do this now because earlier he routed competition to make Microsoft the undisputed software leader.
Gates is competitive because we’re in a competitive industry but we have also gone through a learning process. In Davos recently Gates talked of creative capitalism and how to make it work for large numbers of people.
He talked of the benefits of micro-financing that helps people at the bottom of the pyramid to move up. Technology is helping people do this in Africa with greater telephonic connectivity where none existed earlier. India and China in the 21st century are going to be very successful. Africa too should be part of inclusive globalisation.
Education is important for jobs. A study conducted in Europe revealed that 97% of children in kindergarten said they would like to be entrepreneurs when they grow up. The percentage dropped to 17% when they reached university and plunged to 4% after that. So we need to unlock human potential and talent not through encouraging memorisation and mnemonic learning but through appreciation of innovative and creative ideas.
How can technology help businesses ride out the recession?
All budgets — of corporations and countries — are under severe pressure today. Technology can help by showing us how to save money and be more productive. Technology helps in saving travel budgets by making possible video-conferencing, for example.
Similarly, as far as social problems are concerned, technology can help us find solutions. When you use your credit card anywhere in the world, your credit details are available on tap. Why cannot we use technology to place on tap health details to promote healthcare around the world? E-health has immense potential. Technology is also being helpful as one of the most important solutions to the global environment crisis we’re faced with by helping us to make production and consumption less polluting.
E-waste, a big challenge, is the outcome of technological advancement, isn’t it? So too cyber crime, child safety and phising.
Microsoft doesn’t produce computers (hardware) so it doesn’t generate e-waste. However, we do make software better so that you don’t have to change computers often. Some banks in the US and Germany replace their computers every two years. They can be used in emerging economies provided, of course, those sending it take the responsibility to upgrade them with better microprocessors, etc.
Governments and individuals need to cooperate to tackle cyber crime through vigilance and enforcement agencies. When your child goes to play in a park, you supervise, don’t you? You know who he is playing with or talking to. The same safety measures need to be exercised in cyberspace, in e-chats and so on. As for phising, it cost the world $3 billion in 2007. These problems have to be dealt with.
India - Captured Terrorist speaks
MUMBAI: His swaggering image as he walked around Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus dispensing death was captured by Mumbai Mirror photo editor Sebastian D' souza, and was the first glimpse of the terrorists who have held Mumbai hostage over the last 48 hours.
Now we can also tell you who this man is and how he has become the vital link for investigating agencies to crack the terror plot.
His name is Azam Amir Kasav, he is 21 years old, speaks fluent English, hails from tehsil Gipalpura in Faridkot in Pakistan, and is the only terrorist from this audacious operation to have been captured alive.
An ATS spokesperson confirmed that the man captured was indeed the one photographed by us.
On the night of Wednesday-Thursday Azam and his colleague opened fire at CST before creating havoc at Metro and then moving on to Girgaum Chowpatty in a stolen Skoda, and where they were intercepted by a team from the Gamdevi police station . Azam shot dead assistant police inspector Tukaram Umbale.
But in that encounter Azam's colleague was killed and he himself was injured in the hand. He pretended to be dead giving rise to the news that two terrorists had been killed. However as the 'bodies' were being taken to Nair Hospital, the accompanying cops figured that one of the men was breathing.
According to sources, the casualty ward of Nair hospital was evacuated and the Anti-Terror Squad moved in to interrogate him. Azam who was tight-lipped initially, cracked upon seeing the mutilated body of his colleague and pleaded with the medical staff at Nair to save his life. "I do not want to die," he reportedly said. "Please put me on saline."
Ammunition, a satellite phone and a layout plan of CST was recovered from him. According to sources the young terrorist has given the investigators vital leads including how the chief planner of the Mumbai terror plot had come to the city a month ago, took picture and filmed strategic locations and trained their group and instructed them to "kill till the last breath." Every man was given six to seven magazines with fifty bullets each, eight hand grenades per terrorist with one AK-57 , an automaticloading revolver and a supply of dry fruits.
Azam reportedly disclosed that the group left Karachi in one boat and upon reaching Gujarat they hoisted a white flag on their boat and were intercepted by two officers of the coast guard near Porbandar and while they were being questioned one of the terrorists grappled with one of the officers slit his throat and threw the body in the boat. The other officer was told to help the group reach Mumbai. When they were four nautical miles away from Mumbai there were three speedboats waiting for them where the other coastguard officer was killed. All the ammo was then shifted into these three spedboats they reached Colaba jetty on Wednesday night and the ten men broke up into groups of two each. Four of these men went to the Taj Mahal hotel, two of them to the Trident hotel, two towards Nariman House at Colaba and two of which Azam was one moved to CST.
Azam, who was at Nair hospital for nearly four hours, was taken away by the intelligence agencies in the early hours of Thursday to an unknown location after the hospital authorities had removed the bullet from his hand and declared that his condition stable. But it seems the police grilling was so intense that before he left the hospital for an undisclosed location he pleaded with the police and the medical staff to kill him. "Now , I don't want to live," he said.
Now we can also tell you who this man is and how he has become the vital link for investigating agencies to crack the terror plot.
His name is Azam Amir Kasav, he is 21 years old, speaks fluent English, hails from tehsil Gipalpura in Faridkot in Pakistan, and is the only terrorist from this audacious operation to have been captured alive.
An ATS spokesperson confirmed that the man captured was indeed the one photographed by us.
On the night of Wednesday-Thursday Azam and his colleague opened fire at CST before creating havoc at Metro and then moving on to Girgaum Chowpatty in a stolen Skoda, and where they were intercepted by a team from the Gamdevi police station . Azam shot dead assistant police inspector Tukaram Umbale.
But in that encounter Azam's colleague was killed and he himself was injured in the hand. He pretended to be dead giving rise to the news that two terrorists had been killed. However as the 'bodies' were being taken to Nair Hospital, the accompanying cops figured that one of the men was breathing.
According to sources, the casualty ward of Nair hospital was evacuated and the Anti-Terror Squad moved in to interrogate him. Azam who was tight-lipped initially, cracked upon seeing the mutilated body of his colleague and pleaded with the medical staff at Nair to save his life. "I do not want to die," he reportedly said. "Please put me on saline."
Ammunition, a satellite phone and a layout plan of CST was recovered from him. According to sources the young terrorist has given the investigators vital leads including how the chief planner of the Mumbai terror plot had come to the city a month ago, took picture and filmed strategic locations and trained their group and instructed them to "kill till the last breath." Every man was given six to seven magazines with fifty bullets each, eight hand grenades per terrorist with one AK-57 , an automaticloading revolver and a supply of dry fruits.
Azam reportedly disclosed that the group left Karachi in one boat and upon reaching Gujarat they hoisted a white flag on their boat and were intercepted by two officers of the coast guard near Porbandar and while they were being questioned one of the terrorists grappled with one of the officers slit his throat and threw the body in the boat. The other officer was told to help the group reach Mumbai. When they were four nautical miles away from Mumbai there were three speedboats waiting for them where the other coastguard officer was killed. All the ammo was then shifted into these three spedboats they reached Colaba jetty on Wednesday night and the ten men broke up into groups of two each. Four of these men went to the Taj Mahal hotel, two of them to the Trident hotel, two towards Nariman House at Colaba and two of which Azam was one moved to CST.
Azam, who was at Nair hospital for nearly four hours, was taken away by the intelligence agencies in the early hours of Thursday to an unknown location after the hospital authorities had removed the bullet from his hand and declared that his condition stable. But it seems the police grilling was so intense that before he left the hospital for an undisclosed location he pleaded with the police and the medical staff to kill him. "Now , I don't want to live," he said.
Entertainment - MGR to be featured in animated film
Chennai (IANS): Iconic actor and Tamil Nadu's former chief minister M.G. Ramachandran will compete with "current younger heroes" for screen space in a forthcoming animated 3D film "Puratchi Thalaivan"(revolutionary leader), its producer said Friday.
"It involves a Tamil artiste and leader 'Puratchi Thalaivan' who saves the nation by fighting and exposing traitors. The film will help the late leader, popularly known as MGR, compete with 'younger heroes' such as Rajnikant, Kamal (Haasan), Vijaykanth, Ajith and Sarath (Kumar)," producer Sridevi Rao said.
"The venture will present the grace of the evergreen MGR to the new generation with the latest methods of storytelling since his last official movie 'Maduraiyai Meetta Sundarapandiyan' (The handsome Pandiyan who retrieved Madurai) was released in 1978 - three decades back,"publicist Nikhil Murugan said.
The work on the movie is well underway, he added.
"Puratchi Thalaivan"is being directed by Venky Baboo.
Produced under the corporate banner Mayabimbham, the venture's trailer will be released on January 17 to coincide with MGR's 92nd birth anniversary, a press statement added.
MGR was Tamil Nadu's chief minister from 1977 till his death in 1987. He acted in 132 films (including two unfinished ventures which formed part of releases four years after his death) in a career spanning 43 years.
"It involves a Tamil artiste and leader 'Puratchi Thalaivan' who saves the nation by fighting and exposing traitors. The film will help the late leader, popularly known as MGR, compete with 'younger heroes' such as Rajnikant, Kamal (Haasan), Vijaykanth, Ajith and Sarath (Kumar)," producer Sridevi Rao said.
"The venture will present the grace of the evergreen MGR to the new generation with the latest methods of storytelling since his last official movie 'Maduraiyai Meetta Sundarapandiyan' (The handsome Pandiyan who retrieved Madurai) was released in 1978 - three decades back,"publicist Nikhil Murugan said.
The work on the movie is well underway, he added.
"Puratchi Thalaivan"is being directed by Venky Baboo.
Produced under the corporate banner Mayabimbham, the venture's trailer will be released on January 17 to coincide with MGR's 92nd birth anniversary, a press statement added.
MGR was Tamil Nadu's chief minister from 1977 till his death in 1987. He acted in 132 films (including two unfinished ventures which formed part of releases four years after his death) in a career spanning 43 years.
Entertainment - E! Entertainment TV to Air 'El Salvador' Worldwide
For the second consecutive year, El Salvador will make known its tourist options through Sony Pictures, in a simultaneous world-level broadcast of the E! Special EL Salvador ! Impresionante ! program.
The presence of the team from the US firm was once again achieved through the promotional work carried out at international level by the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and the Salvadorean Tourism Corporation (CORSATUR). The purpose of this work is to persuade the entire world on the outstanding attractions offered by El Salvador.
Due to last year's success of the E! Special El Salvador Impresionante program, the international firm decided to include it in this year's special programming. For this purpose, the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and CORSATUR have invested a total of USD 80,000 to promote the nation abroad through this special television show.
E! Entertainment Television will air the most splendid Salvadorean landscapes, in Spanish for Latin American viewers and in English for the rest of the world.
Argentine model Carola Kirby arrived in San Salvador in August with several company members to work on video takes and presentation issues.
Miss Kirby flew by helicopter over El Salvador's famous beaches. Some of the tourist attractions covered include rafting on the Lempa River, sports fishing at Costa del Sol, scuba diving in Lake Ilopango, surfing, and night-life events.
E! Entertainment TV's previous program showed tourist spots such as Puerto de La Libertad, Suchitoto, the Flower Trail, Lake Coatepeque, Joya de Ceren, restaurants, bars, discos and other attractions from San Salvador.
The presence of the team from the US firm was once again achieved through the promotional work carried out at international level by the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and the Salvadorean Tourism Corporation (CORSATUR). The purpose of this work is to persuade the entire world on the outstanding attractions offered by El Salvador.
Due to last year's success of the E! Special El Salvador Impresionante program, the international firm decided to include it in this year's special programming. For this purpose, the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and CORSATUR have invested a total of USD 80,000 to promote the nation abroad through this special television show.
E! Entertainment Television will air the most splendid Salvadorean landscapes, in Spanish for Latin American viewers and in English for the rest of the world.
Argentine model Carola Kirby arrived in San Salvador in August with several company members to work on video takes and presentation issues.
Miss Kirby flew by helicopter over El Salvador's famous beaches. Some of the tourist attractions covered include rafting on the Lempa River, sports fishing at Costa del Sol, scuba diving in Lake Ilopango, surfing, and night-life events.
E! Entertainment TV's previous program showed tourist spots such as Puerto de La Libertad, Suchitoto, the Flower Trail, Lake Coatepeque, Joya de Ceren, restaurants, bars, discos and other attractions from San Salvador.
Entertainment - India;Dead end for 9X shows
If sources are to be believed then most shows on 9X have reached a dead end. The channel which has been facing grave financial losses is the only channel which will not have any fresh content from Monday. Though things have eased out after the strike and the respective parties have smoked the peace pipe, in the case of 9X the impasse still continues. Unconfirmed reports talk of all things not well in the channel. It is no secret that the channel has been looking for a fresh round of funding but has as yet failed to attract investors. And until that happens no new content will go up nor have the existing shows been given the green signal to continue with their shooting. In fact most of their shows are tipped to go off air pre-maturely. It is also reported that the channel is on the verge of collapse because of boring shows which gave way to bad TRPs.
First it was Gajendrra Siingh’s reality show Chak De – Shaher Di Kudiyan Te Galli De Gunde that was axed abruptly and now the latest buzz is that the channel has asked all the production houses to shut down their shows on the channel.
A source from Kissmet Ka Khel informs, “The channel has asked Bonnie Jain, producer Bonnie Jain productions, to shut down his fiction show Kissmet Ka Khel and his other fiction show Ajeeb too ended abruptly. We are pinning down our hopes on the non-fiction show Jalwa 4 2 Ka 1 and we think the channel will air the fresh episodes of Jalwa 4 2 Ka 1 probably from 15th of December. The fate of the show will be decided in the first week of December.”
“Even their dream project, a fiction show based on Indira Gandhi is shelved. The channel is facing a major financial crunch. Even before the strike it was decided by the channel that for a couple of months they would show only re-runs of their shows and thus all the shows which were to start were put on hold,” adds our source.
Bonnie Jain, producer Bonnie Jain Productions, “We have not been communicated by the channel about the fate of our shows as yet. Post the strike I think no shows on 9X have commenced their shooting and I am awaiting further communication from the channel.”
Another well-placed source from the industry tells us, “The channel is approaching production houses to buy time slots. The production houses have been given a notice which states that the channel will communicate to them as to when they are supposed to resume shooting of their shows. One is still awaiting this communication.”
A source from Rubi informs, “I knew this for a month that the show will go off-air but noone had confirmed it to me. But going by the current situation I think the show indeed is going off-air.”
Rajesh Chadha, Head of Operations B.A.G Films, refused to comment on it.
A source from Balaji Telefilms informs, “Both Balaji shows Kya Dill Mein Hai and Mahaabhaarat are on hold as the channel has not asked us to start the shooting of the shows. We have been asked to hold our shows for the next 7 days.”
We do hope that the channel manages to pull itself out of the current mess and viewers get to see better and bigger shows.
First it was Gajendrra Siingh’s reality show Chak De – Shaher Di Kudiyan Te Galli De Gunde that was axed abruptly and now the latest buzz is that the channel has asked all the production houses to shut down their shows on the channel.
A source from Kissmet Ka Khel informs, “The channel has asked Bonnie Jain, producer Bonnie Jain productions, to shut down his fiction show Kissmet Ka Khel and his other fiction show Ajeeb too ended abruptly. We are pinning down our hopes on the non-fiction show Jalwa 4 2 Ka 1 and we think the channel will air the fresh episodes of Jalwa 4 2 Ka 1 probably from 15th of December. The fate of the show will be decided in the first week of December.”
“Even their dream project, a fiction show based on Indira Gandhi is shelved. The channel is facing a major financial crunch. Even before the strike it was decided by the channel that for a couple of months they would show only re-runs of their shows and thus all the shows which were to start were put on hold,” adds our source.
Bonnie Jain, producer Bonnie Jain Productions, “We have not been communicated by the channel about the fate of our shows as yet. Post the strike I think no shows on 9X have commenced their shooting and I am awaiting further communication from the channel.”
Another well-placed source from the industry tells us, “The channel is approaching production houses to buy time slots. The production houses have been given a notice which states that the channel will communicate to them as to when they are supposed to resume shooting of their shows. One is still awaiting this communication.”
A source from Rubi informs, “I knew this for a month that the show will go off-air but noone had confirmed it to me. But going by the current situation I think the show indeed is going off-air.”
Rajesh Chadha, Head of Operations B.A.G Films, refused to comment on it.
A source from Balaji Telefilms informs, “Both Balaji shows Kya Dill Mein Hai and Mahaabhaarat are on hold as the channel has not asked us to start the shooting of the shows. We have been asked to hold our shows for the next 7 days.”
We do hope that the channel manages to pull itself out of the current mess and viewers get to see better and bigger shows.
Lifestyle - People spend 30 per cent leisure time online: TNS
NEW DELHI: TNS has unveiled its new global survey, ‘Digital World, digital life’ which probed into online behaviours and perspectives.
According to the outcome, people across 16 countries on average spend close to 30 per cent of their leisure time online.
Says TNS Global Interactive managing director Arno Hummerston, “Being online helps people fulfill certain tasks and activities quickly and efficiently. By spending productive time online, we are actually making more time for leisure. With more social and entertainment activities available online, it is also easy to understand why our lives are becoming more digital.”
The survey also concludes that young people under the age of 25 years spend around 36 per cent of their time online. Also, on average, Chinese respondents under the age of 25 years spend 50 per cent of their leisure time online.
In terms of countries, Japan and Korea are the most innovative and pioneering in the online world. In the two countries, as per the surveys respondents currently spend on average around two-fifths of their leisure time online.
While conducting the survey TNS asked people to identify a range of activities in a month. And the result revealed that 81 per cent had used a search engine to find information, while 76 per cent people had looked up the news.
The survey also underlined that mobile handsets are frequently used to connect to the internet.
TNS interviewed 27,522 people between the age of 18 to 55 years online in 16 countries - Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
According to the outcome, people across 16 countries on average spend close to 30 per cent of their leisure time online.
Says TNS Global Interactive managing director Arno Hummerston, “Being online helps people fulfill certain tasks and activities quickly and efficiently. By spending productive time online, we are actually making more time for leisure. With more social and entertainment activities available online, it is also easy to understand why our lives are becoming more digital.”
The survey also concludes that young people under the age of 25 years spend around 36 per cent of their time online. Also, on average, Chinese respondents under the age of 25 years spend 50 per cent of their leisure time online.
In terms of countries, Japan and Korea are the most innovative and pioneering in the online world. In the two countries, as per the surveys respondents currently spend on average around two-fifths of their leisure time online.
While conducting the survey TNS asked people to identify a range of activities in a month. And the result revealed that 81 per cent had used a search engine to find information, while 76 per cent people had looked up the news.
The survey also underlined that mobile handsets are frequently used to connect to the internet.
TNS interviewed 27,522 people between the age of 18 to 55 years online in 16 countries - Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.
Business - India;Arvind to demerge brands & retail biz into wholly owned subsidiaries
NEW DELHI: Arvind Limited will be demerging its branded apparel and retail business which operates under the MegaMart brand into wholly owned subsidiaries from 1 April 2009.
The decision was taken by the board of directors of Arvind in a meeting held today.
Said Arvind Limited chairman and managing director Sanjay Lalbhai, "We are proposing the demerger of brands and MegaMart business into separate wholly owned subsidiaries to bring enhanced financial focus on these entities and look at possible alternatives for fund raising in these vehicles at an appropriate time in future.”
The branded apparel business which markets Arrow, Flying Machine, Newport , Excalibur and yet to be launched brands like Izod, USPA, Pierre Cardin, Sansabelt and Hart Schaffner Marx, will be demerged into Arvind Lifestyle Brands Limited.
The retail business which operates under the banner of MegaMart will be demerged into Arvind Retail Limited. Under the MegaMart banner, Arvind presently has about 150 stores across the country along with the license for world's largest value brand Cherokee.
The transaction is being advised by merchant banker Enam Securities.
The decision was taken by the board of directors of Arvind in a meeting held today.
Said Arvind Limited chairman and managing director Sanjay Lalbhai, "We are proposing the demerger of brands and MegaMart business into separate wholly owned subsidiaries to bring enhanced financial focus on these entities and look at possible alternatives for fund raising in these vehicles at an appropriate time in future.”
The branded apparel business which markets Arrow, Flying Machine, Newport , Excalibur and yet to be launched brands like Izod, USPA, Pierre Cardin, Sansabelt and Hart Schaffner Marx, will be demerged into Arvind Lifestyle Brands Limited.
The retail business which operates under the banner of MegaMart will be demerged into Arvind Retail Limited. Under the MegaMart banner, Arvind presently has about 150 stores across the country along with the license for world's largest value brand Cherokee.
The transaction is being advised by merchant banker Enam Securities.
Tech - Nokia 5800 Vs iPhone
Has the real competition to Apple iPhone finally arrived with the unveiling of Nokia 5800? Since Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced iPhone in January 2007 MacWorld, there has been a flurry of touchscreen phone launches from almost all mobile phone manufacturers.
However, so far no one has really been able to steal the limelight from Apple despites many devices boasting of far more power in terms of features. In the past few months, the Finnish phone maker has often been criticised for having missed the `touchscreen' bus. Will Nokia 5800 prove the critics wrong? Will Nokia 5800 be able to do to iPhone what no other phone could do? Only time can answer these questions.
Here we bring to you what Nokia 5800 has that its biggest rival Apple 3G iPhone doesn't.
Nokia's first touchscreen phone boasts of a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 3x digital zoom, auto focus and a dual-LED flash. It also has a second backward facing camera. This compares to Apple 3G iPhone's 2 megapixel camera with no video recording option and no flash support.
Unlike iPhone, Nokia 5800 offers video recording option at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (frames per second). It offers up to 4x digital video zoom. The phone's front camera supports video calling feature. Nokia 5800 can support video playback up to 5.2 hours, video recording time up to 3.6 hours and video call time up to 3 hours.
No video recording in 3G iPhone also means no video conferencing. iPhone also lacks optical zoom feature.
With Nokia 5800, the world's largest cellphone maker also tries to challenge Apple's dominance in the digital music arena. Beginning next year, the phone will feature Nokia's free one-year subscription for the company's new music service, `Comes With Music'.
Positioned as a music phone, Nokia 5800 comes pre-loaded with a vast range of music collection. Though iPhone users can download music from Apple iTunes, however, the service is not available for free. Apple has neither tailored any download scheme with iPhone.
Nokia's music download package is its first major push into the services business. The company said that all major music labels and most independent labels will offer their tracks as part of Nokia's 'free' music bundle "Comes with Music," raising the total number of tracks to around 5 million.
User's one big disappointment in 3G iPhone was lack of user replaceable battery. Apple reportedly claims that it left out the user-replaceable battery option as it would add weight to the device.
However, interestingly almost all smartphones in the market, even those at the lower-end offer this option. And so does Nokia 5800.
Nokia 5800 battery life is reportedly as much as nine hours (GSM) or five hours (HSDPA), 35 hours for music playback or three hours of video. Nokia claims that the standby time is up to 17 days.
Apple iPhone support talktime of 300 minutes for 3G and 600 minutes for 2G and has a 300 hours standby time.
Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic can sync with stereo Bluetooth or in-car Bluetooth handsfree, which again Apple iPhone cannot.
Nokia's touch phone supports Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP and AVRCP. iPhone lacks A2DP on Bluetooth. A2DP audio devices, such as stereo Bluetooth headsets, offer enhances listening quality.
Also, iPhone doesn't support file sharing feature including MP3, images and video files via Bluetooth.
Unlike the iPhone that doesn't allow users to forward text messages as well as MMS messages, Nokia 5800 doesn't have any such bar. The phone supports SMS, multiple SMS deletion, MMS version 1.3, message size up to 600KB and automatic resizing of images for MMS.
In iPhone users can only send text messages or snapshots via email. Also, users can't send a SMS to multiple contacts as iPhone has no option for that either.
iPhone also lacks support for voice-recognition that allows users to dial verbally. Here again Nokia 5800 takes the lead, the phone supports voice commands and dialing feature
According to media reports, Adobe is working on Flash for iPhone. This means user needs to wait as and when it gets launched.
However, no wait for prospective Nokia 5800 buyers, as the Xpressmusic phone already offers Adobe Flash support. Flash is required to power many online video services and websites. This means with no Flash support when users will browse Web pages which require Flash, they will see empty spaces with missing icons on iPhone. Apple claims that Flash may slow down browsing on iPhone.
Incidentally, iPhone supports YouTube which requires Flash. This means users cannot get all YouTube video, but only a few selected ones that have been rolled out for the Apple-favored H.264 video codec.
Nokia 5800 too looks more attractive vis-a-vis 3G iPhone in terms of pricing. Nokia 5800 will be available at an unsubsidised price of 279 euros ($390). When compared to the 3G iPhone, the unsubsidised versions of 8GB model cost 499 euros ($700) in Italy or 350 pounds ($619.19) in UK. Nokia is yet to disclose the operator deals and other details.
It is expected that the phone will hit Indian stores by the end of December. However, in India Nokia so far has never sold its phones tied to any specific operator.
Apple iPhone comes only on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone network in India. So, Nokia 5800 Xpress Music seems all set to give tough competition to Apple iPhone which retails at Rs 31,000 for 8GB and Rs 36,000 for 16GB in India.
For text input Nokia's touchscreen phone has four options: handwriting, mini QWERTY keyboard, full screen QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad. The handwriting and mini QWERTY keyboard are stylus operated.
Apple's iPhone lacks Stylus, which, however, can be added as an accessory. Also, alphanumeric keypad and landscape keyboard is missing
Nokia's touchscreen device comes with 81MB internal memory, 8GB microSD memory card, capable of further expanding up to 16GB.
However, iPhone which comes with storage options of 8GB and 16GB models cannot be further expanded. It has no memory expansion slot. The 2G iPhone was also available with same memory capacity with no further expansion
However, so far no one has really been able to steal the limelight from Apple despites many devices boasting of far more power in terms of features. In the past few months, the Finnish phone maker has often been criticised for having missed the `touchscreen' bus. Will Nokia 5800 prove the critics wrong? Will Nokia 5800 be able to do to iPhone what no other phone could do? Only time can answer these questions.
Here we bring to you what Nokia 5800 has that its biggest rival Apple 3G iPhone doesn't.
Nokia's first touchscreen phone boasts of a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 3x digital zoom, auto focus and a dual-LED flash. It also has a second backward facing camera. This compares to Apple 3G iPhone's 2 megapixel camera with no video recording option and no flash support.
Unlike iPhone, Nokia 5800 offers video recording option at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (frames per second). It offers up to 4x digital video zoom. The phone's front camera supports video calling feature. Nokia 5800 can support video playback up to 5.2 hours, video recording time up to 3.6 hours and video call time up to 3 hours.
No video recording in 3G iPhone also means no video conferencing. iPhone also lacks optical zoom feature.
With Nokia 5800, the world's largest cellphone maker also tries to challenge Apple's dominance in the digital music arena. Beginning next year, the phone will feature Nokia's free one-year subscription for the company's new music service, `Comes With Music'.
Positioned as a music phone, Nokia 5800 comes pre-loaded with a vast range of music collection. Though iPhone users can download music from Apple iTunes, however, the service is not available for free. Apple has neither tailored any download scheme with iPhone.
Nokia's music download package is its first major push into the services business. The company said that all major music labels and most independent labels will offer their tracks as part of Nokia's 'free' music bundle "Comes with Music," raising the total number of tracks to around 5 million.
User's one big disappointment in 3G iPhone was lack of user replaceable battery. Apple reportedly claims that it left out the user-replaceable battery option as it would add weight to the device.
However, interestingly almost all smartphones in the market, even those at the lower-end offer this option. And so does Nokia 5800.
Nokia 5800 battery life is reportedly as much as nine hours (GSM) or five hours (HSDPA), 35 hours for music playback or three hours of video. Nokia claims that the standby time is up to 17 days.
Apple iPhone support talktime of 300 minutes for 3G and 600 minutes for 2G and has a 300 hours standby time.
Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic can sync with stereo Bluetooth or in-car Bluetooth handsfree, which again Apple iPhone cannot.
Nokia's touch phone supports Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP and AVRCP. iPhone lacks A2DP on Bluetooth. A2DP audio devices, such as stereo Bluetooth headsets, offer enhances listening quality.
Also, iPhone doesn't support file sharing feature including MP3, images and video files via Bluetooth.
Unlike the iPhone that doesn't allow users to forward text messages as well as MMS messages, Nokia 5800 doesn't have any such bar. The phone supports SMS, multiple SMS deletion, MMS version 1.3, message size up to 600KB and automatic resizing of images for MMS.
In iPhone users can only send text messages or snapshots via email. Also, users can't send a SMS to multiple contacts as iPhone has no option for that either.
iPhone also lacks support for voice-recognition that allows users to dial verbally. Here again Nokia 5800 takes the lead, the phone supports voice commands and dialing feature
According to media reports, Adobe is working on Flash for iPhone. This means user needs to wait as and when it gets launched.
However, no wait for prospective Nokia 5800 buyers, as the Xpressmusic phone already offers Adobe Flash support. Flash is required to power many online video services and websites. This means with no Flash support when users will browse Web pages which require Flash, they will see empty spaces with missing icons on iPhone. Apple claims that Flash may slow down browsing on iPhone.
Incidentally, iPhone supports YouTube which requires Flash. This means users cannot get all YouTube video, but only a few selected ones that have been rolled out for the Apple-favored H.264 video codec.
Nokia 5800 too looks more attractive vis-a-vis 3G iPhone in terms of pricing. Nokia 5800 will be available at an unsubsidised price of 279 euros ($390). When compared to the 3G iPhone, the unsubsidised versions of 8GB model cost 499 euros ($700) in Italy or 350 pounds ($619.19) in UK. Nokia is yet to disclose the operator deals and other details.
It is expected that the phone will hit Indian stores by the end of December. However, in India Nokia so far has never sold its phones tied to any specific operator.
Apple iPhone comes only on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone network in India. So, Nokia 5800 Xpress Music seems all set to give tough competition to Apple iPhone which retails at Rs 31,000 for 8GB and Rs 36,000 for 16GB in India.
For text input Nokia's touchscreen phone has four options: handwriting, mini QWERTY keyboard, full screen QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad. The handwriting and mini QWERTY keyboard are stylus operated.
Apple's iPhone lacks Stylus, which, however, can be added as an accessory. Also, alphanumeric keypad and landscape keyboard is missing
Nokia's touchscreen device comes with 81MB internal memory, 8GB microSD memory card, capable of further expanding up to 16GB.
However, iPhone which comes with storage options of 8GB and 16GB models cannot be further expanded. It has no memory expansion slot. The 2G iPhone was also available with same memory capacity with no further expansion
Health - Only 13.8% mothers follow WHO guidelines
Prasad Kulkarni
PUNE: A study conducted by the Command Hospital and Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune has found an abysmally low rate of exclusive
breastfeeding' among mothers. Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued specific guidelines for the same purpose, merely 13.8% mothers follow them due to lack of awareness.
The WHO recommendations clearly mention that breastfeeding to the newborn babies should start within an hour of the birth and should continue exclusively for six months to reduce chances of neonatal mortality. Even the experts discourage the use of artificial feeds and bottles. More awareness and social support is required to ensure rise in percentage of breastfeeding.
While informing about the study, Surgeon Capt Sheila Mathai, neonatologist, AFMC told TOI, "Around 200 mothers from across the city were included in the study. We interacted with them during their visit to our civilian dispensary department. These mothers hail from lower and middle class families." She added that "the study was conducted for three months. It was anchored by Priyanka Aiyyar, a student of AFMC. The mothers were asked questions about breastfeeding and why they don't continue exclusive breast feeding for six months."
Mathai said that many mothers were unaware of the WHO recommendations. "Every breastfeeding mother needed support from her family, workplace and society to ensure that she is successful in giving her baby breast milk." She emphasised on the need to sensitise the society towards these healthy practices.
Highlighting that the present average neonatal mortality rate stands at around 40 (neonatal mortality rate is the number of deaths during the first 28 days per 1,000 live births), Mathai added that the national goal is to bring this down to less than 30/1,000 live births by 2010.
Emphasising on boosting up the neonatal care system, she said that leading causes of death include birth asphyxia, sepsis and low birth weight, and essential care of newborn babies should be taken. This essential care includes clean delivery practices, facilities for neonatal resuscitation, breastfeeding, provision of warmth, prevention of infection and extra care of the low birth weight baby.
"Our study has shown there are many deeply penetrated social problems which lead to lack of awareness among mothers. We should try to inculcate awareness about breast-feeding since school education and try to sensitise the society towards the issue," Mathai opined.
When asked about the reasons due to which mothers prefer artificial feeds and bottles, Joystna Padalkar, president of Breast-Feeding Sub Chapter, Indian Academy of Pediatrics said that, "Many mothers stop breast-feeding due to physical weakness. They start giving supplements to new born babies. Due lack of knowledge some mothers blindly follow other mothers and do what they are doing. If a few mothers follow wrong practices, then all of them end up doing the same."
PUNE: A study conducted by the Command Hospital and Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune has found an abysmally low rate of exclusive
breastfeeding' among mothers. Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued specific guidelines for the same purpose, merely 13.8% mothers follow them due to lack of awareness.
The WHO recommendations clearly mention that breastfeeding to the newborn babies should start within an hour of the birth and should continue exclusively for six months to reduce chances of neonatal mortality. Even the experts discourage the use of artificial feeds and bottles. More awareness and social support is required to ensure rise in percentage of breastfeeding.
While informing about the study, Surgeon Capt Sheila Mathai, neonatologist, AFMC told TOI, "Around 200 mothers from across the city were included in the study. We interacted with them during their visit to our civilian dispensary department. These mothers hail from lower and middle class families." She added that "the study was conducted for three months. It was anchored by Priyanka Aiyyar, a student of AFMC. The mothers were asked questions about breastfeeding and why they don't continue exclusive breast feeding for six months."
Mathai said that many mothers were unaware of the WHO recommendations. "Every breastfeeding mother needed support from her family, workplace and society to ensure that she is successful in giving her baby breast milk." She emphasised on the need to sensitise the society towards these healthy practices.
Highlighting that the present average neonatal mortality rate stands at around 40 (neonatal mortality rate is the number of deaths during the first 28 days per 1,000 live births), Mathai added that the national goal is to bring this down to less than 30/1,000 live births by 2010.
Emphasising on boosting up the neonatal care system, she said that leading causes of death include birth asphyxia, sepsis and low birth weight, and essential care of newborn babies should be taken. This essential care includes clean delivery practices, facilities for neonatal resuscitation, breastfeeding, provision of warmth, prevention of infection and extra care of the low birth weight baby.
"Our study has shown there are many deeply penetrated social problems which lead to lack of awareness among mothers. We should try to inculcate awareness about breast-feeding since school education and try to sensitise the society towards the issue," Mathai opined.
When asked about the reasons due to which mothers prefer artificial feeds and bottles, Joystna Padalkar, president of Breast-Feeding Sub Chapter, Indian Academy of Pediatrics said that, "Many mothers stop breast-feeding due to physical weakness. They start giving supplements to new born babies. Due lack of knowledge some mothers blindly follow other mothers and do what they are doing. If a few mothers follow wrong practices, then all of them end up doing the same."
Lifestyle - Turn veggie to save the world
LONDON: Nobel Prize-winning Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri and musician Sir Paul McCartney have teamed up to urge people to become vegetarian to
save the planet from the greenhouse gases created by rearing livestock.
According to a letter sent to The Independent, Dr Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and McCartney, who are both vegetarians, blame the worsening global warming on a rise in the number of people who eat meat.
They believe that global food shortages are exacerbated by the planting of cereal crops for animal fodder. A mass switch to a more vegetarian diet will, according to them, help the poorest people in the world.
Becoming vegetarian, or at the very least eating less red meat, is "the single most effective act" anyone can take to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, said Dr Pachauri and McCartney.
As well as producing the greenhouse gas methane, the livestock business uses up increasingly scarce sources of fresh water and increases other forms of pollution through its need for agricultural chemicals, they argue.
Dr Pachauri and McCartney cite a 2006 report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, which stated that livestock are one of the most significant contributors to climate change because 70 per cent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing and livestock now use 30 per cent of the world's land surface.
"Unfortunately, with higher incomes, societies, even in developing countries, are turning to greater consumption of animal protein, which reduces the availability of food grains for direct consumption by impoverished human beings," they said.
"Already 60 per cent of food crop production in North America and western Europe is being diverted for production of meat," they added.
The letter also quoted them as saying, "Citizens across the world often ask what it is that they can do to mitigate emissions. There are several reasons for a shift to a much lower input of meat in human diets if not complete vegetarianism."
"We are writing this letter not because vegetarianism is a fad or an emotional issue, but because it is a very attractive option for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and stabilising the Earth's climate and ensuring global food security," it added.
Dr Pachauri, who accepted a half-share in this year's Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, has long advocated vegetarianism as a way of fighting climate change.
He has been a vegetarian for eight years, while Sir Paul stopped eating meat about 30 years ago, largely because of his concerns about the welfare of farm animals.
save the planet from the greenhouse gases created by rearing livestock.
According to a letter sent to The Independent, Dr Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and McCartney, who are both vegetarians, blame the worsening global warming on a rise in the number of people who eat meat.
They believe that global food shortages are exacerbated by the planting of cereal crops for animal fodder. A mass switch to a more vegetarian diet will, according to them, help the poorest people in the world.
Becoming vegetarian, or at the very least eating less red meat, is "the single most effective act" anyone can take to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, said Dr Pachauri and McCartney.
As well as producing the greenhouse gas methane, the livestock business uses up increasingly scarce sources of fresh water and increases other forms of pollution through its need for agricultural chemicals, they argue.
Dr Pachauri and McCartney cite a 2006 report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, which stated that livestock are one of the most significant contributors to climate change because 70 per cent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing and livestock now use 30 per cent of the world's land surface.
"Unfortunately, with higher incomes, societies, even in developing countries, are turning to greater consumption of animal protein, which reduces the availability of food grains for direct consumption by impoverished human beings," they said.
"Already 60 per cent of food crop production in North America and western Europe is being diverted for production of meat," they added.
The letter also quoted them as saying, "Citizens across the world often ask what it is that they can do to mitigate emissions. There are several reasons for a shift to a much lower input of meat in human diets if not complete vegetarianism."
"We are writing this letter not because vegetarianism is a fad or an emotional issue, but because it is a very attractive option for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and stabilising the Earth's climate and ensuring global food security," it added.
Dr Pachauri, who accepted a half-share in this year's Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, has long advocated vegetarianism as a way of fighting climate change.
He has been a vegetarian for eight years, while Sir Paul stopped eating meat about 30 years ago, largely because of his concerns about the welfare of farm animals.
World - Sex spells trouble;Dalai Lama
LAGOS: The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, on Friday said sex spelt fleeting satisfaction and trouble later, while
chastity offered a better life and "more freedom."
"Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually I think is short period satisfaction and often, that leads to more complication," the Dalai Lama told reporters in a Lagos hotel, speaking in English without a translator.
He said conjugal life caused "too much ups and downs. "Naturally as a human being ... some kind of desire for sex comes, but then you use human intelligence to make comprehension that those couples always full of trouble. And in some cases there is suicide, murder cases," the Dalai Lama said.
He said the "consolation" in celibacy is that although "we miss something, but at the same time, compare whole life, it's better, more independence, more freedom."
Considered a Buddhist Master exempt from the religion's wheel of death and reincarnation, the Dalai Lama waxed eloquent on the Buddhist credo of non-attachment.
"Too much attachment towards your children, towards your partner," was "one of the obstacle or hindrance of peace of mind," he said.
Revered by his followers as a god-king, the Dalai Lama arrived in Lagos today on a three-day visit following an invitation from a foundation to attend a conference. He has made no political speeches in the west African country.
He leaves tonight for the Czech Republic and then on to Brussels to address the European Parliament before heading to Poland, where he is due to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
chastity offered a better life and "more freedom."
"Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually I think is short period satisfaction and often, that leads to more complication," the Dalai Lama told reporters in a Lagos hotel, speaking in English without a translator.
He said conjugal life caused "too much ups and downs. "Naturally as a human being ... some kind of desire for sex comes, but then you use human intelligence to make comprehension that those couples always full of trouble. And in some cases there is suicide, murder cases," the Dalai Lama said.
He said the "consolation" in celibacy is that although "we miss something, but at the same time, compare whole life, it's better, more independence, more freedom."
Considered a Buddhist Master exempt from the religion's wheel of death and reincarnation, the Dalai Lama waxed eloquent on the Buddhist credo of non-attachment.
"Too much attachment towards your children, towards your partner," was "one of the obstacle or hindrance of peace of mind," he said.
Revered by his followers as a god-king, the Dalai Lama arrived in Lagos today on a three-day visit following an invitation from a foundation to attend a conference. He has made no political speeches in the west African country.
He leaves tonight for the Czech Republic and then on to Brussels to address the European Parliament before heading to Poland, where he is due to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
India - Restoring Taj to cost Rs 5bn,take 12 months
NEW DELHI: The restoration of the century-old Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel in downtown Mumbai that was considerably damaged during the terror
siege could take as much as 12 months and cost about Rs 5 billion (Rs 500 crore/$100 million), experts on structural engineering and architecture say.
A sea-facing landmark of India's commercial capital, offering a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea and the majestic Gateway of India, the hotel was built in 1903, with its architecture blending Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles.
Thus, the restoration, will take that much more time and cost more than conventional restorations, the experts said, adding the services of professional institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) may also be required.
"The Taj is one of our oldest hotels and a heritage structure. So, any restoration work would take a minimum of a year. It is my estimate that it could cost somewhere around Rs 500 crore," said Pandurang Potnis, vice president of the Indian Institute of Architecture.
"You must understand that restoration work for such structures is a cumbersome process. It involves a detailed assessment of the damage with blueprints. Only then can the damaged structure be strengthened," he added.
"In India, this kind of technology is available with only a handful of institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India," Potnis, who also runs Bangalore-based architecture consultancy firm under his name, told IANS.
Visitors to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel have come away in awe of its Indian influences, vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, archways, carpets and chandeliers, as also its collection of art and antique furniture.
Jamsetji N Tata, the legendary founder of India's largest industrial house, built the 565-room hotel much before the Gateway of India was completed in 1928 to commemorate the visit of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary.
The grand property, which will also require some experienced artisans and workers to refurbish and restore, has hosted royalty, heads of states,
corporate honchos and celebrities, among other guests in the past.
A K Nagpal, the head of the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here, also said that structural engineering was the trickiest part in restoration of damaged properties.
"We have undertaken such consulting projects in the past and provide advice to even private companies," added Nagpal, who specialises in areas like structural engineering and tall buildings.
Rajesh Thambi, who runs an architectural design firm Saving Catalyst here, said that if it takes a skilled person around five minutes to construct one sq ft of carpeted area, restoration would take anywhere between 45-50 minutes.
"I would say that the cost of restoration - it will take a lot of care while doing so - will be around Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 per square feet."
The owners of the property, Indian Hotels Ltd., have said that they would take all measures to restore the Mumbai landmark and had an insurance policy against terror attacks.
"We are not just determined, but completely committed, to rebuilding the institution. We will restore it to its fullest glory," said company vice chairman R K Krishna Kumar.
"The loss of life is extremely distressing, as is seeing a building as unique as this destroyed. The entire top floor has gone up in flames, but as soon as the dust settles we will go out there and begin the rebuilding," Krishna Kumar added.
Armed terrorists who had seized the hotel for four days earlier this week had set deliberate parts of it on fire in a bid to damage it. The hotel suffered further damage when commandos had moved against the terrorists Friday-Saturday to wrest it back from them.
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata visited the property Saturday with his management team to inspect the damage and discuss measures for the hotel's restoration.
siege could take as much as 12 months and cost about Rs 5 billion (Rs 500 crore/$100 million), experts on structural engineering and architecture say.
A sea-facing landmark of India's commercial capital, offering a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea and the majestic Gateway of India, the hotel was built in 1903, with its architecture blending Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles.
Thus, the restoration, will take that much more time and cost more than conventional restorations, the experts said, adding the services of professional institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) may also be required.
"The Taj is one of our oldest hotels and a heritage structure. So, any restoration work would take a minimum of a year. It is my estimate that it could cost somewhere around Rs 500 crore," said Pandurang Potnis, vice president of the Indian Institute of Architecture.
"You must understand that restoration work for such structures is a cumbersome process. It involves a detailed assessment of the damage with blueprints. Only then can the damaged structure be strengthened," he added.
"In India, this kind of technology is available with only a handful of institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India," Potnis, who also runs Bangalore-based architecture consultancy firm under his name, told IANS.
Visitors to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel have come away in awe of its Indian influences, vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, archways, carpets and chandeliers, as also its collection of art and antique furniture.
Jamsetji N Tata, the legendary founder of India's largest industrial house, built the 565-room hotel much before the Gateway of India was completed in 1928 to commemorate the visit of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary.
The grand property, which will also require some experienced artisans and workers to refurbish and restore, has hosted royalty, heads of states,
corporate honchos and celebrities, among other guests in the past.
A K Nagpal, the head of the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) here, also said that structural engineering was the trickiest part in restoration of damaged properties.
"We have undertaken such consulting projects in the past and provide advice to even private companies," added Nagpal, who specialises in areas like structural engineering and tall buildings.
Rajesh Thambi, who runs an architectural design firm Saving Catalyst here, said that if it takes a skilled person around five minutes to construct one sq ft of carpeted area, restoration would take anywhere between 45-50 minutes.
"I would say that the cost of restoration - it will take a lot of care while doing so - will be around Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 per square feet."
The owners of the property, Indian Hotels Ltd., have said that they would take all measures to restore the Mumbai landmark and had an insurance policy against terror attacks.
"We are not just determined, but completely committed, to rebuilding the institution. We will restore it to its fullest glory," said company vice chairman R K Krishna Kumar.
"The loss of life is extremely distressing, as is seeing a building as unique as this destroyed. The entire top floor has gone up in flames, but as soon as the dust settles we will go out there and begin the rebuilding," Krishna Kumar added.
Armed terrorists who had seized the hotel for four days earlier this week had set deliberate parts of it on fire in a bid to damage it. The hotel suffered further damage when commandos had moved against the terrorists Friday-Saturday to wrest it back from them.
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata visited the property Saturday with his management team to inspect the damage and discuss measures for the hotel's restoration.
India - Taj;No indications of staff involved in terror attack
MUMBAI: Amid reports that one of the terrorists worked as a chef in its hotel, Tata-owned Taj Group said there was no indication that any of its
employees was involved in the attack.
"We are extending our full cooperation to the investigating authorities. We have had no indications from them that any employee or contractual staff of the hotel have been involved as part of this terrorist attack as is being reported by some media outlets," The Indian Hotels Company Ltd CEO and Managing Director Raymond Bickson said in a statement.
There have been reports that one of the terrorists involved in the attack had worked as chef in the hotel for the last 10 months.
Bickson, along with Vice-Chairman of the company Krishna Kumar, accompanied group Chairman Ratan Tata to the devastated heritage hotel, immediately after the commandos gunned downed three terrorists, who were holed up in the hotel since Wednesday.
employees was involved in the attack.
"We are extending our full cooperation to the investigating authorities. We have had no indications from them that any employee or contractual staff of the hotel have been involved as part of this terrorist attack as is being reported by some media outlets," The Indian Hotels Company Ltd CEO and Managing Director Raymond Bickson said in a statement.
There have been reports that one of the terrorists involved in the attack had worked as chef in the hotel for the last 10 months.
Bickson, along with Vice-Chairman of the company Krishna Kumar, accompanied group Chairman Ratan Tata to the devastated heritage hotel, immediately after the commandos gunned downed three terrorists, who were holed up in the hotel since Wednesday.
Columnists - Khushwant Singh;2008-A wind-up chornicle
It is New Year’s Day, 1st of January 2008. It is bitterly cold — one point above freezing point. I sit huddled by the dying embers of my fireplace and turn the pages of my diary of the year about to end. Every other page records a bomb blast in some city or the other with the numbers killed and injured along with wild guesses about organisations which might be responsible for it. Conclusion — spreading lawlessness, outrageous defiances of authority by the Thackeray trio of Mumbai, Bajrang Dal’s attacks on hapless Muslims and Christians with leaders of saffron brigades promptly speaking in their defence without bothering to get the full story. L.K.Advani’s weekly forecasts of the imminent collapse of the Sonia Gandhi — Manmohan Singh led Congress coalition; Prakash Karat’s senseless opposition to a nuclear deal between India and the USA and at the same time warning us of the perils of resurgent Hindu fundamentalism and joining hands with the same fundoos in the hope of toppling the government. All to no avail. Thank God!
Before I go over the balance of the good versus the bad, it would be proper to record the names of eminent people who passed away and therefore beyond bothering about our wretched state of affairs. In February died Russy Karanjiya, editor of the Blitz at 96, Maharish Mahesh Yogi at 91 in Holland; Baba Amte 94, Sheila Bhatia of the National Theatre and Justice H.R.Khanna at 96. In April departed the Sarod maestro Sharan Rani. In May, the Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande at 79. In June, Field marshal Sam Manekshaw at 94. In July, Chief Justice Chandrachud at 86. In August, the Industrial tycoon K.K. Birla. In September, H.Y. Sharda Prasad, life-time personal secretary to Indira Gandhi and Salauddin Qwaisi MP from Hyderabad. In November, film producer B.R.Chopra at 94 and ex-minister Ajit Panja.
Besides these celebrities, there were many others who perished in man-made disasters. In August, a dam burst changed the course of river Kosi which drowned thousands of villages in Bihar. In a stampede in Naina Devi temple in Himachal over 150 were killed. Another stampede in a temple near Jodhpur around 250 lives were lost. We still have to learn how to get off and get in trains — so stampedes are no surprise. The Gujjar agitation cost around 50 lives. The Naxalites continued their depredations across the country attacking police posts in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. They even shot down a helicopter.
Enough of disasters. We had the mildest May on record and the monsoon arrived 15 days before schedule. Six states went to the polls. The BJP extended its domain by annexing Karnataka. It looks set to win more states. However, it failed to dislodge the Congress coalition at the Centre and the Nuclear deal with America went through with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh winning the vote of confidence with flying colours. Our crowning achievement was to plant the Indian tri-colour carried by Chandrayaan-I on the moon.
Kashmir Valley had its first Railway train. Good show: was one gold and two bronzes. However, Vishwanathan Anand regained his place as the world’s Chess Champion. Jeev Milkha Singh became Asia’s Golf Champion. Our cricketers got the better of the series against Australia, England South Africa and Sri Lanka. Tendulkar became the greatest run scorer in Test cricket, Kumble and Ganguly retired from the Test Cricket. We still have Dhoni, Sehwag (he scored three centuries in one match) Yuvraj, Gambhir, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Irfan and others to keep us happy.
Aravind Adiga won the Booker Prize for his novel The White Tiger. Bhimsen Joshi was awarded the Bharat Ratna. I think this highest honour should be restricted to social workers and creative people like scientists, musicians and artists and never given to retired politicians or civil servants.
As I write this, a few weeks of 2008 remain unknown. Another six states are going to the polls. Next to cricket, we are prone to election fever. How Obama won the US Presidency without our vote, was a miracle. Next year we will have our general election. I look forward to the emergence of new leaders — young men and women with a vision of the future. I put my money on two, Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah
Before I go over the balance of the good versus the bad, it would be proper to record the names of eminent people who passed away and therefore beyond bothering about our wretched state of affairs. In February died Russy Karanjiya, editor of the Blitz at 96, Maharish Mahesh Yogi at 91 in Holland; Baba Amte 94, Sheila Bhatia of the National Theatre and Justice H.R.Khanna at 96. In April departed the Sarod maestro Sharan Rani. In May, the Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande at 79. In June, Field marshal Sam Manekshaw at 94. In July, Chief Justice Chandrachud at 86. In August, the Industrial tycoon K.K. Birla. In September, H.Y. Sharda Prasad, life-time personal secretary to Indira Gandhi and Salauddin Qwaisi MP from Hyderabad. In November, film producer B.R.Chopra at 94 and ex-minister Ajit Panja.
Besides these celebrities, there were many others who perished in man-made disasters. In August, a dam burst changed the course of river Kosi which drowned thousands of villages in Bihar. In a stampede in Naina Devi temple in Himachal over 150 were killed. Another stampede in a temple near Jodhpur around 250 lives were lost. We still have to learn how to get off and get in trains — so stampedes are no surprise. The Gujjar agitation cost around 50 lives. The Naxalites continued their depredations across the country attacking police posts in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. They even shot down a helicopter.
Enough of disasters. We had the mildest May on record and the monsoon arrived 15 days before schedule. Six states went to the polls. The BJP extended its domain by annexing Karnataka. It looks set to win more states. However, it failed to dislodge the Congress coalition at the Centre and the Nuclear deal with America went through with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh winning the vote of confidence with flying colours. Our crowning achievement was to plant the Indian tri-colour carried by Chandrayaan-I on the moon.
Kashmir Valley had its first Railway train. Good show: was one gold and two bronzes. However, Vishwanathan Anand regained his place as the world’s Chess Champion. Jeev Milkha Singh became Asia’s Golf Champion. Our cricketers got the better of the series against Australia, England South Africa and Sri Lanka. Tendulkar became the greatest run scorer in Test cricket, Kumble and Ganguly retired from the Test Cricket. We still have Dhoni, Sehwag (he scored three centuries in one match) Yuvraj, Gambhir, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Irfan and others to keep us happy.
Aravind Adiga won the Booker Prize for his novel The White Tiger. Bhimsen Joshi was awarded the Bharat Ratna. I think this highest honour should be restricted to social workers and creative people like scientists, musicians and artists and never given to retired politicians or civil servants.
As I write this, a few weeks of 2008 remain unknown. Another six states are going to the polls. Next to cricket, we are prone to election fever. How Obama won the US Presidency without our vote, was a miracle. Next year we will have our general election. I look forward to the emergence of new leaders — young men and women with a vision of the future. I put my money on two, Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah
Lifestyle - Kings of the Jungle;Taj Safaris
Sumana Mukherjee
If there’s one name that wildlife junkies and conscientious tourism promoters quote with respect in the context of travel to Africa, it is CC Africa. In India, under its new name &Beyond, they have tied up with Taj Safaris to launch two new properties in Madhya Pradesh—after Mahua Kothi in Bandhavgarh, and Baghvan in Pench—at Banjaar Tola in Kanha, and Pashan Garh in Panna
The accommodation at Banjaar Tola comprises nine tented suites set on raised structures that are supported by just seven points on the ground.
Despite the minimally invasive construction, each suite has its own private deck, tribal-influenced décor and what they call eco-friendly air conditioning. At Pashan Garh, guests stay in 12 cottages atop a small hill which have been inspired by the local dry-stone construction technique. Each cottage has magnificent views of the forests and a nearby watering hole. Khajuraho is an hour away.
At both lodges, you can expect the services of &Beyond-trained naturalists, travel in specially designed 4x4 safari vehicles, watch birds and a rich diversity of wildlife. Prices during the high season (till 15 April) are Rs30,000 per person per night on a sharing basis; in low season (16 April-30 June), they drop to Rs18,000.
The rates cover accommodation, all scheduled safaris and meals, alcohol, laundry, emergency medical evacuation and park fees and government taxes. Visit www.tajsafaris.com for more information.
If there’s one name that wildlife junkies and conscientious tourism promoters quote with respect in the context of travel to Africa, it is CC Africa. In India, under its new name &Beyond, they have tied up with Taj Safaris to launch two new properties in Madhya Pradesh—after Mahua Kothi in Bandhavgarh, and Baghvan in Pench—at Banjaar Tola in Kanha, and Pashan Garh in Panna
The accommodation at Banjaar Tola comprises nine tented suites set on raised structures that are supported by just seven points on the ground.
Despite the minimally invasive construction, each suite has its own private deck, tribal-influenced décor and what they call eco-friendly air conditioning. At Pashan Garh, guests stay in 12 cottages atop a small hill which have been inspired by the local dry-stone construction technique. Each cottage has magnificent views of the forests and a nearby watering hole. Khajuraho is an hour away.
At both lodges, you can expect the services of &Beyond-trained naturalists, travel in specially designed 4x4 safari vehicles, watch birds and a rich diversity of wildlife. Prices during the high season (till 15 April) are Rs30,000 per person per night on a sharing basis; in low season (16 April-30 June), they drop to Rs18,000.
The rates cover accommodation, all scheduled safaris and meals, alcohol, laundry, emergency medical evacuation and park fees and government taxes. Visit www.tajsafaris.com for more information.
Lifestyle - India;Whisky Live coming to Delhi
Rachana Nakra
Come January, hundreds of whisky lovers, business heads and CEOs will congregate in New Delhi. The occasion? Whisky Live, the premier platform for whisky connoisseurs, where more than 150 variants of the best whisky brands from Scotland, Ireland, Japan, US and Canada will be on offer. More importantly, it will give whisky lovers in India a chance to mingle, while sampling—if you can manage it—every one of those 150 varieties (at least 20,000 glasses are used at most events).
New Delhi follows in a line of cities such as Paris, Tokyo and Glasgow, where brands such as Glenmorangie, Laphroaig, Moët Hennessy, Glenfiddich, Chivas Regal, Whyte and Mackay and dozens of others get a chance to exhibit their best tipple.
The man responsible, Sandeep Arora, is a long-time whisky aficionado, having introduced to India rare whiskies such as the Glenfiddich 50 (a single peg of which costs about Rs70,000), as well as representing Whisky Magazine in the country. “Imagine entering the venue as someone who may or may not know much about whisky. You’ll have the best resources around you. Stalls set up by the biggest brands, informed tastings by them, so much to see and learn, all under one roof,” Arora says.
Entry is by invitation only, and the guest list for the 31 January event at Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon, includes names such as Vijay Mallya, who was named Whisky Ambassador at the Whisky Awards earlier this year, Damian Riley Smith, publisher, Whisky Magazine, and Gavin Hewitt, CEO, Scotch Whisky Association. In addition to schmoozing with like-minded souls, guests can attend master classes, tastings, learn about whisky cocktails and, more importantly, how to pair it with coffee, chocolate and food. It will be a revelation for those who want to “go beyond Black Label and butter chicken”, Arora says.
Visit www.whiskylive.com for more information.
Come January, hundreds of whisky lovers, business heads and CEOs will congregate in New Delhi. The occasion? Whisky Live, the premier platform for whisky connoisseurs, where more than 150 variants of the best whisky brands from Scotland, Ireland, Japan, US and Canada will be on offer. More importantly, it will give whisky lovers in India a chance to mingle, while sampling—if you can manage it—every one of those 150 varieties (at least 20,000 glasses are used at most events).
New Delhi follows in a line of cities such as Paris, Tokyo and Glasgow, where brands such as Glenmorangie, Laphroaig, Moët Hennessy, Glenfiddich, Chivas Regal, Whyte and Mackay and dozens of others get a chance to exhibit their best tipple.
The man responsible, Sandeep Arora, is a long-time whisky aficionado, having introduced to India rare whiskies such as the Glenfiddich 50 (a single peg of which costs about Rs70,000), as well as representing Whisky Magazine in the country. “Imagine entering the venue as someone who may or may not know much about whisky. You’ll have the best resources around you. Stalls set up by the biggest brands, informed tastings by them, so much to see and learn, all under one roof,” Arora says.
Entry is by invitation only, and the guest list for the 31 January event at Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon, includes names such as Vijay Mallya, who was named Whisky Ambassador at the Whisky Awards earlier this year, Damian Riley Smith, publisher, Whisky Magazine, and Gavin Hewitt, CEO, Scotch Whisky Association. In addition to schmoozing with like-minded souls, guests can attend master classes, tastings, learn about whisky cocktails and, more importantly, how to pair it with coffee, chocolate and food. It will be a revelation for those who want to “go beyond Black Label and butter chicken”, Arora says.
Visit www.whiskylive.com for more information.
Lifestyle - India;Jewels from the crown
Margot Cohen / The Wall Street Journal
At Bharany’s, a family-run jewellery company in New Delhi’s upscale Sunder Nagar neighbourhood, a client came in recently with a 70-year-old turban pin—typically worn by a groom on his wedding day— studded with white sapphires and small emeralds.
Called a kalgi, after the Persian word for a heron’s plume, the feather-shaped ornament was crafted in Rajasthan in a style harking back to the Mughal court’s princely custom of sporting impressive gems on its turbans. The client’s request: Find some new use for the inherited pin, which had been languishing in a bank safe-deposit box for the past 20 years.
In the hands of 45-year-old jeweller Mahesh Bharany, the pin was turned upside down and reborn for modern dinner-party wear as a woman’s pendant suspended on three strands of pearls and emeralds.
Women in India “want more things they can wear today and make a statement. Something that will make them stand out”, says Bharany, who adds that similar requests to remodel inherited jewellery are coming his way these days.
India boasts a trove of inherited jewellery. It’s the natural legacy of a land rich in gemstones and a culture that’s infused with an enduring dowry tradition, a deep-rooted passion for gold, and age-old beliefs in the protective powers of certain jewels, according to Usha Balakrishnan, author of Indian Jewellery— Dance of the Peacock, an illustrated history of 5,000 years of Indian jewellery.
Of course, fashions change. To keep up, some members of India’s royal families didn’t shy away from updating centuries-old pieces in their efforts to reach the pinnacle of style. In the 1920s and 1930s, for example, the country’s gem-besotted maharajas made a beeline for Europe and called on leading jewellers such as Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels to reset their heirloom pieces
Today, with new wealth pumping up India’s party circuit, more super rich, rich and even middle-class people who have inherited or purchased select pieces are updating their traditional jewels. Many of these pieces aren’t the exceedingly rare, pricey antiques from previous centuries, though these kinds of ornaments are occasionally getting retooled as well. Rather, most are 30 to 90-year-old traditional pieces—turban pins dripping with diamonds, nose rings laden with pearls and hair ornaments studded with rubies. These outmoded pieces, which typically hibernate in storage except for the occasional wear at weddings, are being transformed into more practical, wearable accessories.
Women “want to use whatever they have”, says Arjun Jain of Padma Gems, a 150-year-old high-end jeweller in New Delhi whose clients typically wait three months for a refashioned item and pay between $1,000 (around Rs50,000) and $2,000.
In most cases, these reconstructions aren’t a mad dash to melt down all the gold, pluck out the precious stones and order an entirely modern accessory.
Thanks to a renewed appreciation of the style of India’s heritage jewellery, many women and their daughters are choosing careful modifications.
Take, for instance, Asha Bansal, a 52-year-old Delhi-based fashion designer whose father was a jewellery buff. Last November, Bansal converted a thick bracelet laden with Colombian emeralds, which she describes as a century-old piece her father obtained at an auction from a royal family in Rajasthan. The 30 emeralds, all eight-carat baguettes, were “wasted in a bracelet”, says Bansal, who thought “something closer to my face would be more eye-catching”.
Her jeweller sketched five options, most of them ornate designs that required additional jewels and a platinum setting. In the end, Bansal opted for a design of a more delicate oval necklace with the emeralds encircled by diamonds that reflected the gemstones’ royal history. The diamonds came from another piece from her father’s collection—a 50-year-old pair of diamond and emerald earrings that she deemed “too traditional to get any mileage out of”.
Bansal has since worn the necklace to a cocktail party where she says she could be sure of running into guests who would recognize the quality of the piece. She also wore it to a wedding. “I chose something that I could wear with trousers, or a sari,” she explains. The eight-month project—from sketches to finished piece—cost about $5,000.
Some of the most intriguing innovations involve a change in function. Antique women’s bangles become luxury handbag handles; smaller children’s bangles are recycled as decorative necklace clasps. “Many pieces originally made for men are now worn by women, sometimes necessitating modifications,” says Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian art at Christie’s, London. For example, male armbands are retooled as women’s chokers.
Above all, practicality takes precedence. A ruby hair ornament, for instance, served ladies of southern India for years, enhancing the sheen of long, plaited hair. Now that styles have changed—for hair as well as for jewellery—Chetan G.R., the owner of jewellery store Arnav in Bangalore, often transforms old pieces into more wearable pendants or necklaces set in gold.
“As a piece of jewellery, a hair ornament was useless. Gold alone is mundane. Once you fuse the two together, there is value,” says Chetan, who charges between $100 and $500 and takes up to four weeks to complete a piece.
Sometimes Chetan directs the redesigns; other times, the customers set the tone. At the insistence of one client, for instance, Chetan says a heavy, gold waist belt—usually worn by a bride on her wedding day—was transformed into a choker, an idea, he says, that struck him as rather garish.
Such conversions account for 40% of Arnav’s business. Chetan, 35, comes from a long line of jewellers who settled near Mysore. “Jewellery has a lot of sentiment and history that I would like to pass on to the next generation,” he says. “I don’t want it to wither away with our changing lifestyles, changing trends and changing preferences.”
What’s less acceptable in some quarters is to trade inherited jewellery for cash. Many Indians believe that jewellery absorbs the spirit of its wearer; and bad vibes—should there be any— could be passed along. At C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons, one of Bangalore’s most venerable jewellers, “we would not encourage distress sales”, says C. Ganesh Narayan, a fifth-generation scion who serves as executive director of the company. The shop’s loyal customers are urged to remodel their inherited pieces rather than sell them.
Not everyone is eager to modify old jewellery. Sniffs one Delhi entrepreneur: “It’s like turning your castle into a series of flats.” Actor Shabana Azmi, who is known to favour antique jewellery, says an old traditional piece is “beautiful because it belongs to that time. To tamper with it is sacrilegious”.
As India’s wedding season shifts into high gear, some jewellers are busy with orders to alter inherited jewellery for those fabled trousseaus. Problems sometimes arise between generations when the jewellery is promised for wear on nuptial day, but isn’t legally bestowed on the bride, says Bharany. “Old people never like to change things,” he explains. In Bharany’s experience, there’s “always a tussle” that the grandmother usually wins, with the pieces remaining untouched “unless the child actually inherited the jewellery”.
At Bharany’s, a family-run jewellery company in New Delhi’s upscale Sunder Nagar neighbourhood, a client came in recently with a 70-year-old turban pin—typically worn by a groom on his wedding day— studded with white sapphires and small emeralds.
Called a kalgi, after the Persian word for a heron’s plume, the feather-shaped ornament was crafted in Rajasthan in a style harking back to the Mughal court’s princely custom of sporting impressive gems on its turbans. The client’s request: Find some new use for the inherited pin, which had been languishing in a bank safe-deposit box for the past 20 years.
In the hands of 45-year-old jeweller Mahesh Bharany, the pin was turned upside down and reborn for modern dinner-party wear as a woman’s pendant suspended on three strands of pearls and emeralds.
Women in India “want more things they can wear today and make a statement. Something that will make them stand out”, says Bharany, who adds that similar requests to remodel inherited jewellery are coming his way these days.
India boasts a trove of inherited jewellery. It’s the natural legacy of a land rich in gemstones and a culture that’s infused with an enduring dowry tradition, a deep-rooted passion for gold, and age-old beliefs in the protective powers of certain jewels, according to Usha Balakrishnan, author of Indian Jewellery— Dance of the Peacock, an illustrated history of 5,000 years of Indian jewellery.
Of course, fashions change. To keep up, some members of India’s royal families didn’t shy away from updating centuries-old pieces in their efforts to reach the pinnacle of style. In the 1920s and 1930s, for example, the country’s gem-besotted maharajas made a beeline for Europe and called on leading jewellers such as Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels to reset their heirloom pieces
Today, with new wealth pumping up India’s party circuit, more super rich, rich and even middle-class people who have inherited or purchased select pieces are updating their traditional jewels. Many of these pieces aren’t the exceedingly rare, pricey antiques from previous centuries, though these kinds of ornaments are occasionally getting retooled as well. Rather, most are 30 to 90-year-old traditional pieces—turban pins dripping with diamonds, nose rings laden with pearls and hair ornaments studded with rubies. These outmoded pieces, which typically hibernate in storage except for the occasional wear at weddings, are being transformed into more practical, wearable accessories.
Women “want to use whatever they have”, says Arjun Jain of Padma Gems, a 150-year-old high-end jeweller in New Delhi whose clients typically wait three months for a refashioned item and pay between $1,000 (around Rs50,000) and $2,000.
In most cases, these reconstructions aren’t a mad dash to melt down all the gold, pluck out the precious stones and order an entirely modern accessory.
Thanks to a renewed appreciation of the style of India’s heritage jewellery, many women and their daughters are choosing careful modifications.
Take, for instance, Asha Bansal, a 52-year-old Delhi-based fashion designer whose father was a jewellery buff. Last November, Bansal converted a thick bracelet laden with Colombian emeralds, which she describes as a century-old piece her father obtained at an auction from a royal family in Rajasthan. The 30 emeralds, all eight-carat baguettes, were “wasted in a bracelet”, says Bansal, who thought “something closer to my face would be more eye-catching”.
Her jeweller sketched five options, most of them ornate designs that required additional jewels and a platinum setting. In the end, Bansal opted for a design of a more delicate oval necklace with the emeralds encircled by diamonds that reflected the gemstones’ royal history. The diamonds came from another piece from her father’s collection—a 50-year-old pair of diamond and emerald earrings that she deemed “too traditional to get any mileage out of”.
Bansal has since worn the necklace to a cocktail party where she says she could be sure of running into guests who would recognize the quality of the piece. She also wore it to a wedding. “I chose something that I could wear with trousers, or a sari,” she explains. The eight-month project—from sketches to finished piece—cost about $5,000.
Some of the most intriguing innovations involve a change in function. Antique women’s bangles become luxury handbag handles; smaller children’s bangles are recycled as decorative necklace clasps. “Many pieces originally made for men are now worn by women, sometimes necessitating modifications,” says Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian art at Christie’s, London. For example, male armbands are retooled as women’s chokers.
Above all, practicality takes precedence. A ruby hair ornament, for instance, served ladies of southern India for years, enhancing the sheen of long, plaited hair. Now that styles have changed—for hair as well as for jewellery—Chetan G.R., the owner of jewellery store Arnav in Bangalore, often transforms old pieces into more wearable pendants or necklaces set in gold.
“As a piece of jewellery, a hair ornament was useless. Gold alone is mundane. Once you fuse the two together, there is value,” says Chetan, who charges between $100 and $500 and takes up to four weeks to complete a piece.
Sometimes Chetan directs the redesigns; other times, the customers set the tone. At the insistence of one client, for instance, Chetan says a heavy, gold waist belt—usually worn by a bride on her wedding day—was transformed into a choker, an idea, he says, that struck him as rather garish.
Such conversions account for 40% of Arnav’s business. Chetan, 35, comes from a long line of jewellers who settled near Mysore. “Jewellery has a lot of sentiment and history that I would like to pass on to the next generation,” he says. “I don’t want it to wither away with our changing lifestyles, changing trends and changing preferences.”
What’s less acceptable in some quarters is to trade inherited jewellery for cash. Many Indians believe that jewellery absorbs the spirit of its wearer; and bad vibes—should there be any— could be passed along. At C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons, one of Bangalore’s most venerable jewellers, “we would not encourage distress sales”, says C. Ganesh Narayan, a fifth-generation scion who serves as executive director of the company. The shop’s loyal customers are urged to remodel their inherited pieces rather than sell them.
Not everyone is eager to modify old jewellery. Sniffs one Delhi entrepreneur: “It’s like turning your castle into a series of flats.” Actor Shabana Azmi, who is known to favour antique jewellery, says an old traditional piece is “beautiful because it belongs to that time. To tamper with it is sacrilegious”.
As India’s wedding season shifts into high gear, some jewellers are busy with orders to alter inherited jewellery for those fabled trousseaus. Problems sometimes arise between generations when the jewellery is promised for wear on nuptial day, but isn’t legally bestowed on the bride, says Bharany. “Old people never like to change things,” he explains. In Bharany’s experience, there’s “always a tussle” that the grandmother usually wins, with the pieces remaining untouched “unless the child actually inherited the jewellery”.
World - Iran;Eye-for-eye justice
Robert Tait
A man who blinded a woman in an acid attack after she spurned his marriage proposals has been sentenced to the same punishment, in a literal application of Iran’s sharia eye-for-an-eye laws.
In a highly unusual judgment, Tehran province criminal court ordered Majid Movahedi, 27, to be blinded in both eyes from drops of acid in response to a plea from his victim, Ameneh Bahrami. The punishment is legal under the sharia code of qisas, which allows retribution for violent crimes. The court also ordered Movahedi to pay compensation to the victim. Bahrami was left horrifically disfigured after Movahedi threw a jar of acid in her face as she walked home from work in a busy Tehran neighbourhood in October 2004. She had previously complained to police about being threatened and harassed by Movahedi, who she had known while they were both university students, but had been told no action could be taken.
Since the attack, Bahrami has undergone 17 operations, some by surgeons in Spain, in a vain attempt to reconstruct her face. Her injuries led to the loss of one eye and left her blind in the other.
— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008
A man who blinded a woman in an acid attack after she spurned his marriage proposals has been sentenced to the same punishment, in a literal application of Iran’s sharia eye-for-an-eye laws.
In a highly unusual judgment, Tehran province criminal court ordered Majid Movahedi, 27, to be blinded in both eyes from drops of acid in response to a plea from his victim, Ameneh Bahrami. The punishment is legal under the sharia code of qisas, which allows retribution for violent crimes. The court also ordered Movahedi to pay compensation to the victim. Bahrami was left horrifically disfigured after Movahedi threw a jar of acid in her face as she walked home from work in a busy Tehran neighbourhood in October 2004. She had previously complained to police about being threatened and harassed by Movahedi, who she had known while they were both university students, but had been told no action could be taken.
Since the attack, Bahrami has undergone 17 operations, some by surgeons in Spain, in a vain attempt to reconstruct her face. Her injuries led to the loss of one eye and left her blind in the other.
— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008
India - Strategic deafness & the massacre in Mumbai
Praveen Swami
Had our political establishment acted on intelligence warnings, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive.
Last month, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s supreme religious and political head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, made a signal speech to top functionaries: “The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”
Had India’s strategic establishment listened, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive. If more carnage is to be prevented, it is imperative to understand the culture of strategic deafness that facilitated the murderous attacks.
From the testimony of the arrested fidayeen Ajmal Amin Kamal, the Maharashtra police have got their first insight into the role of Lahore and Karachi-based Lashkar commanders in organising the attacks. Both the Maharashtra police and other intelligence services of the nation seem confident that they will succeed in demonstrating that the guns in the hands of Kamal and his terror squad were directed by commanders in Pakistan.
Comparison with U.S.
But even as India debates what the authorship of the attacks will mean to Pakistan-India relations, commentators have been scrambling to contrast India’s responses to terror with that of the United States. While the U.S. has succeeded in blocking successive attempts to execute attacks on its soil since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the argument goes, India’s failure has been dismal.
Politicians have been quick to agree, blaming India’s intelligence services for failing to predict the Mumbai terror attack. In fact, the available evidence suggests that the boot is on the other foot: despite credible intelligence that terrorists were planning attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere, India’s political leadership failed to act.
Back in 2002, Indian intelligence informants began reporting that Lashkar operatives were being trained in marine commando techniques along the Mangla Dam, which straddles the border between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the province of Punjab. It soon became clear that the Lashkar, which found it increasingly difficult to penetrate India’s Line of Control defences, was hoping to open new routes across the Indian Ocean — routes which would give it easy access to key cities like Mumbai.
In 2006, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was disturbed enough by what India’s covert services were telling him to make a specific mention of the need to step up counter-terrorism defences. Among the intelligence that Mr. Patil based his speech on was the evolving story of Faisal Haroun, a top Lashkar operative who commanded the terror group’s India-focussed operations out of Bangladesh. In September 2006, Haroun was briefly held by Bangladesh authorities before he was quietly deported. But a west European covert service obtained transcripts of his questioning by Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Field Intelligence — evidence which shook up even India’s Home Minister.
Haroun, it turned out, had been using a complex shipping network, and merchant ships and small fishing boats, to move explosives to the Lashkar units operating in India. Among the end-users of these supplies was Ghulam Yazdani, a Hyderabad resident who commanded a series of attacks, including the assassination of Gujarat pogrom-complicit former Home Minister Haren Pandya and the June 2005 bombing of the Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express. Investigators probing the Haroun story determined that his network had helped to land a giant consignment of explosives and assault rifles on the Maharashtra coast for an abortive 2006 Lashkar-led attempt to bomb Gujarat.
India’s intelligence services determined that Haroun had been attempting to set up an Indian Ocean base for the Lashkar. Along with a Male-based Maldives resident, Ali Assham, Haroun had studied the prospect of using a deserted island for building a Lashkar storehouse, from where weapons and explosives could be moved to Kerala and then to the rest of India. In 2007, when evidence emerged of heightened Islamist activity in Maldives — including the bombing of tourists in Male’s Sultan Park and the setting up of a Sharia-run mini-state on the Island of Himandhoo — the seriousness of the threat to India’s western seaboard became even more evident.
Last year, the Lashkar’s maritime capabilities were underlined once again, when a group of eight fidayeen landed off Mumbai’s coast. On that occasion, a superbly crafted intelligence operation enabled Coast Guard ships to track the landing. Police in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, acting on information provided by the Intelligence Bureau, arrested the fidayeen. However, it was clear that the networks Haroun was able to build were up and running.
Based on these warnings, New Delhi moved to step up coastal counter-infiltration measures. In its 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs detailed the measures put in place for “strengthening coastal security arrangements, to check infiltration.” In liaison with the nine coastal States and Union Territories, it said, funds had been earmarked to set up “73 coastal police stations which will be equipped with 204 boats, 153 jeeps and 312 motorcycles for mobility on coast and in close coastal waters. The coastal police stations will also have a marine police with personnel trained in maritime activities.”
Painfully slow
Precise figures are unavailable, but officials in three States told The Hindu that progress in realising the scheme was painfully slow. Both Maharashtra and Gujarat inaugurated over a dozen coastal police stations over the last year, but neither State set up a trained marine police. Fewer than a dozen new boats were made available to the two police forces. Without sophisticated surveillance equipment fitted on board, their use for counter-infiltration work was at best rudimentary. And while the Intelligence Bureau received sanction for hiring small numbers of new personnel to man new costal surveillance stations last year, it got neither boats nor observation equipment.
Despite credible intelligence of an imminent fidayeen assault, emerging from the interrogation of Lashkar operative Fahim Ansari, hotels and businesses failed to enhance their internal security systems. Neither the Trident Hotel nor the Taj Mahal Hotel, for example, had access control systems or a system to deal with a terrorist attack or bombing. For weeks before the attacks, police sources told The Hindu, Maharashtra police officials met with top corporate security heads, attempting to convince them of the need to invest in defending their facilities. Nothing was done.
Less than a week before the attacks, additional security stationed in south Mumbai was withdrawn. Maharashtra — which at just 147 policemen for every 1,00,000 population or, expressed another way, 49.9 to guard every 100 square kilometres, falls well short of global norms — simply did not have the resources to keep men tied up to guard every potential target.
Even if police personnel had been stationed near the terrorist targets, it is improbable that they could have intervened effectively. Mumbai, unlike any western city of scale, had no specially-trained emergency response team or a crisis-management centre with an established drill to deal with a catastrophic terrorist assault. In this, it was not exceptional: no Indian city has any crisis management protocol in place. “People contrast the United States’ post-9/11 successes with our failures,” notes a Maharashtra police officer, “but they should also be contrasting the billions spent by that country with the peanuts we have invested in our own security.”
“The whole system is premised on the assumption that our Intelligence Services will get a hundred per cent heads-up on the precise timing of a terrorist attack,” one intelligence official says, “but nowhere in the world does this happen. Intelligence is only an aid to on-ground policing, not a substitute”.
India’s strategic responses were no better. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his foreign policy advisers failed to read the sign that the jihadist groups in Pakistan were sharpening their swords.
In Saeed’s October 19 speech, delivered before an audience of key Lashkar leaders including Maulana Amir Hamza, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Muhammad Yahya Mujahid at the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore, he made it clear that he saw India as an existential threat. India, he claimed, was building dams in Jammu and Kashmir to choke Pakistan’s water supplies and cripple its agriculture.
‘Ongoing war’
Earlier, in an October 6 speech, Saeed claimed that India had “made a deal with the United States to send 1,50,000 Indian troops to Afghanistan,” and that it agreed to support the U.S. in an existential war against Islam. Finally, in a sermon to a congregation at the Jamia Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore at the end of October, Saeed proclaimed that there was an “ongoing war in the world between Islam and its enemies.” He claimed “that crusaders of the east and west have united in a cohesive onslaught against Muslims.”
India has learnt that not all terrorism stems from Pakistan: the country has faced attacks from Indian Islamists, Hindutva groups, and ethnic-chauvinist organisations in the northeast. Each form of hate has fed and legitimised the other. But this circle of hate has been driven by organisations based in Pakistan too — jihadist groups which have demonstrated that while they are friends of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, they are enemies of the people of Pakistan. In his recent address to the nation, Prime Minister Singh warned that he intends to “raise the costs” for those waging war against India. He could start by demanding that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari act against such groups — and then consider what can be done, if need be, to compel him to do so.
Had our political establishment acted on intelligence warnings, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive.
Last month, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s supreme religious and political head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, made a signal speech to top functionaries: “The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”
Had India’s strategic establishment listened, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive. If more carnage is to be prevented, it is imperative to understand the culture of strategic deafness that facilitated the murderous attacks.
From the testimony of the arrested fidayeen Ajmal Amin Kamal, the Maharashtra police have got their first insight into the role of Lahore and Karachi-based Lashkar commanders in organising the attacks. Both the Maharashtra police and other intelligence services of the nation seem confident that they will succeed in demonstrating that the guns in the hands of Kamal and his terror squad were directed by commanders in Pakistan.
Comparison with U.S.
But even as India debates what the authorship of the attacks will mean to Pakistan-India relations, commentators have been scrambling to contrast India’s responses to terror with that of the United States. While the U.S. has succeeded in blocking successive attempts to execute attacks on its soil since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the argument goes, India’s failure has been dismal.
Politicians have been quick to agree, blaming India’s intelligence services for failing to predict the Mumbai terror attack. In fact, the available evidence suggests that the boot is on the other foot: despite credible intelligence that terrorists were planning attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere, India’s political leadership failed to act.
Back in 2002, Indian intelligence informants began reporting that Lashkar operatives were being trained in marine commando techniques along the Mangla Dam, which straddles the border between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the province of Punjab. It soon became clear that the Lashkar, which found it increasingly difficult to penetrate India’s Line of Control defences, was hoping to open new routes across the Indian Ocean — routes which would give it easy access to key cities like Mumbai.
In 2006, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was disturbed enough by what India’s covert services were telling him to make a specific mention of the need to step up counter-terrorism defences. Among the intelligence that Mr. Patil based his speech on was the evolving story of Faisal Haroun, a top Lashkar operative who commanded the terror group’s India-focussed operations out of Bangladesh. In September 2006, Haroun was briefly held by Bangladesh authorities before he was quietly deported. But a west European covert service obtained transcripts of his questioning by Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Field Intelligence — evidence which shook up even India’s Home Minister.
Haroun, it turned out, had been using a complex shipping network, and merchant ships and small fishing boats, to move explosives to the Lashkar units operating in India. Among the end-users of these supplies was Ghulam Yazdani, a Hyderabad resident who commanded a series of attacks, including the assassination of Gujarat pogrom-complicit former Home Minister Haren Pandya and the June 2005 bombing of the Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express. Investigators probing the Haroun story determined that his network had helped to land a giant consignment of explosives and assault rifles on the Maharashtra coast for an abortive 2006 Lashkar-led attempt to bomb Gujarat.
India’s intelligence services determined that Haroun had been attempting to set up an Indian Ocean base for the Lashkar. Along with a Male-based Maldives resident, Ali Assham, Haroun had studied the prospect of using a deserted island for building a Lashkar storehouse, from where weapons and explosives could be moved to Kerala and then to the rest of India. In 2007, when evidence emerged of heightened Islamist activity in Maldives — including the bombing of tourists in Male’s Sultan Park and the setting up of a Sharia-run mini-state on the Island of Himandhoo — the seriousness of the threat to India’s western seaboard became even more evident.
Last year, the Lashkar’s maritime capabilities were underlined once again, when a group of eight fidayeen landed off Mumbai’s coast. On that occasion, a superbly crafted intelligence operation enabled Coast Guard ships to track the landing. Police in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, acting on information provided by the Intelligence Bureau, arrested the fidayeen. However, it was clear that the networks Haroun was able to build were up and running.
Based on these warnings, New Delhi moved to step up coastal counter-infiltration measures. In its 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs detailed the measures put in place for “strengthening coastal security arrangements, to check infiltration.” In liaison with the nine coastal States and Union Territories, it said, funds had been earmarked to set up “73 coastal police stations which will be equipped with 204 boats, 153 jeeps and 312 motorcycles for mobility on coast and in close coastal waters. The coastal police stations will also have a marine police with personnel trained in maritime activities.”
Painfully slow
Precise figures are unavailable, but officials in three States told The Hindu that progress in realising the scheme was painfully slow. Both Maharashtra and Gujarat inaugurated over a dozen coastal police stations over the last year, but neither State set up a trained marine police. Fewer than a dozen new boats were made available to the two police forces. Without sophisticated surveillance equipment fitted on board, their use for counter-infiltration work was at best rudimentary. And while the Intelligence Bureau received sanction for hiring small numbers of new personnel to man new costal surveillance stations last year, it got neither boats nor observation equipment.
Despite credible intelligence of an imminent fidayeen assault, emerging from the interrogation of Lashkar operative Fahim Ansari, hotels and businesses failed to enhance their internal security systems. Neither the Trident Hotel nor the Taj Mahal Hotel, for example, had access control systems or a system to deal with a terrorist attack or bombing. For weeks before the attacks, police sources told The Hindu, Maharashtra police officials met with top corporate security heads, attempting to convince them of the need to invest in defending their facilities. Nothing was done.
Less than a week before the attacks, additional security stationed in south Mumbai was withdrawn. Maharashtra — which at just 147 policemen for every 1,00,000 population or, expressed another way, 49.9 to guard every 100 square kilometres, falls well short of global norms — simply did not have the resources to keep men tied up to guard every potential target.
Even if police personnel had been stationed near the terrorist targets, it is improbable that they could have intervened effectively. Mumbai, unlike any western city of scale, had no specially-trained emergency response team or a crisis-management centre with an established drill to deal with a catastrophic terrorist assault. In this, it was not exceptional: no Indian city has any crisis management protocol in place. “People contrast the United States’ post-9/11 successes with our failures,” notes a Maharashtra police officer, “but they should also be contrasting the billions spent by that country with the peanuts we have invested in our own security.”
“The whole system is premised on the assumption that our Intelligence Services will get a hundred per cent heads-up on the precise timing of a terrorist attack,” one intelligence official says, “but nowhere in the world does this happen. Intelligence is only an aid to on-ground policing, not a substitute”.
India’s strategic responses were no better. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his foreign policy advisers failed to read the sign that the jihadist groups in Pakistan were sharpening their swords.
In Saeed’s October 19 speech, delivered before an audience of key Lashkar leaders including Maulana Amir Hamza, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Muhammad Yahya Mujahid at the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore, he made it clear that he saw India as an existential threat. India, he claimed, was building dams in Jammu and Kashmir to choke Pakistan’s water supplies and cripple its agriculture.
‘Ongoing war’
Earlier, in an October 6 speech, Saeed claimed that India had “made a deal with the United States to send 1,50,000 Indian troops to Afghanistan,” and that it agreed to support the U.S. in an existential war against Islam. Finally, in a sermon to a congregation at the Jamia Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore at the end of October, Saeed proclaimed that there was an “ongoing war in the world between Islam and its enemies.” He claimed “that crusaders of the east and west have united in a cohesive onslaught against Muslims.”
India has learnt that not all terrorism stems from Pakistan: the country has faced attacks from Indian Islamists, Hindutva groups, and ethnic-chauvinist organisations in the northeast. Each form of hate has fed and legitimised the other. But this circle of hate has been driven by organisations based in Pakistan too — jihadist groups which have demonstrated that while they are friends of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, they are enemies of the people of Pakistan. In his recent address to the nation, Prime Minister Singh warned that he intends to “raise the costs” for those waging war against India. He could start by demanding that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari act against such groups — and then consider what can be done, if need be, to compel him to do so.
World - Pakistan & IMF
Despite the bad news that usually comes with an International Monetary Fund loan in the form of attached strings, Pakistan had no choice but to go to the lender of last resort. Its economic crisis is of a different order from the meltdown being experienced in the rest of the world. It began much earlier — triggered by high global energy prices, terrorist strikes, and political instability. The resultant flight of capital led to a dangerous reduction in foreign exchange reserves, and Pakistan risked defaulting on its debts. The low credibility of the rulers combined with the global financial crisis put paid to the country’s hopes of easier bailouts from friends such as Saudi Arabia and China. Going to the IMF was the only course available. In return for the $7.6 billion loan that the Fund approved earlier this week, Pakistan is required to reduce its budget deficit through a number of measures: implement taxation reforms that will include bringing agriculture into the tax net; slash subsidies on fuel and electricity; and cut government spending. As the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy has already shown, these measures will be unpopular. The government is also required to stop using public funds indiscriminately, for instance, to keep the stock exchange propped up. It is expected that by curbing wasteful expenditure, Pakistan will be able to put in place some social safety nets to offset the impact of the reforms on the poor.
The immediate crisis is over. Yet, going by the history of IMF interventions, it is questionable whether the latest one will lead to long-term economic stability in a country whose all-round health is crucial to regional and international stability. Pakistan has had several tie-ups with the IMF. It is well-documented that successive governments approached the lending organisation only for the short-term objective of tiding over a cash crunch, making marginal changes to the economy to keep the lender satisfied. Usually these hit the poor. At the same time, they avoided putting in place conditions that would hurt the entrenched military-feudal-business aristocracy. The net outcome: an unviable economic situation each time recession, or unemployment or inflation sets in, leading to an abrupt end to the arrangement with the IMF. Except for one stand-by agreement in the early years of the Musharraf regime, Islamabad has never completed an IMF programme. Ultimately, Pakistan’s economic salvation lies in radical measures such as land redistribution and the expansion of its small manufacturing base. The country’s rulers know this but have failed to show the will or the inclination to bring in such reforms.
The immediate crisis is over. Yet, going by the history of IMF interventions, it is questionable whether the latest one will lead to long-term economic stability in a country whose all-round health is crucial to regional and international stability. Pakistan has had several tie-ups with the IMF. It is well-documented that successive governments approached the lending organisation only for the short-term objective of tiding over a cash crunch, making marginal changes to the economy to keep the lender satisfied. Usually these hit the poor. At the same time, they avoided putting in place conditions that would hurt the entrenched military-feudal-business aristocracy. The net outcome: an unviable economic situation each time recession, or unemployment or inflation sets in, leading to an abrupt end to the arrangement with the IMF. Except for one stand-by agreement in the early years of the Musharraf regime, Islamabad has never completed an IMF programme. Ultimately, Pakistan’s economic salvation lies in radical measures such as land redistribution and the expansion of its small manufacturing base. The country’s rulers know this but have failed to show the will or the inclination to bring in such reforms.
India - Remembering V.P.Singh
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was Prime Minister for less than a year, to be precise from December 2, 1989 to November 10, 1990. However, the two politically volatile actions he took within this short period — the decision to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations providing for reservation for backward classes, and decisive action against the communally disruptive rath yatra of Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani — became watersheds in the history of independent India. Riding to power on an anti-corruption platform against the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress regime, which lost all legitimacy because of the Bofors scandal, V.P. Singh was at the head of a strange political experiment supported from the outside by the BJP as well as the Left parties. For a while, this Prime Minister theorised about politics being essentially about “managing contradictions.” But to his credit, instead of indulging in endless political compromises like Prime Ministers who came after him, he acted boldly and decisively against the communal politics of the BJP and had Mr. Advani arrested midway through his yatra. In his post-prime ministerial career, Mr. Singh worked tirelessly against the toxic communal politics of the BJP. He worked with the Left and mobilised issue-based support for his former party, the Congress. Mr. Singh was thus seen as a champion of both secularism and social justice, two defining principles of Indian politics.
Born on June 25, 1931, in a family rooted in the landed aristocracy, Mr. Singh climbed up the leadership rungs of the Congress and became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980. He won countrywide attention by resigning two years later, accepting responsibility for his government’s failure to control dacoity in the Chambal valley. From then on, Mr. Singh cultivated for himself the image of a conscientious politician who was clean and ever ready to renounce power for a worthy cause. In deciding to implement the Mandal report, which was gathering dust for close to a decade, in the face of opposition from the BJP, Mr. Singh virtually wrote the death warrant for his government. In 1996, he came under pressure to take up the job of Prime Minister at the head of the United Front, an unstable post-election arrangement — and wisely ruled himself out of contention. He now revelled in the role of Citizen Singh. By that time, his health was failing and, in the last stage of his life, he bravely faced the challenges of multiple myeloma and renal failure. He continued to speak out, and on rare occasions act, on issues that mattered. India is poorer for the passing of an unorthodox political leader who gave primacy to democratic principles and progressive social values.
Born on June 25, 1931, in a family rooted in the landed aristocracy, Mr. Singh climbed up the leadership rungs of the Congress and became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980. He won countrywide attention by resigning two years later, accepting responsibility for his government’s failure to control dacoity in the Chambal valley. From then on, Mr. Singh cultivated for himself the image of a conscientious politician who was clean and ever ready to renounce power for a worthy cause. In deciding to implement the Mandal report, which was gathering dust for close to a decade, in the face of opposition from the BJP, Mr. Singh virtually wrote the death warrant for his government. In 1996, he came under pressure to take up the job of Prime Minister at the head of the United Front, an unstable post-election arrangement — and wisely ruled himself out of contention. He now revelled in the role of Citizen Singh. By that time, his health was failing and, in the last stage of his life, he bravely faced the challenges of multiple myeloma and renal failure. He continued to speak out, and on rare occasions act, on issues that mattered. India is poorer for the passing of an unorthodox political leader who gave primacy to democratic principles and progressive social values.
India - Ratan Tata visits Taj
Mumbai: Tata Group Chief Ratan Tata on Saturday visited the Taj Hotel shortly after three terrorists were gunned down by the National Security Guards in the fresh gunbattle early on Saturday morning to take stock of the land-mark building.
He was accompanied by senior officials of the Taj Hotel, including Krishna Kumar, and surveyed the complex that include a heritage block that was devastated by fires at many places set off during the gunbattle between ultras and the security guards.
The 529-room Taj Hotel was the centre of deadly 60-hour long militant attack on the financial capital of India.
After fire erupted from some portions of ground, first and second floors, at least three fire tenders were pushed in to douse the flames.
Many prominent business personalities and corporate executives, including Yes Bank Chairman Ashok Kapur, Sunil Parekh and developer Pankaj Shah, were killed during the terrorist attack at many points at Taj and another luxury hotel Oberoi (Trident).
When contacted, Taj spokesperson said “some representatives of hotel have been allowed to go in but Mr Tata is still outside”.
“We must stand together, shoulder to shoulder as citizens of India, and rebuild what has been destroyed. We must show that we cannot be disabled or destroyed, but that such heinous act will only make us stronger,” he had said after the terrorists hit Mumbai.
He was accompanied by senior officials of the Taj Hotel, including Krishna Kumar, and surveyed the complex that include a heritage block that was devastated by fires at many places set off during the gunbattle between ultras and the security guards.
The 529-room Taj Hotel was the centre of deadly 60-hour long militant attack on the financial capital of India.
After fire erupted from some portions of ground, first and second floors, at least three fire tenders were pushed in to douse the flames.
Many prominent business personalities and corporate executives, including Yes Bank Chairman Ashok Kapur, Sunil Parekh and developer Pankaj Shah, were killed during the terrorist attack at many points at Taj and another luxury hotel Oberoi (Trident).
When contacted, Taj spokesperson said “some representatives of hotel have been allowed to go in but Mr Tata is still outside”.
“We must stand together, shoulder to shoulder as citizens of India, and rebuild what has been destroyed. We must show that we cannot be disabled or destroyed, but that such heinous act will only make us stronger,” he had said after the terrorists hit Mumbai.
India - Guest at Taj Mahal Hotel speaks about his experience
Meera Srinivasan
A. Vaidyanathan , eminent economist and a member of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India, was in his room in the heritage wing of Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace and Towers when the terrorists struck on the night of Wednesday, November 26. After his return to Chennai, he spoke to The Hindu on his experience. Here is his first-person account, given to Meera Srinivasan in Chennai on Friday:
I was there for a meeting on the 26th. The meeting was in the afternoon. They usually put me up at the Taj, so I went there. Some of my friends, whom I normally spend time with, were not in town. So I decided to stay back in the room. I ate in the room and was just watching cricket.
Then at 9.30 p.m., things began popping. My room was in the second floor of the Palace, very close to the stairwell of the central dome. That’s where the thing apparently started. It went padapadapda...single shots and then bursts of fire. I was wondering why they were bursting crackers. There was no particular celebration at that time, there was no festival. And certainly inside the Taj wasn’t the place.
It went on for almost an hour-and-a-half. Around 10.00, I said, ‘Look! Let me check.’ So I called the desk and the duty manager, but nobody picked up the phone. I said [to myself] there was something wrong and later it turned out that they had been really shot. Then I switched on the television and saw that it was close home, downstairs.
You asked me whether I ever thought of walking out. I knew that if this was going on, there was no sense in walking out. That’s why I switched on the television to see if maybe there was anything you’d know. And sure enough, it was happening right there. So I could understand. If something like this had happened, they would not be able to respond. That’s a simple inference.
Anyhow, there was no other news but this firing went on, in bursts, sometimes very close, sometimes a little bit far away. Then around 10.30 or 11 p.m., I got a call from the hotel saying: ‘Look, lock yourself in and don’t go out until we tell you.’ In fact, I took a little while to act on that but I did eventually. Then I put out the lights and went to bed. No other call. I didn’t want to call my wife because she might get worried.
Then around 11.00 p.m., there was one huge explosion. In fact, the building shook. I have a feeling that was the one which blew off the roof-top restaurant. Around 2.00 a.m. there was another big one and then the third one around 3 a.m.
But you see, in between there were bursts of fire. What I heard very close in that corridor of mine – it must’ve been very, very close – was bursts of firing, doors being broken open, people shuffling the debris, including broken glass. It went on. You try and keep calm. When the thing goes... you feel a bit pulled. This went on. Luckily I didn’t panic. I took a – I don’t know what you would call it – philosophical [view]. I am not given to prayers or anything like that. So I said, ’Look, if the chap is going to come to you next, what the hell do you do? Just sit. You think of little things like what defence (laughs)… and so on. But I didn’t panic, I didn’t particularly think of death.
But then, it went on. I had put out the lights and I didn’t even bother to open the curtains or anything like that. I was very cautious not to do anything that might attract attention. Sometimes, I said: ’Look, what the hell? How do I get out of this? Let’s see...let’s wait. Around 2 or 3 [a.m.], I began seeing lights outside. You see, my room was on the road – looking over the sea and the Gateway of India. I saw lots of movement. What I heard fairly early on was faint shouts from below: ‘Don’t panic.’ ‘We are coming to help.’ This was the fire brigade, it turned out subsequently.
At 11 p.m., I [had] looked out, through the translucent curtain, and there was nobody on the road. It was also surprising that I didn’t hear any screams or shouts or panic in the hotel. It’s certainly true that our doors were locked, but you know if there was such fright … none of that. That was the other somewhat eerie thing.
Then at 3.00 a.m., I took some courage and went to the curtain, removed it a bit and saw lots of these fire service cranes and ladders operating. By that time, they had apparently done quite a bit of rescuing. How do I know! (I didn’t know that there was any kind of security.)
Cordite smoke
But my room meanwhile had a lot of cordite smoke. You could smell it. I had switched off the air conditioner because I don’t like it to be too cold. You were breathing that…it’s not difficult, but it’s irritating when you are in a smoky place.
All this was fine. But I was wondering how people were actually facing this. Subsequently there was a chap who told me about the events at Leopold Cafe. What I did was to push aside the curtains and people were all moving around in the cranes. There was a fire service man who was putting powerful lamps and beaming them at the windows. He located me and said: ’Hold on, we’ll come.’
The question was: what do I do, how do I go? The ladder was placed. The fireman came, broke the window, and asked me: ’Are you alone? Do you have much luggage?’ I said, ’Give me a couple of minutes to dress.’ I put on my trousers and shirt. Put on the shoes without the socks, put the clothes in the carry-on bag. I asked the fireman, ’Do you think I can?’ He said, ’Don’t worry. Take the bag,’ and asked me to come. They helped me get on to the ladder. It was not a platform; you had to get on to it. So I got down. It was around 5.30 a.m.
You know one thing which happened? The bullets were obviously very close, but one of the things that happened was when I was leaving, I found that the entire room was flooded with water.
‘Take cover’
And immediately [after I got down] they said: ‘Don’t stay here. Take cover behind the parked fire engines and then keep going.’ Along the side of the Gateway of India, there is a ledge with a sitting place. Everybody was asked to go and sit there – a large number of people.
Next to me was a chap who had a television camera, who apparently was in Leopold Cafe. He described to me the scene. He said this was a backpacking tourist kind of a place; young people go there and have fun. He said they were all eating and suddenly, two fellows broke in, just sauntered in practically, with the guns and systematically, with bursts of fire, shot at random. Sheer carnage, he said, at least 20 people were killed and lots of people injured. This chap even showed me a small brass bullet, which had not detonated or whatever!
What about security?
The other thing I noticed this time - you see, I go there every other month. The last time I went, last month, there was very tight security. You could not get into the [Taj] Palace. There is an entrance there which is closed. At the entrance to the tower, they had two-level security. First, when you enter the open parking, where the cars are parked, you had a very heavy metal frame, your baggage was searched, and then you went. At the entrance of the foyer, there was another metal detector and you were personally searched and so on. This time I noticed it had gone. We could go straight to the Palace.
So that’s how it happened when we got down. In all of this, what you feel is – as I said, I was not panicky, I was fairly calm – the sense that you can’t do very much about it by being excited or angry. You are not going to help anything. This, I suppose, is one of those personal qualities that people have. Some people have it, some people don’t.
I got down, but still it was obviously a tense kind of experience. I got down and went to the place [the ledge with the sitting place along the side of the Gateway of India]. Then you found you were sort of exhausted – physically and emotionally – and you feel a bit wobbly. So I sat there and after a while the Taj people came and said that they would take care of me. I also contacted my colleagues in the Reserve Bank and they said that they would [make suitable arrangements for me]… By the way, my friends in the Reserve Bank called around midnight to find out whether I was all right. In the meantime apparently, they also contacted the security people. They said, ‘Yes, he is in his room.’ So they were a bit reassured, but they were not sure what would happen in the morning.
I was already booked on the 9 a.m. flight. So I was able to go the airport in time, have a wash on the way, and that’s how it ended.
Now when you then see the visuals, you begin to wonder. The reason why there was no noise at all during all of this – of people screaming and shouting. I think most people decided they would lock themselves in. The places where you would have had screams are in the banquet halls, the dining halls, and restaurants. These are on the other floors. You wouldn’t really hear about them on the second floor. That is probably why there was this apparently eerie silence.
But my God! The carnage you see on this [television screen]… one wondered what the sense of all of this was. I don’t think there is any point in trying to make sense out of all of this. It is despicable and it also tells you how just a few very determined people with perverse motivation but still strong motivation and technology, they can create such havoc in such a short time! It also occurred to me that it is not possible to have preventive kind of action. After all, it takes just two people or five. They merge in the crowd, they can do all kinds of things.
Look at the force that you have to deploy to neutralise them without harming the large number of people who are around. I think tightening the law is not going to help. The point is: people should understand that this is something that you can’t really plan against. All you have to do is to look at the root of this – now that is a bigger problem. We don’t have any solution to this. But when people say that it is because of this negligence and that, it is a bit too simplistic. Laws can’t prevent this unless you become a police state. In fact, even police states have terrorism. So it is absurd to think we should sacrifice open societies for this purpose.
Anyhow, that is the kind of adlibbing I can do about what I felt. I can’t really say anything about an eye witness account. Mostly earshot account, if you like. But it tells you how close it was. If I had gone to the restaurant, I don’t know; but no point thinking about such contingent situations. Anyway, nothing happened. The fire brigade was superb. The kind of rescue operation they did. I was also lucky to be on the sea side. If I had been on the other side, I probably would have come back only today, when they cleared the thing up. So it’s all right. Some people will say providence…I would say one of those lotteries in life.
Not in Kolkata
You see, my wife was under the mistaken impression that I was away in Kolkata. She did not see the television at night. So she did not know what was happening. And my daughters were also under the impression I was away in Kolkata. But then, in the morning, the first thing I did when I got down was to call her and say: ’Look, I am in one piece. And this is what happened.’ She was a bit puzzled. I said ’Go see the television. You’ll see what has happened.’
A. Vaidyanathan , eminent economist and a member of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India, was in his room in the heritage wing of Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace and Towers when the terrorists struck on the night of Wednesday, November 26. After his return to Chennai, he spoke to The Hindu on his experience. Here is his first-person account, given to Meera Srinivasan in Chennai on Friday:
I was there for a meeting on the 26th. The meeting was in the afternoon. They usually put me up at the Taj, so I went there. Some of my friends, whom I normally spend time with, were not in town. So I decided to stay back in the room. I ate in the room and was just watching cricket.
Then at 9.30 p.m., things began popping. My room was in the second floor of the Palace, very close to the stairwell of the central dome. That’s where the thing apparently started. It went padapadapda...single shots and then bursts of fire. I was wondering why they were bursting crackers. There was no particular celebration at that time, there was no festival. And certainly inside the Taj wasn’t the place.
It went on for almost an hour-and-a-half. Around 10.00, I said, ‘Look! Let me check.’ So I called the desk and the duty manager, but nobody picked up the phone. I said [to myself] there was something wrong and later it turned out that they had been really shot. Then I switched on the television and saw that it was close home, downstairs.
You asked me whether I ever thought of walking out. I knew that if this was going on, there was no sense in walking out. That’s why I switched on the television to see if maybe there was anything you’d know. And sure enough, it was happening right there. So I could understand. If something like this had happened, they would not be able to respond. That’s a simple inference.
Anyhow, there was no other news but this firing went on, in bursts, sometimes very close, sometimes a little bit far away. Then around 10.30 or 11 p.m., I got a call from the hotel saying: ‘Look, lock yourself in and don’t go out until we tell you.’ In fact, I took a little while to act on that but I did eventually. Then I put out the lights and went to bed. No other call. I didn’t want to call my wife because she might get worried.
Then around 11.00 p.m., there was one huge explosion. In fact, the building shook. I have a feeling that was the one which blew off the roof-top restaurant. Around 2.00 a.m. there was another big one and then the third one around 3 a.m.
But you see, in between there were bursts of fire. What I heard very close in that corridor of mine – it must’ve been very, very close – was bursts of firing, doors being broken open, people shuffling the debris, including broken glass. It went on. You try and keep calm. When the thing goes... you feel a bit pulled. This went on. Luckily I didn’t panic. I took a – I don’t know what you would call it – philosophical [view]. I am not given to prayers or anything like that. So I said, ’Look, if the chap is going to come to you next, what the hell do you do? Just sit. You think of little things like what defence (laughs)… and so on. But I didn’t panic, I didn’t particularly think of death.
But then, it went on. I had put out the lights and I didn’t even bother to open the curtains or anything like that. I was very cautious not to do anything that might attract attention. Sometimes, I said: ’Look, what the hell? How do I get out of this? Let’s see...let’s wait. Around 2 or 3 [a.m.], I began seeing lights outside. You see, my room was on the road – looking over the sea and the Gateway of India. I saw lots of movement. What I heard fairly early on was faint shouts from below: ‘Don’t panic.’ ‘We are coming to help.’ This was the fire brigade, it turned out subsequently.
At 11 p.m., I [had] looked out, through the translucent curtain, and there was nobody on the road. It was also surprising that I didn’t hear any screams or shouts or panic in the hotel. It’s certainly true that our doors were locked, but you know if there was such fright … none of that. That was the other somewhat eerie thing.
Then at 3.00 a.m., I took some courage and went to the curtain, removed it a bit and saw lots of these fire service cranes and ladders operating. By that time, they had apparently done quite a bit of rescuing. How do I know! (I didn’t know that there was any kind of security.)
Cordite smoke
But my room meanwhile had a lot of cordite smoke. You could smell it. I had switched off the air conditioner because I don’t like it to be too cold. You were breathing that…it’s not difficult, but it’s irritating when you are in a smoky place.
All this was fine. But I was wondering how people were actually facing this. Subsequently there was a chap who told me about the events at Leopold Cafe. What I did was to push aside the curtains and people were all moving around in the cranes. There was a fire service man who was putting powerful lamps and beaming them at the windows. He located me and said: ’Hold on, we’ll come.’
The question was: what do I do, how do I go? The ladder was placed. The fireman came, broke the window, and asked me: ’Are you alone? Do you have much luggage?’ I said, ’Give me a couple of minutes to dress.’ I put on my trousers and shirt. Put on the shoes without the socks, put the clothes in the carry-on bag. I asked the fireman, ’Do you think I can?’ He said, ’Don’t worry. Take the bag,’ and asked me to come. They helped me get on to the ladder. It was not a platform; you had to get on to it. So I got down. It was around 5.30 a.m.
You know one thing which happened? The bullets were obviously very close, but one of the things that happened was when I was leaving, I found that the entire room was flooded with water.
‘Take cover’
And immediately [after I got down] they said: ‘Don’t stay here. Take cover behind the parked fire engines and then keep going.’ Along the side of the Gateway of India, there is a ledge with a sitting place. Everybody was asked to go and sit there – a large number of people.
Next to me was a chap who had a television camera, who apparently was in Leopold Cafe. He described to me the scene. He said this was a backpacking tourist kind of a place; young people go there and have fun. He said they were all eating and suddenly, two fellows broke in, just sauntered in practically, with the guns and systematically, with bursts of fire, shot at random. Sheer carnage, he said, at least 20 people were killed and lots of people injured. This chap even showed me a small brass bullet, which had not detonated or whatever!
What about security?
The other thing I noticed this time - you see, I go there every other month. The last time I went, last month, there was very tight security. You could not get into the [Taj] Palace. There is an entrance there which is closed. At the entrance to the tower, they had two-level security. First, when you enter the open parking, where the cars are parked, you had a very heavy metal frame, your baggage was searched, and then you went. At the entrance of the foyer, there was another metal detector and you were personally searched and so on. This time I noticed it had gone. We could go straight to the Palace.
So that’s how it happened when we got down. In all of this, what you feel is – as I said, I was not panicky, I was fairly calm – the sense that you can’t do very much about it by being excited or angry. You are not going to help anything. This, I suppose, is one of those personal qualities that people have. Some people have it, some people don’t.
I got down, but still it was obviously a tense kind of experience. I got down and went to the place [the ledge with the sitting place along the side of the Gateway of India]. Then you found you were sort of exhausted – physically and emotionally – and you feel a bit wobbly. So I sat there and after a while the Taj people came and said that they would take care of me. I also contacted my colleagues in the Reserve Bank and they said that they would [make suitable arrangements for me]… By the way, my friends in the Reserve Bank called around midnight to find out whether I was all right. In the meantime apparently, they also contacted the security people. They said, ‘Yes, he is in his room.’ So they were a bit reassured, but they were not sure what would happen in the morning.
I was already booked on the 9 a.m. flight. So I was able to go the airport in time, have a wash on the way, and that’s how it ended.
Now when you then see the visuals, you begin to wonder. The reason why there was no noise at all during all of this – of people screaming and shouting. I think most people decided they would lock themselves in. The places where you would have had screams are in the banquet halls, the dining halls, and restaurants. These are on the other floors. You wouldn’t really hear about them on the second floor. That is probably why there was this apparently eerie silence.
But my God! The carnage you see on this [television screen]… one wondered what the sense of all of this was. I don’t think there is any point in trying to make sense out of all of this. It is despicable and it also tells you how just a few very determined people with perverse motivation but still strong motivation and technology, they can create such havoc in such a short time! It also occurred to me that it is not possible to have preventive kind of action. After all, it takes just two people or five. They merge in the crowd, they can do all kinds of things.
Look at the force that you have to deploy to neutralise them without harming the large number of people who are around. I think tightening the law is not going to help. The point is: people should understand that this is something that you can’t really plan against. All you have to do is to look at the root of this – now that is a bigger problem. We don’t have any solution to this. But when people say that it is because of this negligence and that, it is a bit too simplistic. Laws can’t prevent this unless you become a police state. In fact, even police states have terrorism. So it is absurd to think we should sacrifice open societies for this purpose.
Anyhow, that is the kind of adlibbing I can do about what I felt. I can’t really say anything about an eye witness account. Mostly earshot account, if you like. But it tells you how close it was. If I had gone to the restaurant, I don’t know; but no point thinking about such contingent situations. Anyway, nothing happened. The fire brigade was superb. The kind of rescue operation they did. I was also lucky to be on the sea side. If I had been on the other side, I probably would have come back only today, when they cleared the thing up. So it’s all right. Some people will say providence…I would say one of those lotteries in life.
Not in Kolkata
You see, my wife was under the mistaken impression that I was away in Kolkata. She did not see the television at night. So she did not know what was happening. And my daughters were also under the impression I was away in Kolkata. But then, in the morning, the first thing I did when I got down was to call her and say: ’Look, I am in one piece. And this is what happened.’ She was a bit puzzled. I said ’Go see the television. You’ll see what has happened.’
Columnists - Nandan Nilekani;Running out of time
When I attempted to chart the ideas and policies India needs to ensure stable, long-term growth, I was keenly aware that we have always responded best in crisis. Indian economists and policy analysts remarked to me time and again, of our lethargy unless we are faced with economic disaster. Our 1991 reforms were pushed through as the country teetered at bankruptcy, and after we had mortgaged our family jewels – our gold reserves – for emergency loans.
Since the global financial meltdown that began in September this year, there has certainly been a keen sense of urgency to frame better, smarter policy and regulation – an urgency that is visible both globally and in India. I am not happy about the meltdown – the world is almost certainly headed for a rocky, tumultuous period. But this now widespread sense of urgency might be the one silver lining during these turbulent times .
For India, this does not come a moment too soon. Our reluctance to push a reform agenda of expanding access has resulted in large and growing disparities when it comes to the opportunities available in India’s economy. Good education for example, is only accessible to the children whose families can afford private schools, and coaching classes to get into the top institutes. Public-funded education that the rest of India’s children rely on, on the other hand, is a miserable failure, with dropout rates over 90% despite initiatives such as the mid - day meal and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The result of this are children and teenagers who make their living as street hawkers, construction workers and factory labour. The unfairness of this is overwhelming.
Such disparities in access are all too visible across the country, and have greatly limited class and income mobility across India. While infrastructure in urban India has begun to show tentative progress, farmers lacking roads connecting them from their villages to markets have to rely on corrupt networks of middlemen to sell their crops. Transporting their produce across vast distances without cold chains means that they lose over a third of what they grow due to spoilage. Across rural India, caste relationships still hold sway, limiting the opportunities for backward castes and Dalits to own land and start businesses – to date, India has not seen a single major Dalit entrepreneur. Migrants who leave these harsh livelihoods and come into cities find that finding a home is a distant dream outside the slums that form urban India’s fringes, its messy and chaotic boundaries. Most of the poor in both the slums and in rural India lack reliable electricity and water supply, and the people who can afford it resort to private solutions in the face of such shortages – they buy their own generators, live in gated communities with private security, and use private sources for water.
When our markets seem ineffective in terms of providing widespread access, people turn to other solutions. As a result, India’s markets exist alongside a complicated structure of subsidies, loan waivers, hand-outs, tax exemptions and government sponsored jobs and reservations. And people who have watched the economic boom from the sidelines, see these concessions as their best options, and are hostile towards markets.
In fact, the global financial crisis that has erupted underlines why our issues of access may be our most critical challenge. Across countries, we have seen a populist backlash against markets when they have failed to address crises around access – such as in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, and more recently in large parts of Latin America. Even the US, a country that supposedly holds the values of the free market close to its heart, is seeing a new rhetoric and anger against big business as income inequalities and unemployment rise across the country. It shows how easily a country’s economic mood can change – since the financial crisis has required over one trillion dollars of US taxpayer money to bail out American banks even as millions of houses across the US are foreclosed, even the staunchest free-market believers are expressing hostility against Wall Street. Governments clearly ignore such challenges of inequality at their peril. Without more reforms to create access, India’s entire progress will totter. For those Indian leaders ambivalent about reforms and who believe that they have only led to creating rich businessmen, now is the time to catch the bull by the horns and promote the reforms that drastically expand access to opportunity in education, jobs, incomes and markets for all.
Since the global financial meltdown that began in September this year, there has certainly been a keen sense of urgency to frame better, smarter policy and regulation – an urgency that is visible both globally and in India. I am not happy about the meltdown – the world is almost certainly headed for a rocky, tumultuous period. But this now widespread sense of urgency might be the one silver lining during these turbulent times .
For India, this does not come a moment too soon. Our reluctance to push a reform agenda of expanding access has resulted in large and growing disparities when it comes to the opportunities available in India’s economy. Good education for example, is only accessible to the children whose families can afford private schools, and coaching classes to get into the top institutes. Public-funded education that the rest of India’s children rely on, on the other hand, is a miserable failure, with dropout rates over 90% despite initiatives such as the mid - day meal and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The result of this are children and teenagers who make their living as street hawkers, construction workers and factory labour. The unfairness of this is overwhelming.
Such disparities in access are all too visible across the country, and have greatly limited class and income mobility across India. While infrastructure in urban India has begun to show tentative progress, farmers lacking roads connecting them from their villages to markets have to rely on corrupt networks of middlemen to sell their crops. Transporting their produce across vast distances without cold chains means that they lose over a third of what they grow due to spoilage. Across rural India, caste relationships still hold sway, limiting the opportunities for backward castes and Dalits to own land and start businesses – to date, India has not seen a single major Dalit entrepreneur. Migrants who leave these harsh livelihoods and come into cities find that finding a home is a distant dream outside the slums that form urban India’s fringes, its messy and chaotic boundaries. Most of the poor in both the slums and in rural India lack reliable electricity and water supply, and the people who can afford it resort to private solutions in the face of such shortages – they buy their own generators, live in gated communities with private security, and use private sources for water.
When our markets seem ineffective in terms of providing widespread access, people turn to other solutions. As a result, India’s markets exist alongside a complicated structure of subsidies, loan waivers, hand-outs, tax exemptions and government sponsored jobs and reservations. And people who have watched the economic boom from the sidelines, see these concessions as their best options, and are hostile towards markets.
In fact, the global financial crisis that has erupted underlines why our issues of access may be our most critical challenge. Across countries, we have seen a populist backlash against markets when they have failed to address crises around access – such as in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, and more recently in large parts of Latin America. Even the US, a country that supposedly holds the values of the free market close to its heart, is seeing a new rhetoric and anger against big business as income inequalities and unemployment rise across the country. It shows how easily a country’s economic mood can change – since the financial crisis has required over one trillion dollars of US taxpayer money to bail out American banks even as millions of houses across the US are foreclosed, even the staunchest free-market believers are expressing hostility against Wall Street. Governments clearly ignore such challenges of inequality at their peril. Without more reforms to create access, India’s entire progress will totter. For those Indian leaders ambivalent about reforms and who believe that they have only led to creating rich businessmen, now is the time to catch the bull by the horns and promote the reforms that drastically expand access to opportunity in education, jobs, incomes and markets for all.
Columnists - Nandan Nilekani;Aganist fear
I have never felt unsafe in an Indian city, including Mumbai, despite its traumatic past. It may have something to do with our democracy – as citizens, we feel despite such unrest, that we have a semblance of control over the systems that govern and protect us. But as I watched the live feed on Mumbai’s carnage on television, I considered how fragile this sense of control and security can be. And once citizens lose this collective faith that they have some power and that they are secure, the demand for change is resounding.
The consequences of this were immediately clear – political calculations were fast-changing in the glare of the television cameras and in the hours of the standoff. Several states are up for elections, and most of the ads I witnessed as I recently travelled about the country centred on inflation or spiralling costs – one opposition ad was a cartoon that showed the state government playing the flute while the ‘snake of inflation’ rose and danced. I guess that after this week, these ads have lost a bit of their sting. The focus has turned dramatically to security.
What does that mean for us? In the past seventy-two hours, we witnessed an event that has transformed the psyche of a nation. Since the bomb blasts that ripped through our cities and towns three months ago, there have been familiar remarks of how stoic our urban citizens are – echoes of comments Mumbaikars received after the train explosions in July 2006 and the bomb blasts in 1993.
Again, as the day waned and the situation began to stabilise, there were comments on our ability to move past disaster, and how people would simply pick up the pieces and go on with their lives. But this time around, these statements have a hollow feel – we have been struck so many times that one must eventually wonder if what we see in the aftermath is stoicism or helplessness.
Unfortunately though, the actions governments take during times of fear are often not ideal ones. Indian politicians have since the blasts in July, mostly debated bringing back draconian laws resembling the repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. The BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu noted that ‘an extraordinary situation needs an extraordinary law,’ an opinion that the UPA government has come around to holding themselves. This recent attack will likely speed the passage of such a law.
We’ve seen the impact such laws can have in the US and Britain, following the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq war. Massive powers of detention and interrogation that such laws allow cast the net too far and wide – what you end up with is a disproportionate amount of false positives and captured innocents, which muddies the efforts against terrorism. The record of POTA and TADA in India has been dismal – they have been used to target particular communities, and as tools for revenge. The violations of human rights that result are unacceptable. These laws become all the more dangerous when we consider the terrorists who led the recent bombings. These were not easily identifiable men. They looked like us— like any of the millions of young men in our cities, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, yuppie-like down to their hair-cuts and their glasses. And such laws make democracies less so, and by hurting innocent civilians, serve as powerful recruiting tools for terrorists.
There is no question that we face dangerous times, and our governments are going to react in ways that will demonstrate to the public, concrete action and strict enforcement. Our impulses will be to strike back with force, and with hard, draconian measures. But our weaknesses unfortunately, lie not in the lack of a terrorism law, but within the core of our institutions – our police forces, the effectiveness of our intelligence agencies, the surveillance work we carry out. Since the 1970s, all these once reputable institutions have become deeply politicised, to the point that they have not been allowed to work without interference. Today, the frozen systems of our judiciary ensure that nearly half a million people are languishing in our jails without trials. Our cities are weak and ineffectual, unable to deal with any crisis. Unfortunately, given our talent for workarounds, these are issues that governments will shy away from. But without facing these challenges boldly, the prevention of terror attacks will be elusive, and we will continue to be vulnerable.
Calm – that emotion that seems so distant and unnecessary in such moments of crisis, will be critical to get us through this difficult time. The danger of thoughtless retaliation comes not just from our governments, but also from our citizens. Our country has large numbers of minority religious communities, and there will be enough demagogues eager to whip up anger against convenient targets. We can choose at this critical moment to let divides like religion dominate and frighten us, sidelining our real concerns, or we can adopt the reforms and policy ideas we need to win the battle against militants. Terrorism is fundamentally about igniting terror – about overwhelming us with fear. We have to resist this fear rather than be subjugated by it
The consequences of this were immediately clear – political calculations were fast-changing in the glare of the television cameras and in the hours of the standoff. Several states are up for elections, and most of the ads I witnessed as I recently travelled about the country centred on inflation or spiralling costs – one opposition ad was a cartoon that showed the state government playing the flute while the ‘snake of inflation’ rose and danced. I guess that after this week, these ads have lost a bit of their sting. The focus has turned dramatically to security.
What does that mean for us? In the past seventy-two hours, we witnessed an event that has transformed the psyche of a nation. Since the bomb blasts that ripped through our cities and towns three months ago, there have been familiar remarks of how stoic our urban citizens are – echoes of comments Mumbaikars received after the train explosions in July 2006 and the bomb blasts in 1993.
Again, as the day waned and the situation began to stabilise, there were comments on our ability to move past disaster, and how people would simply pick up the pieces and go on with their lives. But this time around, these statements have a hollow feel – we have been struck so many times that one must eventually wonder if what we see in the aftermath is stoicism or helplessness.
Unfortunately though, the actions governments take during times of fear are often not ideal ones. Indian politicians have since the blasts in July, mostly debated bringing back draconian laws resembling the repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. The BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu noted that ‘an extraordinary situation needs an extraordinary law,’ an opinion that the UPA government has come around to holding themselves. This recent attack will likely speed the passage of such a law.
We’ve seen the impact such laws can have in the US and Britain, following the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq war. Massive powers of detention and interrogation that such laws allow cast the net too far and wide – what you end up with is a disproportionate amount of false positives and captured innocents, which muddies the efforts against terrorism. The record of POTA and TADA in India has been dismal – they have been used to target particular communities, and as tools for revenge. The violations of human rights that result are unacceptable. These laws become all the more dangerous when we consider the terrorists who led the recent bombings. These were not easily identifiable men. They looked like us— like any of the millions of young men in our cities, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, yuppie-like down to their hair-cuts and their glasses. And such laws make democracies less so, and by hurting innocent civilians, serve as powerful recruiting tools for terrorists.
There is no question that we face dangerous times, and our governments are going to react in ways that will demonstrate to the public, concrete action and strict enforcement. Our impulses will be to strike back with force, and with hard, draconian measures. But our weaknesses unfortunately, lie not in the lack of a terrorism law, but within the core of our institutions – our police forces, the effectiveness of our intelligence agencies, the surveillance work we carry out. Since the 1970s, all these once reputable institutions have become deeply politicised, to the point that they have not been allowed to work without interference. Today, the frozen systems of our judiciary ensure that nearly half a million people are languishing in our jails without trials. Our cities are weak and ineffectual, unable to deal with any crisis. Unfortunately, given our talent for workarounds, these are issues that governments will shy away from. But without facing these challenges boldly, the prevention of terror attacks will be elusive, and we will continue to be vulnerable.
Calm – that emotion that seems so distant and unnecessary in such moments of crisis, will be critical to get us through this difficult time. The danger of thoughtless retaliation comes not just from our governments, but also from our citizens. Our country has large numbers of minority religious communities, and there will be enough demagogues eager to whip up anger against convenient targets. We can choose at this critical moment to let divides like religion dominate and frighten us, sidelining our real concerns, or we can adopt the reforms and policy ideas we need to win the battle against militants. Terrorism is fundamentally about igniting terror – about overwhelming us with fear. We have to resist this fear rather than be subjugated by it
Books - Q&A Nandan Nilekani;Imagining India
V.Sridhar
Bangalore: Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman and co-founder of Infosys Technologies Ltd., speaks to V. Sridhar about his recently-launched book, “Imagining India: Ideas for the new century.” He speaks about his agenda of reforms that can transform India.
“I hope the book generates a heated debate and even criticism, so that it results in something positive,” he said. He hopes the book’s adjunct on the Web, imaginingindia.com, will act as a launching pad for his ideas.
Question: What prompted you to write Imagining India? How long did it take and how did you find time for it?
NN: I started the book in April 2007 and finished it last month. As I travelled around the world, people asked me about India. They wanted to know why there are so many contradictions in life here. I found I did not have a convincing answer to many of the questions they posed. That is when I decided to write the book. I also felt that it would, in the process, also clarify my own thoughts about why we are the way we are.
Another reason was that I felt that India had a small window of opportunity, within which problems needed to be addressed quickly. Time was running out and I felt I needed to put forward my agenda in the public domain.
I call this book a safety net of ideas. Even if the political leadership does not react, I hope enough thinking people would buy into the ideas I have presented. If some fantastic leadership comes along, it will at least be galvanised by the ideas I have presented.
How did you find time to write the book?
Fortunately I had a very good researcher, Devi Yashodha, who worked with me on this book. I interviewed 126 people for this book, meeting eight to 10 persons a day.
Your book appears to be a celebration of economic reforms, which accelerated in the 1990s…
Yes, but the approach is not one of market fundamentalism. It recognises that economic reforms created opportunities for many more people. But halfway reforms results in benefits for only some of us who were dealt the right cards. Reforms is not just about a few rich guys. It is about providing access to education, health, jobs, markets, infrastructure to the common man.
This book was written before the global economy went into a deep recession. What would you have added or amended in the book if you had another chance to write it, in the context of the slowdown in India?
Reforms are even more relevant now. The financial injection from overseas during the last several years accounted for about 2 to 3 percentage points of the annual growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent of the Indian economy. I think these capital flows made us complacent. We started to think we had done what needed to be done.
In order to have sustainable reform we need to implement what I call fundamental reforms, which are what my book is about. It is about reforms in education, infrastructure, health, urban policy and other such issues.
Bangalore: Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman and co-founder of Infosys Technologies Ltd., speaks to V. Sridhar about his recently-launched book, “Imagining India: Ideas for the new century.” He speaks about his agenda of reforms that can transform India.
“I hope the book generates a heated debate and even criticism, so that it results in something positive,” he said. He hopes the book’s adjunct on the Web, imaginingindia.com, will act as a launching pad for his ideas.
Question: What prompted you to write Imagining India? How long did it take and how did you find time for it?
NN: I started the book in April 2007 and finished it last month. As I travelled around the world, people asked me about India. They wanted to know why there are so many contradictions in life here. I found I did not have a convincing answer to many of the questions they posed. That is when I decided to write the book. I also felt that it would, in the process, also clarify my own thoughts about why we are the way we are.
Another reason was that I felt that India had a small window of opportunity, within which problems needed to be addressed quickly. Time was running out and I felt I needed to put forward my agenda in the public domain.
I call this book a safety net of ideas. Even if the political leadership does not react, I hope enough thinking people would buy into the ideas I have presented. If some fantastic leadership comes along, it will at least be galvanised by the ideas I have presented.
How did you find time to write the book?
Fortunately I had a very good researcher, Devi Yashodha, who worked with me on this book. I interviewed 126 people for this book, meeting eight to 10 persons a day.
Your book appears to be a celebration of economic reforms, which accelerated in the 1990s…
Yes, but the approach is not one of market fundamentalism. It recognises that economic reforms created opportunities for many more people. But halfway reforms results in benefits for only some of us who were dealt the right cards. Reforms is not just about a few rich guys. It is about providing access to education, health, jobs, markets, infrastructure to the common man.
This book was written before the global economy went into a deep recession. What would you have added or amended in the book if you had another chance to write it, in the context of the slowdown in India?
Reforms are even more relevant now. The financial injection from overseas during the last several years accounted for about 2 to 3 percentage points of the annual growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent of the Indian economy. I think these capital flows made us complacent. We started to think we had done what needed to be done.
In order to have sustainable reform we need to implement what I call fundamental reforms, which are what my book is about. It is about reforms in education, infrastructure, health, urban policy and other such issues.
India - A monument to love;Mumbai’s Taj Mahal
Russi.M.Lala
The 1880s and 1890s were a time of great construction in Bombay. The Grand Victoria Terminus was built, and after it the Municipal Corporation building, another beautiful structure, followed by the Churchgate headquarters of the B.B. & C.I. Railways (now Western Railways). But there was no hotel worthy of the growing city.
Being an ardent fan of Mark Twain, Jamsetji Tata may have read of the writer’s fate in the so-called ‘best’ Watson’s Hotel: Mark Twain and his family were roused every morning at dawn by doors slamming, servants shouting, and “fiendish bursts of laughter, explosions of dynamite.” The Irish chef at the hotel was apparently more conversant with the French language that with French cooking, “serving up Irish stew on 14 occasions under 14 different French names.” Sir Stanley Reed, Editor of The Times of India, said Jamsetji had an intense pride and affection for the city of his birth, and when a friend protested against the intense discomforts of hotel life in Bombay, he growled: “I will build one.”
One day without consulting anybody, not even his sons or partners, he announced his plan to build a grand hotel. It was his personal contribution and money he was putting in — not that of Tata & Sons. Along the present Yacht Club at Apollo Bunder was a little bay where yachts used to scull. The British were reclaiming the land and he bought a substantial site of two-and-a-half acres on November 1, 1898 on a 99-year lease. There was no formal laying of a foundation stone but a traditional coconut was broken and a Parsi diva (oil lamp) was lit, perhaps by the well or spring between the present swimming pool and the lifts. This ceremony took place in 1900.
Many an interesting story is invented round the Taj being designed by an Italian/French architect who, after his exertions, went home and returned to find the building was put the wrong way around — what should have been in the rear was in front and vise versa. Heartbroken he went to the top floor of the Taj and flung himself out of the window. Dramatic! Touching! But not true. As anyone who stayed at the then-non-air-conditioned Taj in the summer would attest, the late afternoon breezes that blow across Colaba do not spring up from the harbour but sweep in from across Back Bay. The U-shaped wings of the hotel were positioned to trap this breeze and extract the most benefit.
Indeed, the necessity to draw whatever relief there might be from the torrid heat of western India was certainly the inspiration behind the hotel’s two most original features. At the time, the clientele Jamsetji expected was from abroad and his endeavour was to make the hotel as cool as possible. Thus it had high ceilings and wide corridors, which would be conducive to air circulation. Furthermore, the Wellington Mews — another property Jamsetji bought — behind the hotel site was where the horses and carriages were housed and these could roll in directly from the west side.
One convincing explanation comes from the daughter of a Goan customs officer, Francis Xavier D’Mello, who was stationed in the customs shed at Apollo Bunder and witnessed the Taj rising stone by stone: “Jamsetji Tata came regularly to watch his great hotel being built. The customs shed provided the only shelter from the blazing sun, so Mr. Tata used to come there and have long chats with my father. Once my father asked him why he had put the entrance to the Taj at the back, and Jamsetji told him that he wanted the majority of his hotel guests to have rooms overlooking the sea. Jamsetji surely had some hand in his broad instructions to the architect.”
Sadly, having designed the Taj along with a Parsi architect under Jamsetji’s instructions, Sitaram died of malaria. The dome designed on the model of the Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) had not been built. W.A. Chambers was called to help. Khansahib Sorabji Contractor built the solid structure.
The prospectus for the hotel to be underlined some salient features: “The Hotel, when completed, will be five storeys high, and will accommodate, beside hotel boarders to the number of 500, a number of permanent residents. Immense cellars, below the ground floor level will contain the refrigeration plant, which will cool the rooms of the inmates, and will also enable their food to be stored in a manner foreign to India. The ground floor will be occupied by the offices, first-class restaurants, and shops for the sale of articles generally desired by travellers. The first floor will be mostly taken up with a grand dining room, drawing room, reading rooms, billiard room, and a few grand suites, all provided with electric fans. The second, third, fourth and fifth floors will contain bedrooms, mostly double and furnished in the Continental style with sofa, tables and chairs, and other furniture, and on each floor bathrooms and lavatories. The kitchens etc., will be on the top of the house with a roof garden. The Hotel will be lighted throughout with electric lights, and many lifts, also worked by electricity, will convey residents from floor to floor with comfort. A Turkish bath will also be fitted up in the Hotel.”
Jamsetji personally went to order the electrical machinery from Dusseldorf and chandeliers from Berlin. Furthermore, he made sure that if by chance electricity failed, a back up system of gas lights was at hand. There was the in-house soda bottling plant, an electric laundry, fans from the USA — and the first spun-steel pillars from the Paris Exhibition where the Eiffel Tower was then the latest wonder of the world. These pillars, a hundred years later, hold up the ceiling of the Banquet Hall.
For all his projects Jamsetji got the costing done thoroughly but not for the Taj. It was his gift to the city he loved — as the Taj Mahal of Agra was Shah Jahan’s memorial to the woman he loved. It cost about Rs. 25 lakh. When the hotel opened, it had a large staff of waiters but only seven guests. It was Bombay’s first public building to be lit by electricity and when it happened, those present outside clapped as they saw it lit.
As if such a grand edifice was not enough, he purchased two small islands near Uran called Panjoo and Dongri so that the guests at the Taj could go on picnics.
Jamsetji wanted to lease out the Taj to an experienced European hotelier. The plans fell through and finding the staff and running the hotel was to fall initially on him in 1902 and later on his partners and colleagues. The Gateway of India came up only in 1924 to commemorate the visit of King Emperor George V and Queen Mary in 1911. Before that at the Gateway site, sahibs used to sit at tables sipping burra and chotta pegs.
Perhaps, says Allen and Dwivedi (who have done research on the Taj), Jamsetji believed in starting a new venture on an auspicious date, Muhurat as it is called. It was decided to open the hotel on December 16, 1903, before the building was complete. Only one wing was ready and the dome had not been completed. A study of Jamsetji’s medical reports of the late-1903 shows his health was deteriorating. His sons and colleagues may have decided to speed up the opening so he could have the satisfaction of seeing at least one of his dreams come true. Steel, the hydro-electric venture, and the Indian Institute of Science came up after his death.
Five months after the Muhurat, when Jamsetji died, a leading journal of Calcutta, The Empress, wrote in the obituary: “The new hotel represented, to Mr. Tata, something more than a mere commercial venture, and he had determined that the Taj Mahal Hotel should set an example, which should re-act throughout India, in removing one of the greatest hindrances to agreeable travel in this country. The plans were drawn with the sole purpose of securing an entirely worthy building, and he looked for no immediate financial returns. There is something peculiarly saddening in the coincidence that the fixing of the key-stone of the noble dome should have preceded, but only a few days, the death of the man who inspired it.”
The lives of the clientele, which was mainly British, revolved round news from home. The P. & O. brought the mail every Friday morning and left every Saturday evening. The London GPO’s largest single destination was mail for India. It was rushed from London, sorted out between Aden and Bombay and special bags delivered within an hour of the arrival of the steamer. Saturday was spent in answering letters. The Sea Lounge at the Taj was created as a letter-writing room and by special arrangement mail from the Taj was directly delivered to the ship.
In years to come, world-renowned personalities have stayed there, from Somerset Maugham and Duke Ellington to Lord Mountbatten and Bill Clinton. The hotel was featured in a hundred books, including Louis Bromfield’s One Night in Bombay, which is centred on the Taj.
The maharajas become the great patrons of the Taj and invited the hotel to do special catering in their states. The Chamber of Princes was to meet there regularly every January — hence the ‘Princes’ Room’ at the southern end of the Taj. The business maharajas were to follow next; today the Taj is the most sought after venue for wedding receptions, and one can frequently see fire crackers being let off at the gate as the bridegroom’s party dances merrily away.
As there was no Gateway of India for 20 years after the Taj came up, the hotel offered the first view of the city to ships sailing into the harbour until 1924. Even now, with many more tall buildings on the skyline, the hotel engages immediate attention. It is a symbol of Mumbai.
(Russi M. Lala is the author of For the Love of India — The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata. He lives near the Taj Mahal and even closer to Nariman House.)
The 1880s and 1890s were a time of great construction in Bombay. The Grand Victoria Terminus was built, and after it the Municipal Corporation building, another beautiful structure, followed by the Churchgate headquarters of the B.B. & C.I. Railways (now Western Railways). But there was no hotel worthy of the growing city.
Being an ardent fan of Mark Twain, Jamsetji Tata may have read of the writer’s fate in the so-called ‘best’ Watson’s Hotel: Mark Twain and his family were roused every morning at dawn by doors slamming, servants shouting, and “fiendish bursts of laughter, explosions of dynamite.” The Irish chef at the hotel was apparently more conversant with the French language that with French cooking, “serving up Irish stew on 14 occasions under 14 different French names.” Sir Stanley Reed, Editor of The Times of India, said Jamsetji had an intense pride and affection for the city of his birth, and when a friend protested against the intense discomforts of hotel life in Bombay, he growled: “I will build one.”
One day without consulting anybody, not even his sons or partners, he announced his plan to build a grand hotel. It was his personal contribution and money he was putting in — not that of Tata & Sons. Along the present Yacht Club at Apollo Bunder was a little bay where yachts used to scull. The British were reclaiming the land and he bought a substantial site of two-and-a-half acres on November 1, 1898 on a 99-year lease. There was no formal laying of a foundation stone but a traditional coconut was broken and a Parsi diva (oil lamp) was lit, perhaps by the well or spring between the present swimming pool and the lifts. This ceremony took place in 1900.
Many an interesting story is invented round the Taj being designed by an Italian/French architect who, after his exertions, went home and returned to find the building was put the wrong way around — what should have been in the rear was in front and vise versa. Heartbroken he went to the top floor of the Taj and flung himself out of the window. Dramatic! Touching! But not true. As anyone who stayed at the then-non-air-conditioned Taj in the summer would attest, the late afternoon breezes that blow across Colaba do not spring up from the harbour but sweep in from across Back Bay. The U-shaped wings of the hotel were positioned to trap this breeze and extract the most benefit.
Indeed, the necessity to draw whatever relief there might be from the torrid heat of western India was certainly the inspiration behind the hotel’s two most original features. At the time, the clientele Jamsetji expected was from abroad and his endeavour was to make the hotel as cool as possible. Thus it had high ceilings and wide corridors, which would be conducive to air circulation. Furthermore, the Wellington Mews — another property Jamsetji bought — behind the hotel site was where the horses and carriages were housed and these could roll in directly from the west side.
One convincing explanation comes from the daughter of a Goan customs officer, Francis Xavier D’Mello, who was stationed in the customs shed at Apollo Bunder and witnessed the Taj rising stone by stone: “Jamsetji Tata came regularly to watch his great hotel being built. The customs shed provided the only shelter from the blazing sun, so Mr. Tata used to come there and have long chats with my father. Once my father asked him why he had put the entrance to the Taj at the back, and Jamsetji told him that he wanted the majority of his hotel guests to have rooms overlooking the sea. Jamsetji surely had some hand in his broad instructions to the architect.”
Sadly, having designed the Taj along with a Parsi architect under Jamsetji’s instructions, Sitaram died of malaria. The dome designed on the model of the Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) had not been built. W.A. Chambers was called to help. Khansahib Sorabji Contractor built the solid structure.
The prospectus for the hotel to be underlined some salient features: “The Hotel, when completed, will be five storeys high, and will accommodate, beside hotel boarders to the number of 500, a number of permanent residents. Immense cellars, below the ground floor level will contain the refrigeration plant, which will cool the rooms of the inmates, and will also enable their food to be stored in a manner foreign to India. The ground floor will be occupied by the offices, first-class restaurants, and shops for the sale of articles generally desired by travellers. The first floor will be mostly taken up with a grand dining room, drawing room, reading rooms, billiard room, and a few grand suites, all provided with electric fans. The second, third, fourth and fifth floors will contain bedrooms, mostly double and furnished in the Continental style with sofa, tables and chairs, and other furniture, and on each floor bathrooms and lavatories. The kitchens etc., will be on the top of the house with a roof garden. The Hotel will be lighted throughout with electric lights, and many lifts, also worked by electricity, will convey residents from floor to floor with comfort. A Turkish bath will also be fitted up in the Hotel.”
Jamsetji personally went to order the electrical machinery from Dusseldorf and chandeliers from Berlin. Furthermore, he made sure that if by chance electricity failed, a back up system of gas lights was at hand. There was the in-house soda bottling plant, an electric laundry, fans from the USA — and the first spun-steel pillars from the Paris Exhibition where the Eiffel Tower was then the latest wonder of the world. These pillars, a hundred years later, hold up the ceiling of the Banquet Hall.
For all his projects Jamsetji got the costing done thoroughly but not for the Taj. It was his gift to the city he loved — as the Taj Mahal of Agra was Shah Jahan’s memorial to the woman he loved. It cost about Rs. 25 lakh. When the hotel opened, it had a large staff of waiters but only seven guests. It was Bombay’s first public building to be lit by electricity and when it happened, those present outside clapped as they saw it lit.
As if such a grand edifice was not enough, he purchased two small islands near Uran called Panjoo and Dongri so that the guests at the Taj could go on picnics.
Jamsetji wanted to lease out the Taj to an experienced European hotelier. The plans fell through and finding the staff and running the hotel was to fall initially on him in 1902 and later on his partners and colleagues. The Gateway of India came up only in 1924 to commemorate the visit of King Emperor George V and Queen Mary in 1911. Before that at the Gateway site, sahibs used to sit at tables sipping burra and chotta pegs.
Perhaps, says Allen and Dwivedi (who have done research on the Taj), Jamsetji believed in starting a new venture on an auspicious date, Muhurat as it is called. It was decided to open the hotel on December 16, 1903, before the building was complete. Only one wing was ready and the dome had not been completed. A study of Jamsetji’s medical reports of the late-1903 shows his health was deteriorating. His sons and colleagues may have decided to speed up the opening so he could have the satisfaction of seeing at least one of his dreams come true. Steel, the hydro-electric venture, and the Indian Institute of Science came up after his death.
Five months after the Muhurat, when Jamsetji died, a leading journal of Calcutta, The Empress, wrote in the obituary: “The new hotel represented, to Mr. Tata, something more than a mere commercial venture, and he had determined that the Taj Mahal Hotel should set an example, which should re-act throughout India, in removing one of the greatest hindrances to agreeable travel in this country. The plans were drawn with the sole purpose of securing an entirely worthy building, and he looked for no immediate financial returns. There is something peculiarly saddening in the coincidence that the fixing of the key-stone of the noble dome should have preceded, but only a few days, the death of the man who inspired it.”
The lives of the clientele, which was mainly British, revolved round news from home. The P. & O. brought the mail every Friday morning and left every Saturday evening. The London GPO’s largest single destination was mail for India. It was rushed from London, sorted out between Aden and Bombay and special bags delivered within an hour of the arrival of the steamer. Saturday was spent in answering letters. The Sea Lounge at the Taj was created as a letter-writing room and by special arrangement mail from the Taj was directly delivered to the ship.
In years to come, world-renowned personalities have stayed there, from Somerset Maugham and Duke Ellington to Lord Mountbatten and Bill Clinton. The hotel was featured in a hundred books, including Louis Bromfield’s One Night in Bombay, which is centred on the Taj.
The maharajas become the great patrons of the Taj and invited the hotel to do special catering in their states. The Chamber of Princes was to meet there regularly every January — hence the ‘Princes’ Room’ at the southern end of the Taj. The business maharajas were to follow next; today the Taj is the most sought after venue for wedding receptions, and one can frequently see fire crackers being let off at the gate as the bridegroom’s party dances merrily away.
As there was no Gateway of India for 20 years after the Taj came up, the hotel offered the first view of the city to ships sailing into the harbour until 1924. Even now, with many more tall buildings on the skyline, the hotel engages immediate attention. It is a symbol of Mumbai.
(Russi M. Lala is the author of For the Love of India — The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata. He lives near the Taj Mahal and even closer to Nariman House.)
Mktg - Q&A Charles Cadell,CEO - Lowe India
Nirmal John
India’s advertising industry wants to graduate to the next level, where digital becomes integral rather than incidental to the thinking. It is this culture, which expats in the industry want to bring in, says Charles Cadell, chief executive officer of Lowe India, in a chat with DNA Money’s Nirmal John. Excerpts:
How is the India office different from other global offices you have worked in?
It is very different. You often see those who are Indian saying it is different. But you are slightly sceptical. But once you come here and work from the inside, you realise it is true. There is also the Indian upbringing, the psyche which is fundamentally different from anything in any market, both in Asian and in the Western ones. I had an assumption that I could use some of my learning, cultural learning from other Asian and Western markets here in India. But they are not really the same. You could build on that, but that is about it.
How about the advertising agency culture?
The level of talent here is incredible. I spent a large part of my life in other Asian markets stealing Indian talent. You have a fairly well-developed traditional advertising environment, in terms of creativity. The nature of the rest of the market is fairly far behind, especially the rest of the Asian markets, be it digital platforms or the marketing services platforms or the development of new verticals like retail marketing.
And that is obviously the reason why I came here. A lot of the agencies are struggling with the integration of these services. Even the remuneration system, the number of clients who are still of the commission system, is ‘wow’. There is enormous talent. But in terms of development of the industry, in relation to other markets, there is some way to go.
So your mandate in India is to bring India up in terms of integration?
It is my mandate; it is the mandate of the whole industry as well. There is not one agency out there which is not talking about digitisation and mobile marketing and integration, accountability and measurement now in the context of a recession.
Has this slowdown affected Lowe?
To the extent that our clients have been more cautious as compared to the previous quarters, yes, it has affected us. It has affected our planning for the next year. But I have seen three downturns, first in the 80’s when I was an account manager, then the Asian one in 1997, and now this.
Again, I think I am blessed as an expat manager in the one place in the world where a downturn is regarded as a 6% growth. The outlook of our clients as well as others in general changes every week, on whether they are spending or not spending. It is incredibly fluid. I do know that the industry will grow and I hope that this will result in additional spur to the marketing services debate and accountability issues which should come into the industry.
How do you plan to integrate these into your agency?
The main way is channel planning. We are going to put a lot of emphasis on that. We will be bringing people from outside. I think the biggest problem is that digital is perceived as a separate channel. That is not what it is about. It has to be completely embedded into any organisation, any advertising agency.
Any such agency which is not fully digitised does not have the right to call itself an advertising agency or a communications company. The process within agencies needs to ask creatives to think digital. You may have experts within a domain, but frankly, you ought to have brand managers, planners and creatives at ease with digital. That is the first thing we are doing. We will be bringing in best-in-class digital companies into India in another six weeks.
We have been seeing a re-entry of expat talent into India…
To a large extent, India doesn’t have the expertise in channel planning and experiential planning and also in integrating digital into the whole communication process. That is exactly what we will bring in. Retail marketing is another area. Very few Indians are experienced in it. So that is why expats are here, bringing in knowledge about these verticals. But for any expat, you know from a cultural perspective that India is going to be ‘full on’.
International agencies like BBH are coming in and trying to align their international accounts in India...
I don’t see BBH as a threat in India. They are competition like all others. I don’t think they will be offering anything in the Indian context that we don’t offer. Of course, the likes of BBH and Mother are going to come in. It is the Indian market. It is a surprise that it has taken them so long.
India’s advertising industry wants to graduate to the next level, where digital becomes integral rather than incidental to the thinking. It is this culture, which expats in the industry want to bring in, says Charles Cadell, chief executive officer of Lowe India, in a chat with DNA Money’s Nirmal John. Excerpts:
How is the India office different from other global offices you have worked in?
It is very different. You often see those who are Indian saying it is different. But you are slightly sceptical. But once you come here and work from the inside, you realise it is true. There is also the Indian upbringing, the psyche which is fundamentally different from anything in any market, both in Asian and in the Western ones. I had an assumption that I could use some of my learning, cultural learning from other Asian and Western markets here in India. But they are not really the same. You could build on that, but that is about it.
How about the advertising agency culture?
The level of talent here is incredible. I spent a large part of my life in other Asian markets stealing Indian talent. You have a fairly well-developed traditional advertising environment, in terms of creativity. The nature of the rest of the market is fairly far behind, especially the rest of the Asian markets, be it digital platforms or the marketing services platforms or the development of new verticals like retail marketing.
And that is obviously the reason why I came here. A lot of the agencies are struggling with the integration of these services. Even the remuneration system, the number of clients who are still of the commission system, is ‘wow’. There is enormous talent. But in terms of development of the industry, in relation to other markets, there is some way to go.
So your mandate in India is to bring India up in terms of integration?
It is my mandate; it is the mandate of the whole industry as well. There is not one agency out there which is not talking about digitisation and mobile marketing and integration, accountability and measurement now in the context of a recession.
Has this slowdown affected Lowe?
To the extent that our clients have been more cautious as compared to the previous quarters, yes, it has affected us. It has affected our planning for the next year. But I have seen three downturns, first in the 80’s when I was an account manager, then the Asian one in 1997, and now this.
Again, I think I am blessed as an expat manager in the one place in the world where a downturn is regarded as a 6% growth. The outlook of our clients as well as others in general changes every week, on whether they are spending or not spending. It is incredibly fluid. I do know that the industry will grow and I hope that this will result in additional spur to the marketing services debate and accountability issues which should come into the industry.
How do you plan to integrate these into your agency?
The main way is channel planning. We are going to put a lot of emphasis on that. We will be bringing people from outside. I think the biggest problem is that digital is perceived as a separate channel. That is not what it is about. It has to be completely embedded into any organisation, any advertising agency.
Any such agency which is not fully digitised does not have the right to call itself an advertising agency or a communications company. The process within agencies needs to ask creatives to think digital. You may have experts within a domain, but frankly, you ought to have brand managers, planners and creatives at ease with digital. That is the first thing we are doing. We will be bringing in best-in-class digital companies into India in another six weeks.
We have been seeing a re-entry of expat talent into India…
To a large extent, India doesn’t have the expertise in channel planning and experiential planning and also in integrating digital into the whole communication process. That is exactly what we will bring in. Retail marketing is another area. Very few Indians are experienced in it. So that is why expats are here, bringing in knowledge about these verticals. But for any expat, you know from a cultural perspective that India is going to be ‘full on’.
International agencies like BBH are coming in and trying to align their international accounts in India...
I don’t see BBH as a threat in India. They are competition like all others. I don’t think they will be offering anything in the Indian context that we don’t offer. Of course, the likes of BBH and Mother are going to come in. It is the Indian market. It is a surprise that it has taken them so long.
Business - India;Hero Honda, Bajaj differ on future of 100cc
Sindhu Bhattacharya
Hero Honda Motors and Bajaj Auto, two of India’s biggest two-wheeler makers, continue to use diametrically opposite strategies to attract buyers in these trying times.
Hero Honda feels its continued focus on the 100cc segment is justified as the segment has outperformed the market consistently. But Bajaj Auto seems to be floundering on 100cc bikes and wants customers to upgrade to bigger bikes and has begun developing a low-cost entry-level motorcycle specifically for the purpose.
According to figures provided by Hero Honda, the 100cc bike segment has been outperforming the market throughout the fiscal, having logged 10% growth against the industry average of only 7%. The segment has far outpaced the 1.6% growth non-100cc bikes have shown as also the 2% increase seen overall in premium segment bikes (150cc and above).
The figures couldn’t be confirmed independently since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) classifies all bikes from 75cc up to 125cc as entry-level bikes.
Anil Dua, executive vice-president (marketing & sales), Hero Honda, said, “The recent turn of events has confirmed our stand on 100cc bikes. Penetration (of two-wheelers) is still low across India and people look for value-for-money bikes. This segment (100cc) is here to stay. Sure, over a long period of time, the share of 100cc will come down but how can anyone ignore two-thirds of the market?”
But Bajaj Auto is reducing its focus on 100cc more than ever before. Sources said the company has not been making any profit on 100cc bike sales and is keen to gradually upgrade 100cc customers. The sources said that a low-cost, entry-level bike is already being tested for launch. This may mean that Bajaj is taking the battle back to the Hero Honda camp as the market leader appears to have no immediate plans of entering the low-cost bike space.
Industry watchers, however, find Bajaj’s inability to make money on 100cc bikes puzzling. “Hero Honda makes good money on these bikes, pays around 4% royalty to Honda and spends considerable amounts in marketing and advertising. So it is surprising that Bajaj has been unable to make money on 100cc bikes when Hero Honda manages to despite higher expenses…..the Ebidta on 100cc is negative for Bajaj,” one expert said. But Bajaj continues to enjoy a dominant 50% market share in the above 125cc bike segment where Hero Honda comes a distant second.
According to latest available SIAM figures, Hero Honda controls almost 48% of the two-wheeler market, followed by Bajaj with about 20% and TVS Motor at close to 17% share. Hero Honda has seen domestic sales in 75cc-125cc category fall marginally to 315,612 units (332,276 units) last month but the decline in the 125cc-250cc segment is steeper at almost 12% to 13,176 units (14,940 units).
But Bajaj has seen domestic bike sales in the 75cc-125cc segment falling by over 67% to 22,949 units (69,992 units) while the decline is lower in the 125cc-250cc category at 41% to 79,293 units (135,012 units).
Hero Honda Motors and Bajaj Auto, two of India’s biggest two-wheeler makers, continue to use diametrically opposite strategies to attract buyers in these trying times.
Hero Honda feels its continued focus on the 100cc segment is justified as the segment has outperformed the market consistently. But Bajaj Auto seems to be floundering on 100cc bikes and wants customers to upgrade to bigger bikes and has begun developing a low-cost entry-level motorcycle specifically for the purpose.
According to figures provided by Hero Honda, the 100cc bike segment has been outperforming the market throughout the fiscal, having logged 10% growth against the industry average of only 7%. The segment has far outpaced the 1.6% growth non-100cc bikes have shown as also the 2% increase seen overall in premium segment bikes (150cc and above).
The figures couldn’t be confirmed independently since the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) classifies all bikes from 75cc up to 125cc as entry-level bikes.
Anil Dua, executive vice-president (marketing & sales), Hero Honda, said, “The recent turn of events has confirmed our stand on 100cc bikes. Penetration (of two-wheelers) is still low across India and people look for value-for-money bikes. This segment (100cc) is here to stay. Sure, over a long period of time, the share of 100cc will come down but how can anyone ignore two-thirds of the market?”
But Bajaj Auto is reducing its focus on 100cc more than ever before. Sources said the company has not been making any profit on 100cc bike sales and is keen to gradually upgrade 100cc customers. The sources said that a low-cost, entry-level bike is already being tested for launch. This may mean that Bajaj is taking the battle back to the Hero Honda camp as the market leader appears to have no immediate plans of entering the low-cost bike space.
Industry watchers, however, find Bajaj’s inability to make money on 100cc bikes puzzling. “Hero Honda makes good money on these bikes, pays around 4% royalty to Honda and spends considerable amounts in marketing and advertising. So it is surprising that Bajaj has been unable to make money on 100cc bikes when Hero Honda manages to despite higher expenses…..the Ebidta on 100cc is negative for Bajaj,” one expert said. But Bajaj continues to enjoy a dominant 50% market share in the above 125cc bike segment where Hero Honda comes a distant second.
According to latest available SIAM figures, Hero Honda controls almost 48% of the two-wheeler market, followed by Bajaj with about 20% and TVS Motor at close to 17% share. Hero Honda has seen domestic sales in 75cc-125cc category fall marginally to 315,612 units (332,276 units) last month but the decline in the 125cc-250cc segment is steeper at almost 12% to 13,176 units (14,940 units).
But Bajaj has seen domestic bike sales in the 75cc-125cc segment falling by over 67% to 22,949 units (69,992 units) while the decline is lower in the 125cc-250cc category at 41% to 79,293 units (135,012 units).
India - Live Earth Concert cancelled
Concert would have seen a number of international faces; seeing the present terror situation, the organisers don’t want to risk any of the artistes’ lives
After the terrorist attack in Mumbai comes the aftershock. The horrific mass killings and the gory scenes of battle has created shockwaves not only in India but also internationally as reliable sources associated with the Live Earth concert that was supposed to be held in India’s financial capital on December 7 reveal that the event has most probably been cancelled.
“People associated with the Live Earth concert that was being organised by Wizcraft has been sent a mail that reads that the show is not taking off. The mail was only meant for internal consumption.
It is a high priority situation now as the concert would have seen a lot of big international faces coming down. India’s big celebs would have also landed up there and after seeing the security concern as of now the event stays cancelled. There’s too much to risk. The concert might be postponed to some other date though,” says a source close to the development of the Live Earth India.
When contacted, Wizcraft says: “Our first concern is the safety of various staffs, associates and partners of Live Earth and of course the people in Mumbai. Once we evaluate the situation in the next few days, we’ll send an official statement on the same.”
Bon Jovi and Roger Waters had confirmed their presence and they were supposed to share the stage with Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Niigaam.
The Rock On team including Farhan Akhtar and Arjun Rampal were also supposed to jam at the event. Hrithik Roshan was also supposed to sing at the function. The Live Earth concert is aimed at creating awareness on global warming.
After the terrorist attack in Mumbai comes the aftershock. The horrific mass killings and the gory scenes of battle has created shockwaves not only in India but also internationally as reliable sources associated with the Live Earth concert that was supposed to be held in India’s financial capital on December 7 reveal that the event has most probably been cancelled.
“People associated with the Live Earth concert that was being organised by Wizcraft has been sent a mail that reads that the show is not taking off. The mail was only meant for internal consumption.
It is a high priority situation now as the concert would have seen a lot of big international faces coming down. India’s big celebs would have also landed up there and after seeing the security concern as of now the event stays cancelled. There’s too much to risk. The concert might be postponed to some other date though,” says a source close to the development of the Live Earth India.
When contacted, Wizcraft says: “Our first concern is the safety of various staffs, associates and partners of Live Earth and of course the people in Mumbai. Once we evaluate the situation in the next few days, we’ll send an official statement on the same.”
Bon Jovi and Roger Waters had confirmed their presence and they were supposed to share the stage with Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Niigaam.
The Rock On team including Farhan Akhtar and Arjun Rampal were also supposed to jam at the event. Hrithik Roshan was also supposed to sing at the function. The Live Earth concert is aimed at creating awareness on global warming.
India - Cricket Commandos save 150 lives
Vijay Tagore
Security men of a South Africa-based agency, who were in India for the Champions League, were staying at the Taj Palace hotel on that fateful night
Not everyone can hire them. Their service cost a bomb. Only celebrities, businessmen and rich organisations like the International Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India can afford them.
On Wednesday, however, they gave their best service without taking a penny, in the midst of bombs. About 150 people, trapped in the Taj Palace hotel on that fateful night, owe their lives to seven men of Nicholls Steyn and Associates, a South Africa-based private security agency.
Bob Nicholls and his gang of supremely-fit associates — in India for the security arrangements of the now-cancelled Champions League — were having dinner at the tranquil Souk, a restaurant with serene surrounding on the top floor of the Taj Palace on Wednesday night when they suddenly realised that something was amiss. Before they could move, they heard gun shots and grenade sounds. Duty came calling unannounced, they told themselves.
They tried to take control of the situation. While identifying themselves to about 100 people, who were dining in the restaurant even as the incessant sounds of bombs and guns shots were heard, Bob and his men made a quick survey of the area.
They escorted people — of varying nationality and colour, men, women and children — to the adjacent conference hall. They were joined by about 50 more people. One among them was a shell-shocked 90-year-old woman. “It was not difficult to convince them,” Bob said. “They took care of themselves.”
That was not exactly true. Even in the chaos, they ensured that these 150 people were relaxed. The South Africans barricaded themselves with the tables and chairs in the conference room.
Bob & Co, trained to protect VVIPs, tried to contact the hotel security staff but it wasn’t easy. They knew that it would take a while to establish contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, ‘their duty was to make sure people stayed quiet’.
“The hotel staff was very helpful. They provided the best service to the guests,” said Bob, whose only weapon at that stage was a kitchen knife. After more than six hours, a hotel’s security man reached the top floor. They then chalked out a plan to walk down the emergency exit.
Bob advised the people to remove the shoes and switch off the cell phones. They guided all of them down the emergency staircase. It took about 20 minutes. “It was a good walk,” Bob recalled. What about the 90-year-old woman? “Oh, she as very cooperative,” Bob retorted. She was carried on a chair down the steps by his colleague.
So why did they have to rush to aid people? “We thought we had to do it. When I suggested to my colleagues, everyone agreed. There was unanimity. If such a situation comes, we will do it again,” he said.
Bob was not sure what would have happened if they were to encounter the terrorists. “I don’t know. They were carrying AK-47s. It would, obviously, have been difficult for us. But we would have made their task more even more difficult. The terrorists would have had to beat us to attack those people,” Bob said.
Bob disclosed that they would be leaving for South Africa on Saturday morning but with a hope to be back soon. “Cricket needs India. We hope to be back here soon for the Champions League,” he signed off.
Security men of a South Africa-based agency, who were in India for the Champions League, were staying at the Taj Palace hotel on that fateful night
Not everyone can hire them. Their service cost a bomb. Only celebrities, businessmen and rich organisations like the International Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India can afford them.
On Wednesday, however, they gave their best service without taking a penny, in the midst of bombs. About 150 people, trapped in the Taj Palace hotel on that fateful night, owe their lives to seven men of Nicholls Steyn and Associates, a South Africa-based private security agency.
Bob Nicholls and his gang of supremely-fit associates — in India for the security arrangements of the now-cancelled Champions League — were having dinner at the tranquil Souk, a restaurant with serene surrounding on the top floor of the Taj Palace on Wednesday night when they suddenly realised that something was amiss. Before they could move, they heard gun shots and grenade sounds. Duty came calling unannounced, they told themselves.
They tried to take control of the situation. While identifying themselves to about 100 people, who were dining in the restaurant even as the incessant sounds of bombs and guns shots were heard, Bob and his men made a quick survey of the area.
They escorted people — of varying nationality and colour, men, women and children — to the adjacent conference hall. They were joined by about 50 more people. One among them was a shell-shocked 90-year-old woman. “It was not difficult to convince them,” Bob said. “They took care of themselves.”
That was not exactly true. Even in the chaos, they ensured that these 150 people were relaxed. The South Africans barricaded themselves with the tables and chairs in the conference room.
Bob & Co, trained to protect VVIPs, tried to contact the hotel security staff but it wasn’t easy. They knew that it would take a while to establish contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, ‘their duty was to make sure people stayed quiet’.
“The hotel staff was very helpful. They provided the best service to the guests,” said Bob, whose only weapon at that stage was a kitchen knife. After more than six hours, a hotel’s security man reached the top floor. They then chalked out a plan to walk down the emergency exit.
Bob advised the people to remove the shoes and switch off the cell phones. They guided all of them down the emergency staircase. It took about 20 minutes. “It was a good walk,” Bob recalled. What about the 90-year-old woman? “Oh, she as very cooperative,” Bob retorted. She was carried on a chair down the steps by his colleague.
So why did they have to rush to aid people? “We thought we had to do it. When I suggested to my colleagues, everyone agreed. There was unanimity. If such a situation comes, we will do it again,” he said.
Bob was not sure what would have happened if they were to encounter the terrorists. “I don’t know. They were carrying AK-47s. It would, obviously, have been difficult for us. But we would have made their task more even more difficult. The terrorists would have had to beat us to attack those people,” Bob said.
Bob disclosed that they would be leaving for South Africa on Saturday morning but with a hope to be back soon. “Cricket needs India. We hope to be back here soon for the Champions League,” he signed off.
Lifestyle - Iowa cafe swamped with orders for 'Obama cookie'
AMY LORENTZEN
DES MOINES, Iowa – Want an example of the change Barack Obama is bringing to the country? Check out cookie sales at Baby Boomers Cafe in Des Moines.
Ever since word spread about the president-elect and his family's fondness for Baby Boomers' chocolate chunk cookies, the small downtown restaurant can't bake them fast enough.
"Two months ago I was giving these cookies away," said co-owner Rodney Maxfield. "Now, it's like, 'I need two dozen cookies. I need four-dozen cookies.'"
The Obamas were frequent visitors to the cafe in the summer of 2007 when the Illinois senator devoted much of his time to Iowa, where the state's precinct caucuses kick off the presidential nominating process. Obama's main office was next door to Boomers, and his staff made the cafe a second home.
His daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, would stop by with their mother, Michelle, and Maxfield said they loved the cookies. During a stop in Iowa last month, Obama's staff ordered about a dozen cookies for the family. That's when word got out about their affection for the confection.
Suddenly, sales of 400 cookies in a good week soared to more than 1,000 a week, with requests coming from as far away as Mexico. Alas, the price is going up, from 50 cents to 75 cents a cookie to make up for the time it takes to make more each day.
"I think everybody just ... thought, 'Oh, great cookie, great president — the world is a happy place. Barack's going to fix all the problems and if I have a bite of this cookie it's going to make me feel good,'" Maxfield said.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Want an example of the change Barack Obama is bringing to the country? Check out cookie sales at Baby Boomers Cafe in Des Moines.
Ever since word spread about the president-elect and his family's fondness for Baby Boomers' chocolate chunk cookies, the small downtown restaurant can't bake them fast enough.
"Two months ago I was giving these cookies away," said co-owner Rodney Maxfield. "Now, it's like, 'I need two dozen cookies. I need four-dozen cookies.'"
The Obamas were frequent visitors to the cafe in the summer of 2007 when the Illinois senator devoted much of his time to Iowa, where the state's precinct caucuses kick off the presidential nominating process. Obama's main office was next door to Boomers, and his staff made the cafe a second home.
His daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, would stop by with their mother, Michelle, and Maxfield said they loved the cookies. During a stop in Iowa last month, Obama's staff ordered about a dozen cookies for the family. That's when word got out about their affection for the confection.
Suddenly, sales of 400 cookies in a good week soared to more than 1,000 a week, with requests coming from as far away as Mexico. Alas, the price is going up, from 50 cents to 75 cents a cookie to make up for the time it takes to make more each day.
"I think everybody just ... thought, 'Oh, great cookie, great president — the world is a happy place. Barack's going to fix all the problems and if I have a bite of this cookie it's going to make me feel good,'" Maxfield said.
Lifestyle - A painting called 'Hope' wins fans as Barack Obama's inspiration
Ben Quinn
It's a bit off the beaten tourist track, and anyone looking for it may find a street map useful.
Yet in the past two weeks, this cozy little art gallery nestled in central London has attracted a growing trickle of visitors in search – literally – of hope.
In this case it takes the form of a painting which may have helped inspire Barack Obama.
Entitled "Hope," the canvas hanging inside London's Guildhall Art Gallery as part of an exhibition by Victorian painter George Frederic Watts might appear unremarkable to some.
In drab browns and grays on a blue background, it depicts a young blindfolded woman strumming on the last unbroken string of a harp, her ear to the instrument.
Obama's controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright invoked the image as a symbol of inspiration during a sermon in Chicago 20 years ago.
The harpist, he preached, "is sitting there in rags ... her clothes are tattered as though she had been a victim of Hiroshima… [yet] the woman had the audacity to hope."
The imagery stayed with Obama. The young politician adapted that phrase in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention – which marked his breakthrough onto the national stage – and again in 2006 as the title of his second book.
These days, a little Obamaphilia is rubbing off on the often forgotten Guildhall Art Gallery, established in the historic heart of London in 1885.
Destroyed in 1941, it was reopened as a new gallery in 1999 and displays 250 works of art at a time.
Staff say they are surprised at the level of interest in the current Watts exhibition, and specifically in "Hope," and insist that the timing of the exhibition was purely coincidental.
Thanks to its "Obama connection," which has been reported in a few articles in the British press, the exhibition has sparked interest not just among art lovers but among those who normally care little for a few brush strokes.
Typical of this was the arrival on Tuesday of a sizeable group of Japanese tourists who flocked to "Hope."
Shortly afterward, visitors included Rainer and Almud Bonhorst, on vacation from Germany, who made time to come and see the painting.
"I read about it and we came here for that reason," says Mr. Bonhorst, editor in chief of the Bavarian newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine, who says he read about the painting in a London newspaper and intends to write about it himself.
"It's enigmatic, and that is what I find fascinating. If you put the story into this picture it gets more interesting," he adds.
The 1885 painting, owned by a private collector, is one of two versions. The other hangs in the better known Tate Britain gallery on the other side of town.
Other works by Watts (1817-1904) on display at the Guildhall reflect a painter concerned with the plight of the poor and the suffering, with works such as "Found Drowned" and "The Irish Famine."
Despite falling out of fashion shortly after his death, he was well-known during his life for allegorical paintings, the most famous of which are "Hope" and another painting, "Love and Life."
As an admirer of Watts, the US president-elect will have ample opportunities to admire the latter, which the Englishman gave to the American people.
Where was it eventually installed on the orders of Theodore Roosevelt?
The White House.
It's a bit off the beaten tourist track, and anyone looking for it may find a street map useful.
Yet in the past two weeks, this cozy little art gallery nestled in central London has attracted a growing trickle of visitors in search – literally – of hope.
In this case it takes the form of a painting which may have helped inspire Barack Obama.
Entitled "Hope," the canvas hanging inside London's Guildhall Art Gallery as part of an exhibition by Victorian painter George Frederic Watts might appear unremarkable to some.
In drab browns and grays on a blue background, it depicts a young blindfolded woman strumming on the last unbroken string of a harp, her ear to the instrument.
Obama's controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright invoked the image as a symbol of inspiration during a sermon in Chicago 20 years ago.
The harpist, he preached, "is sitting there in rags ... her clothes are tattered as though she had been a victim of Hiroshima… [yet] the woman had the audacity to hope."
The imagery stayed with Obama. The young politician adapted that phrase in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention – which marked his breakthrough onto the national stage – and again in 2006 as the title of his second book.
These days, a little Obamaphilia is rubbing off on the often forgotten Guildhall Art Gallery, established in the historic heart of London in 1885.
Destroyed in 1941, it was reopened as a new gallery in 1999 and displays 250 works of art at a time.
Staff say they are surprised at the level of interest in the current Watts exhibition, and specifically in "Hope," and insist that the timing of the exhibition was purely coincidental.
Thanks to its "Obama connection," which has been reported in a few articles in the British press, the exhibition has sparked interest not just among art lovers but among those who normally care little for a few brush strokes.
Typical of this was the arrival on Tuesday of a sizeable group of Japanese tourists who flocked to "Hope."
Shortly afterward, visitors included Rainer and Almud Bonhorst, on vacation from Germany, who made time to come and see the painting.
"I read about it and we came here for that reason," says Mr. Bonhorst, editor in chief of the Bavarian newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine, who says he read about the painting in a London newspaper and intends to write about it himself.
"It's enigmatic, and that is what I find fascinating. If you put the story into this picture it gets more interesting," he adds.
The 1885 painting, owned by a private collector, is one of two versions. The other hangs in the better known Tate Britain gallery on the other side of town.
Other works by Watts (1817-1904) on display at the Guildhall reflect a painter concerned with the plight of the poor and the suffering, with works such as "Found Drowned" and "The Irish Famine."
Despite falling out of fashion shortly after his death, he was well-known during his life for allegorical paintings, the most famous of which are "Hope" and another painting, "Love and Life."
As an admirer of Watts, the US president-elect will have ample opportunities to admire the latter, which the Englishman gave to the American people.
Where was it eventually installed on the orders of Theodore Roosevelt?
The White House.
Health - High-Fructose Corn Syrup gets a bad rap
As a registered dietitian in private practice for many decades, I must respectfully disagree with an important statement made by the author of the article "To Tame the Belly, Manage the Brain." The disagreement relates to the statement that "high-fructose corn syrup, which is virtually unavoidable in processed foods, may trigger the brain's reward circuitry more strongly than other types of sugars."
Unfortunately, this comment is completely false and misrepresentative of a harmless sweetener. Uneducated and unresearched statements like these lead to decades of misinformation to the public about relevant and credible nutrition facts.
As I have stated to my clients for many years, high-fructose corn syrup is simply a sweetener with a bad rap!
It Does Not Make Us Fat
There is a lot of solid research out there clearing up a lot of misinformation on this harmless and alternative sweetener. Scientists continue to confirm that high-fructose corn syrup is no different from other sweeteners.
Simply stated, it's not sweeter than sugar, it's not higher in calories, and it's not metabolized in the body differently. There is no difference in fasting glucose, insulin resistance, nutrient intake, satiety, uric acid, appetite, leptin and ghrelin, and there is no difference in food consumed the next day.
Actually, most people don't realize that HFCS is composed of the same sugars found in table sugar and honey -- fructose and glucose -- in virtually the exact same ratios.
What HFCS does not do for us is make us fat! If consumption of HFCS has increased, then so have all other food categories. Obesity is becoming a more global problem each day, yet high-fructose corn syrup is used very little -- or not at all -- in many countries where obesity rates are rising.
Dr. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, stated, "if there was no high-fructose corn syrup, I don't think we would see a change in anything important (i.e., incidence of diabetes and obesity). I think there is an overreaction [to HFCS]."
Excessive Calories Are Still Bad
Like sugar or honey, HFCS can only contribute to weight gain when eaten as excessive calories, regardless of the food source, and there is too little exercise. Replacing HFCS with sugar will not reduce obesity or improve health. As Americans, we are simply eating more, 24 percent more total food intake, to be exact. We are not eating disproportionately more HFCS; we are eating more of everything.
I recently saw an energy drink advertising that the product was made without using any HFCS; rather, it used Agave Nectar as its sweetener source. Well, the fact is that Agave Nectar is 74 percent fructose, whereas HFCS-42 is 42 percent fructose and 53 percent glucose. Table sugar is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- so where is the misinformation here?
Here's to accurate nutrition reporting!
Unfortunately, this comment is completely false and misrepresentative of a harmless sweetener. Uneducated and unresearched statements like these lead to decades of misinformation to the public about relevant and credible nutrition facts.
As I have stated to my clients for many years, high-fructose corn syrup is simply a sweetener with a bad rap!
It Does Not Make Us Fat
There is a lot of solid research out there clearing up a lot of misinformation on this harmless and alternative sweetener. Scientists continue to confirm that high-fructose corn syrup is no different from other sweeteners.
Simply stated, it's not sweeter than sugar, it's not higher in calories, and it's not metabolized in the body differently. There is no difference in fasting glucose, insulin resistance, nutrient intake, satiety, uric acid, appetite, leptin and ghrelin, and there is no difference in food consumed the next day.
Actually, most people don't realize that HFCS is composed of the same sugars found in table sugar and honey -- fructose and glucose -- in virtually the exact same ratios.
What HFCS does not do for us is make us fat! If consumption of HFCS has increased, then so have all other food categories. Obesity is becoming a more global problem each day, yet high-fructose corn syrup is used very little -- or not at all -- in many countries where obesity rates are rising.
Dr. Walter Willett, the chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, stated, "if there was no high-fructose corn syrup, I don't think we would see a change in anything important (i.e., incidence of diabetes and obesity). I think there is an overreaction [to HFCS]."
Excessive Calories Are Still Bad
Like sugar or honey, HFCS can only contribute to weight gain when eaten as excessive calories, regardless of the food source, and there is too little exercise. Replacing HFCS with sugar will not reduce obesity or improve health. As Americans, we are simply eating more, 24 percent more total food intake, to be exact. We are not eating disproportionately more HFCS; we are eating more of everything.
I recently saw an energy drink advertising that the product was made without using any HFCS; rather, it used Agave Nectar as its sweetener source. Well, the fact is that Agave Nectar is 74 percent fructose, whereas HFCS-42 is 42 percent fructose and 53 percent glucose. Table sugar is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- so where is the misinformation here?
Here's to accurate nutrition reporting!
Science - Wind Farms Could Change Weather
Robert Roy Britt
A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and alter the weather if extensive fields of turbines were built, according to a news report.
It is not the first study to come to this conclusion.
The new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of large wind turbines would have to be taken to the extreme to have the global effects portrayed.
The scientists, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the University of Maryland, calculated "what might happen if all the land from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains, were covered in one massive wind farm," according to Discovery News. The result of such an unlikely installation: a real serious Butterfly Effect.
Such massive wind farming would slow wind speeds by 5 or 6 mph as the turbines literally stole wind from the air. A ripple effect would occur in the form of waves radiating across the Northern Hemisphere that could, days later, run into storms and alter their courses by hundreds of miles.
The researchers "acknowledged the hypothetical wind farm was far larger than anything humans are likely to build," according to the Web site, but if Department of Energy projections for wind farming are met by 2030 (for the country to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind), "it could probably have an effect," James McCaa of 3Tier, Inc., a renewable energy forecasting company based in Seattle, is quoted as saying.
In 2004, two separate groups of scientists did similar calculations.
One group found the opposite effect.
Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University and colleagues simulated the effect of extensive wind farms on local weather. They found a drying and warming effect in the morning that would warm the air across moist and cool overnight soil, causing the local wind speed to increase slightly.
Also in 2004, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his colleagues estimated the drag from wind farms if they covered 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. They concluded that global cooling would occur in polar regions and global warming would result in temperate regions such as North America at about 30 degrees North latitude.
When that study was released, Keith had an interesting take on the possibility: "The message here is climate change, but that doesn't equal global warming," Keith said. "It's possible this would have benefits," by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption on global climate, he said.
A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and alter the weather if extensive fields of turbines were built, according to a news report.
It is not the first study to come to this conclusion.
The new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of large wind turbines would have to be taken to the extreme to have the global effects portrayed.
The scientists, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the University of Maryland, calculated "what might happen if all the land from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains, were covered in one massive wind farm," according to Discovery News. The result of such an unlikely installation: a real serious Butterfly Effect.
Such massive wind farming would slow wind speeds by 5 or 6 mph as the turbines literally stole wind from the air. A ripple effect would occur in the form of waves radiating across the Northern Hemisphere that could, days later, run into storms and alter their courses by hundreds of miles.
The researchers "acknowledged the hypothetical wind farm was far larger than anything humans are likely to build," according to the Web site, but if Department of Energy projections for wind farming are met by 2030 (for the country to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind), "it could probably have an effect," James McCaa of 3Tier, Inc., a renewable energy forecasting company based in Seattle, is quoted as saying.
In 2004, two separate groups of scientists did similar calculations.
One group found the opposite effect.
Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University and colleagues simulated the effect of extensive wind farms on local weather. They found a drying and warming effect in the morning that would warm the air across moist and cool overnight soil, causing the local wind speed to increase slightly.
Also in 2004, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his colleagues estimated the drag from wind farms if they covered 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. They concluded that global cooling would occur in polar regions and global warming would result in temperate regions such as North America at about 30 degrees North latitude.
When that study was released, Keith had an interesting take on the possibility: "The message here is climate change, but that doesn't equal global warming," Keith said. "It's possible this would have benefits," by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption on global climate, he said.
Tech - Baidu vows overhaul after search scandal
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Internet search leader Baidu said on Friday it will overhaul operations after state media said it allowed unlicensed medical services to buy high search rankings to win more customers.
Nasdaq-listed Baidu was accused on a state television show this month of letting the unlicensed services pay for prominent positions on its pay-for-performance (P4P) search platform, netting them more "clicks" for expensive but useless treatments. The claims sparked widespread public criticism of the Chinese search giant and dragged down Baidu's stock. And now Baidu's chief executive officer, Robin Li, has promised action.
"We have removed the key words of all four clients mentioned in the report and have begun to double-check the licenses of all other hospitals and pharmacies on our client list," Li told the official Xinhua news agency.
He said the company had sacked staff over the scandal and more may follow.
"Baidu employees who are found to have been involved in the scandal will be penalized...We have already fired people who helped fabricate documents for unlicensed suppliers," he said.
The television report described several ill people who used Baidu to search for treatments and were steered to unlicensed and expensive hospitals or medicines that failed to cure them.
One patient told the television program that he spent over 10,000 yuan (907 pounds) at one Baidu-boosted clinic listed to treat abdominal pain, but the treatment was ineffective, Xinhua said. He said he was later cured at a public hospital for 100 yuan.
The unlicensed clinic paid Baidu 16.56 yuan per click to get a prominent ranking, the program said.
Baidu dominates the Chinese Web search and advertising market, with an estimated two-thirds of the audience in the world's most populous market.
Google Inc, the global market leader in Web searches, is a distant second in China.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Nasdaq-listed Baidu was accused on a state television show this month of letting the unlicensed services pay for prominent positions on its pay-for-performance (P4P) search platform, netting them more "clicks" for expensive but useless treatments. The claims sparked widespread public criticism of the Chinese search giant and dragged down Baidu's stock. And now Baidu's chief executive officer, Robin Li, has promised action.
"We have removed the key words of all four clients mentioned in the report and have begun to double-check the licenses of all other hospitals and pharmacies on our client list," Li told the official Xinhua news agency.
He said the company had sacked staff over the scandal and more may follow.
"Baidu employees who are found to have been involved in the scandal will be penalized...We have already fired people who helped fabricate documents for unlicensed suppliers," he said.
The television report described several ill people who used Baidu to search for treatments and were steered to unlicensed and expensive hospitals or medicines that failed to cure them.
One patient told the television program that he spent over 10,000 yuan (907 pounds) at one Baidu-boosted clinic listed to treat abdominal pain, but the treatment was ineffective, Xinhua said. He said he was later cured at a public hospital for 100 yuan.
The unlicensed clinic paid Baidu 16.56 yuan per click to get a prominent ranking, the program said.
Baidu dominates the Chinese Web search and advertising market, with an estimated two-thirds of the audience in the world's most populous market.
Google Inc, the global market leader in Web searches, is a distant second in China.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Tech - Jepsen Works to Raise Laptop Battery Life to 20-40 Hours
Display screen technology developer Mary Lou Jepsen is working at her new start-up to create laptop PCs so energy efficient they'll be able to run on a standard laptop battery for 20 to 40 hours before needing a recharge.
Jepsen, formerly the head of Intel's display division and chief technology officer at One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), plans to start shipping ultra-low power screens for laptops and e-books in the second half of next year that people can read in direct sunlight and have a fully saturated HDTV-quality color mode.
Low-power screens that can be read in bright sunlight are one of the key features on OLPC's XO laptop. The screens cost a third that of traditional LCD screens and use about a tenth of the power.
"At Pixel Qi, we have a new series of inventions that go well beyond the OLPC screen that we are developing right now," said Jepsen by e-mail. Her company recently opened offices in Taipei and San Francisco after receiving a first round of funding.
More energy efficient screens are critical for mobile devices such as laptops and e-books because screens are among the most power hungry components on such devices.
Pixel Qi plans to develop entire laptop and PC designs around its new screen technology to create the most power efficient models possible.
One particular product in development at Pixel Qi is a new e-paper that is paper-white and offers both color and video. The screens draw just a small percentage of the power of a standard LCD screen and allow companies to make new kinds of laptop PCs with batteries that can last longer.
"We are working with a number of notebook and e-book makers on a number of different form factors," she said. "We can enable an increase of 5-10X battery life between charges compared with a standard notebook. This means that rather than needing to recharge your batteries every few hours, you could run 20-40 hours of use on a one charge."
The company is working on a range of screen sizes for laptop PCs and e-books, with some as thin as 1-millimeter, she said.
Pixel Qi will be announcing products in the near future. Jepsen expects to have new laptop and e-book screens shipping in the second half of next year.
One of the keys to keeping screen costs low and putting them on the market quickly is that the Pixel Qi's products will be made of traditional LCD materials on LCD manufacturing lines.
A subsidiary of Taiwanese LCD panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics is producing the screens for OLPC's XO, but Jepsen did not say which companies Pixel Qi is working with.
Pixel Qi's Taipei office was set up to work with hardware makers on the island. Taiwanese contract manufacturers account for around 90 percent of the world's laptop PCs, either from factories in Taiwan, China, or Vietnam
Jepsen, formerly the head of Intel's display division and chief technology officer at One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), plans to start shipping ultra-low power screens for laptops and e-books in the second half of next year that people can read in direct sunlight and have a fully saturated HDTV-quality color mode.
Low-power screens that can be read in bright sunlight are one of the key features on OLPC's XO laptop. The screens cost a third that of traditional LCD screens and use about a tenth of the power.
"At Pixel Qi, we have a new series of inventions that go well beyond the OLPC screen that we are developing right now," said Jepsen by e-mail. Her company recently opened offices in Taipei and San Francisco after receiving a first round of funding.
More energy efficient screens are critical for mobile devices such as laptops and e-books because screens are among the most power hungry components on such devices.
Pixel Qi plans to develop entire laptop and PC designs around its new screen technology to create the most power efficient models possible.
One particular product in development at Pixel Qi is a new e-paper that is paper-white and offers both color and video. The screens draw just a small percentage of the power of a standard LCD screen and allow companies to make new kinds of laptop PCs with batteries that can last longer.
"We are working with a number of notebook and e-book makers on a number of different form factors," she said. "We can enable an increase of 5-10X battery life between charges compared with a standard notebook. This means that rather than needing to recharge your batteries every few hours, you could run 20-40 hours of use on a one charge."
The company is working on a range of screen sizes for laptop PCs and e-books, with some as thin as 1-millimeter, she said.
Pixel Qi will be announcing products in the near future. Jepsen expects to have new laptop and e-book screens shipping in the second half of next year.
One of the keys to keeping screen costs low and putting them on the market quickly is that the Pixel Qi's products will be made of traditional LCD materials on LCD manufacturing lines.
A subsidiary of Taiwanese LCD panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics is producing the screens for OLPC's XO, but Jepsen did not say which companies Pixel Qi is working with.
Pixel Qi's Taipei office was set up to work with hardware makers on the island. Taiwanese contract manufacturers account for around 90 percent of the world's laptop PCs, either from factories in Taiwan, China, or Vietnam
World - Postwar rapes of German women confronted in new film
Audrey Kauffmann
BERLIN (AFP) – One of the long-ignored chapters of World War II hit German screens this month with a harrowing account of the mass rapes of German women by Russian soldiers as the Nazi regime crumbled around them.
"Anonyma - A Woman in Berlin" stars A-list German actress Nina Hoss and has returned a victim's anonymous diary to the forefront of an extremely tentative debate about German suffering during and after the war.
"There were tens of thousands (of rape victims) -- that is for certain. Perhaps even hundreds of thousands," US historian Norman Naimark, director of the Center for European Studies at Stanford, told German weekly Die Zeit.
"Some estimates go up to two million if you include all the Eastern European territories with German populations."
While the horrors inflicted by Nazis troops across the Soviet bloc are well documented, the price German women paid for the revenge taken by Russian soldiers was long unspoken here -- overshadowed by the overwhelming guilt of Hitler's followers.
The new film by Max Faerberboeck, 58, was inspired by the intimate journal a Berlin woman kept from April 20 to June 22, 1945 in which she recounts the excruciating hunger and repeated violations she suffered in the vanquished German capital.
The nameless author bears witness in a laconic tone, with searing insights into the apocalyptic world around her.
The chilling journal was first published in the United States in 1954 and then in several other countries before arriving in West German bookstores in 1959 thanks to a small Swiss publishing house.
It was an era in which no one cared to hear about German suffering after the horrors wrought by Nazi troops -- least of all the guilt-wracked Germans.
And in communist East Germany, a Soviet satellite, a blanket of silence suffocated any public discussion until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
The diary disappeared into obscurity for nearly half a century until noted writer Hans Magnus Enzenberger had it re-released in 2003. It became a bestseller in Germany.
The author appeared to have been in her 30s, well-educated, with a passion for photography and a basic knowledge of Russian picked up on her extensive travels before the war.
The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung claimed to have unmasked her in 2003 as Marta Hillers, a journalist who made a name for herself with pro-Nazi propaganda -- the prevailing theory to this day.
Although researchers such as Naimark and Britain's Anthony Beevor have documented the enormous scale of sexual assaults of German women at the war's end, such first-person accounts are extremely rare in the historical record.
The University of Greifswald in northeastern Germany has just launched what it says will be the first scientific study of the rapes of German women at the end of the war.
The study will focus on Berlin, the surrounding state of Brandenburg and the northeast of the country near today's Polish border.
It will concentrate on the long-term psychological effects suffered by the affected women, all of whom, if still alive six decades on, are elderly.
The research team is advertising a telephone number for volunteers, just as the film has whipped up renewed public interest in the story.
"Anonyma" itself has received mixed reviews despite a riveting performance by Hoss in the lead role, with critics incensed about the introduction of a love story to the plot.
The journal recounts the woman's decision to seduce a high-ranking Russian officer so he will protect her from the other soldiers -- "packs of wolves", as she calls them -- preying on her and her neighbours.
There was no mention of love.
BERLIN (AFP) – One of the long-ignored chapters of World War II hit German screens this month with a harrowing account of the mass rapes of German women by Russian soldiers as the Nazi regime crumbled around them.
"Anonyma - A Woman in Berlin" stars A-list German actress Nina Hoss and has returned a victim's anonymous diary to the forefront of an extremely tentative debate about German suffering during and after the war.
"There were tens of thousands (of rape victims) -- that is for certain. Perhaps even hundreds of thousands," US historian Norman Naimark, director of the Center for European Studies at Stanford, told German weekly Die Zeit.
"Some estimates go up to two million if you include all the Eastern European territories with German populations."
While the horrors inflicted by Nazis troops across the Soviet bloc are well documented, the price German women paid for the revenge taken by Russian soldiers was long unspoken here -- overshadowed by the overwhelming guilt of Hitler's followers.
The new film by Max Faerberboeck, 58, was inspired by the intimate journal a Berlin woman kept from April 20 to June 22, 1945 in which she recounts the excruciating hunger and repeated violations she suffered in the vanquished German capital.
The nameless author bears witness in a laconic tone, with searing insights into the apocalyptic world around her.
The chilling journal was first published in the United States in 1954 and then in several other countries before arriving in West German bookstores in 1959 thanks to a small Swiss publishing house.
It was an era in which no one cared to hear about German suffering after the horrors wrought by Nazi troops -- least of all the guilt-wracked Germans.
And in communist East Germany, a Soviet satellite, a blanket of silence suffocated any public discussion until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
The diary disappeared into obscurity for nearly half a century until noted writer Hans Magnus Enzenberger had it re-released in 2003. It became a bestseller in Germany.
The author appeared to have been in her 30s, well-educated, with a passion for photography and a basic knowledge of Russian picked up on her extensive travels before the war.
The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung claimed to have unmasked her in 2003 as Marta Hillers, a journalist who made a name for herself with pro-Nazi propaganda -- the prevailing theory to this day.
Although researchers such as Naimark and Britain's Anthony Beevor have documented the enormous scale of sexual assaults of German women at the war's end, such first-person accounts are extremely rare in the historical record.
The University of Greifswald in northeastern Germany has just launched what it says will be the first scientific study of the rapes of German women at the end of the war.
The study will focus on Berlin, the surrounding state of Brandenburg and the northeast of the country near today's Polish border.
It will concentrate on the long-term psychological effects suffered by the affected women, all of whom, if still alive six decades on, are elderly.
The research team is advertising a telephone number for volunteers, just as the film has whipped up renewed public interest in the story.
"Anonyma" itself has received mixed reviews despite a riveting performance by Hoss in the lead role, with critics incensed about the introduction of a love story to the plot.
The journal recounts the woman's decision to seduce a high-ranking Russian officer so he will protect her from the other soldiers -- "packs of wolves", as she calls them -- preying on her and her neighbours.
There was no mention of love.
Odd - French say they need biggest condoms
BERLIN (Reuters) – The French say they need the largest condoms in Europe while Greeks get by on smaller ones, according to a Europe-wide study by a German consultancy that provides advice on condoms.
The study by the Singen-based Institute of Condom Consultancy was done by asking 10,500 men in 25 countries to measure their penis and enter the number into a database.
The results show Frenchmen on average claim to need 15.48-cm (6.09-inch) long condoms, about 3 cm longer than Greeks, whose condom-size requirement was the most modest.
Jan Vinzenz Krause, the institute's director, told Reuters Friday the data was collected over a period of eight months.
He did not want to comment on how honest he thought the Frenchmen had been in reporting the data.
The survey was aimed at educating youngsters about the importance of effective contraception.
The institute also offers online condom-size advice and hosts "Pimp Your Condom" -- an annual fair organised in cooperation with the national Aids Trust -- with the aim of educating teens about sexually transmitted diseases.
Krause was in the spotlight in the past when he produced a prototype of the "spray-on condom" -- an aerosol can which contains latex that creates a perfectly fitting condom. But the idea was not developed further.
(Reporting by Josie Cox; editing by Michael Roddy)
The study by the Singen-based Institute of Condom Consultancy was done by asking 10,500 men in 25 countries to measure their penis and enter the number into a database.
The results show Frenchmen on average claim to need 15.48-cm (6.09-inch) long condoms, about 3 cm longer than Greeks, whose condom-size requirement was the most modest.
Jan Vinzenz Krause, the institute's director, told Reuters Friday the data was collected over a period of eight months.
He did not want to comment on how honest he thought the Frenchmen had been in reporting the data.
The survey was aimed at educating youngsters about the importance of effective contraception.
The institute also offers online condom-size advice and hosts "Pimp Your Condom" -- an annual fair organised in cooperation with the national Aids Trust -- with the aim of educating teens about sexually transmitted diseases.
Krause was in the spotlight in the past when he produced a prototype of the "spray-on condom" -- an aerosol can which contains latex that creates a perfectly fitting condom. But the idea was not developed further.
(Reporting by Josie Cox; editing by Michael Roddy)
India - DOT looks for ways to track sat phones
The terrorist assault on Mumbai has brought to focus the need for a policy on monitoring and intercepting satellite phone communications in the country. Now, satellite phones, unlike mobiles, cannot be intercepted by the security agencies, as none of the international operators have a hub in India. Since these phones, provided by operators like UAE's Thuraya and a consortium-led by Inmarsat, do not need interconnectivity with the network of any country's domestic network, it can be used anywhere in the world seamlessly.
It has been reported that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were using satellite phones.
Officials in the department of telecommunications told FE that such phones can be intercepted only by soliciting the cooperation of the country where it is licensed or by contacting the concerned operator, both of which are time-consuming and often ineffective.
The problems of interception and the absence of hubs come because India does not provide licences for operating satellite phones on a commercial basis. Inmarsat's satellite phones are available through Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) but it is sold only to security and government agencies. Even state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) provides a variant of the phone, called digital satellite public telephone (DSPT), but is installed only as village public telephones.
Industry sources said Inmarsat phones sold by the Tatas are bigger in size and cost around Rs 1 lakh. The widely popular satellite phone is the one provided by Thuraya, which is a relatively small, hand-held device costing around Rs 50,000. Industry sources said it does not make sense for any operator, which is not allowed to provide the satellite phone services in the country, to set up a hub here. DoT officials said they are examining ways of intercepting and monitoring satellite phone communications.
One option is to empower the proposed National Surveillance Grid to research on crime and terrorism. But it requires sophisticated investigative and intelligence techniques to monitor all traffic types-satellite, wireline, wireless, Internet, e-mail and voice over Internet protocol. Another way could be for the surveillance grid to study the methods developed nations use to intercept satellite communications, officials said.
The government proposes to set up a National Surveillance Grid on a public-private partnership basis to create a centralised communication monitoring agency. There is much duplication of surveillance now, with different law enforcement agencies having their own processes and limitation to share the information with other authorities.
It has been reported that the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were using satellite phones.
Officials in the department of telecommunications told FE that such phones can be intercepted only by soliciting the cooperation of the country where it is licensed or by contacting the concerned operator, both of which are time-consuming and often ineffective.
The problems of interception and the absence of hubs come because India does not provide licences for operating satellite phones on a commercial basis. Inmarsat's satellite phones are available through Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) but it is sold only to security and government agencies. Even state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) provides a variant of the phone, called digital satellite public telephone (DSPT), but is installed only as village public telephones.
Industry sources said Inmarsat phones sold by the Tatas are bigger in size and cost around Rs 1 lakh. The widely popular satellite phone is the one provided by Thuraya, which is a relatively small, hand-held device costing around Rs 50,000. Industry sources said it does not make sense for any operator, which is not allowed to provide the satellite phone services in the country, to set up a hub here. DoT officials said they are examining ways of intercepting and monitoring satellite phone communications.
One option is to empower the proposed National Surveillance Grid to research on crime and terrorism. But it requires sophisticated investigative and intelligence techniques to monitor all traffic types-satellite, wireline, wireless, Internet, e-mail and voice over Internet protocol. Another way could be for the surveillance grid to study the methods developed nations use to intercept satellite communications, officials said.
The government proposes to set up a National Surveillance Grid on a public-private partnership basis to create a centralised communication monitoring agency. There is much duplication of surveillance now, with different law enforcement agencies having their own processes and limitation to share the information with other authorities.
Sport - Football;EU not swayed by FIFA 6+5 rule;will discuss UEFA plan
European Union ministers on Friday poured cold water on FIFA president Sepp Blatter's plans to curb the number of foreign players at clubs but opened the door to a ban on transfers involving those aged under 18.
Soccer's top official had hoped to convince the bloc's 27 ministers at a meeting in Biarritz of the merits of his proposal to limit the number of foreign players -- known as the '6+5' rule -- despite opposition from the European Commission.
The EU executive, which oversees EU law, says the FIFA plan breaches the bloc's strict rules on free movement of workers.
"Around three or so ministers were sympathetic to the idea, but everybody realised it would not be legal under the EU treaties," a diplomat involved in Friday's meeting told Reuters.
World governing body FIFA may take some heart from the conclusions of the meeting, which stated ministers should:
"...encourage further discussion on initiatives put forward by international federations to encourage the teams of professional clubs in each country to develop the presence of athletes capable of qualifying for national teams, in compliance with EU law, to strengthen the regional and national roots of professional sport."
A spokesman for EU Commissioner Jan Figel said: "The key phrase is compliance with EU laws. There is no change to the situation. The status quo remains.
"We have already said we will review the home-grown player rule in a few years' time. But that's for then."
He was referring to European soccer governing body UEFA's home-grown player rule, which sets a quota of locally-trained players at clubs but without any discrimination on nationality and was approved by Brussels earlier this year.
PLATINI PROPOSAL
UEFA president Michel Platini's proposal to bolster the rule by banning the transfer of players under the age of 18 was met with a lot of sympathy, diplomats said, but required further study into whether it would also breach EU employment laws.
"A proposal banning all transfers of under 18's would, at first sight, appear to constitute indirect discrimination in the field of free movement of workers and disproportionate in light of the objectives pursued," a spokeswoman for EU employment chief Vladimir Spidla said.
"Before taking any final position, we would need to analyse the detail of the proposals... we look forward to sitting down with them soon to consider in more detail their ideas."
Commission officials told Reuters that if UEFA can prove its case in the same way as they did with the home-grown player rule, then Platini may get his wish, much to the annoyance of the English Premier League who oppose such a move.
Platini told the ministers the transfer of players under the age of 18 was "equivalent to child trafficking".
In his speech, seen by Reuters, the Frenchman said he wanted stricter control of players from outside Europe, notably in Africa and South America, and to stop under 18s moving to another EU country after signing their first professional contract at 16.
Under FIFA rules, players under 18 cannot be transferred with the exception of those within the EU or where their parents move for their own employment.
Platini said clubs were exploiting the latter rule and employing the parents of gifted players themselves or organising employment for them.
"Only one in ten make the grade and the rest are left on the scrapheap," Platini said in his speech.
Soccer's top official had hoped to convince the bloc's 27 ministers at a meeting in Biarritz of the merits of his proposal to limit the number of foreign players -- known as the '6+5' rule -- despite opposition from the European Commission.
The EU executive, which oversees EU law, says the FIFA plan breaches the bloc's strict rules on free movement of workers.
"Around three or so ministers were sympathetic to the idea, but everybody realised it would not be legal under the EU treaties," a diplomat involved in Friday's meeting told Reuters.
World governing body FIFA may take some heart from the conclusions of the meeting, which stated ministers should:
"...encourage further discussion on initiatives put forward by international federations to encourage the teams of professional clubs in each country to develop the presence of athletes capable of qualifying for national teams, in compliance with EU law, to strengthen the regional and national roots of professional sport."
A spokesman for EU Commissioner Jan Figel said: "The key phrase is compliance with EU laws. There is no change to the situation. The status quo remains.
"We have already said we will review the home-grown player rule in a few years' time. But that's for then."
He was referring to European soccer governing body UEFA's home-grown player rule, which sets a quota of locally-trained players at clubs but without any discrimination on nationality and was approved by Brussels earlier this year.
PLATINI PROPOSAL
UEFA president Michel Platini's proposal to bolster the rule by banning the transfer of players under the age of 18 was met with a lot of sympathy, diplomats said, but required further study into whether it would also breach EU employment laws.
"A proposal banning all transfers of under 18's would, at first sight, appear to constitute indirect discrimination in the field of free movement of workers and disproportionate in light of the objectives pursued," a spokeswoman for EU employment chief Vladimir Spidla said.
"Before taking any final position, we would need to analyse the detail of the proposals... we look forward to sitting down with them soon to consider in more detail their ideas."
Commission officials told Reuters that if UEFA can prove its case in the same way as they did with the home-grown player rule, then Platini may get his wish, much to the annoyance of the English Premier League who oppose such a move.
Platini told the ministers the transfer of players under the age of 18 was "equivalent to child trafficking".
In his speech, seen by Reuters, the Frenchman said he wanted stricter control of players from outside Europe, notably in Africa and South America, and to stop under 18s moving to another EU country after signing their first professional contract at 16.
Under FIFA rules, players under 18 cannot be transferred with the exception of those within the EU or where their parents move for their own employment.
Platini said clubs were exploiting the latter rule and employing the parents of gifted players themselves or organising employment for them.
"Only one in ten make the grade and the rest are left on the scrapheap," Platini said in his speech.
Sports - Coca-Cola keen to sponsor regardless of recession
Coca-Cola is committed to sponsoring major soccer events such as the World Cup and European Championship despite financial pressures created by the credit crunch, its European chief said on Friday.
Dominique Reiniche, president of Coca-Cola's European operations, told Reuters in an interview that the drinks giant may trim sponsorships but would continue to invest in sports, notably soccer, at the top end and grassroots level.
"We don't see ourselves as sponsors but as partners. Olympics, World Cup, UEFA European Championships will continue," she said. "We will revise some budgets, of course -- when the income is lower you have to adapt your expenditure."
The next World Cup finals will be held in South Africa in 2010 with Ukraine and Poland due to co-host the next edition of the European Championship in 2012.
As the global financial crisis takes hold, however, major sports organisations have voiced concern over whether companies may rethink their investments in sport.
"Like everybody, we have to adapt and take into account the financial realities," Reiniche said.
CORE SPORTS
"But what I can promise you is that we stay firm on our fundamentals and supporting the core sports like the Olympics and football is an essential part of what we do and we will continue no matter what happens."
Coca-Cola has already agreed to extend through to 2020 its membership of the International Olympic Committee's worldwide TOP programme, involving major corporations, which is the IOC's most lucrative sponsorship programme.
Reiniche said Coca-Cola will also continue its investment at the local level in sport in a bid to reduce the problem of obesity, which IOC president Jacques said last month would also be his priority if he is elected for a second term.
"It is not that we are co-starring with the World Cup or the Olympics or these mega events. We use these mega events to push the kids and teenagers to participate more in sport," she said.
"We use the big events to drive the grassroots sport and we will continue to drive it. We are partnering with football at every level, we are partnering with schools, we are partnering local teams, with regions."
The World Health Organisation classifies about 400 million people as obese, with 20 million of them under the age of five. The condition raises the risk of diabetes and heart problems.
Dominique Reiniche, president of Coca-Cola's European operations, told Reuters in an interview that the drinks giant may trim sponsorships but would continue to invest in sports, notably soccer, at the top end and grassroots level.
"We don't see ourselves as sponsors but as partners. Olympics, World Cup, UEFA European Championships will continue," she said. "We will revise some budgets, of course -- when the income is lower you have to adapt your expenditure."
The next World Cup finals will be held in South Africa in 2010 with Ukraine and Poland due to co-host the next edition of the European Championship in 2012.
As the global financial crisis takes hold, however, major sports organisations have voiced concern over whether companies may rethink their investments in sport.
"Like everybody, we have to adapt and take into account the financial realities," Reiniche said.
CORE SPORTS
"But what I can promise you is that we stay firm on our fundamentals and supporting the core sports like the Olympics and football is an essential part of what we do and we will continue no matter what happens."
Coca-Cola has already agreed to extend through to 2020 its membership of the International Olympic Committee's worldwide TOP programme, involving major corporations, which is the IOC's most lucrative sponsorship programme.
Reiniche said Coca-Cola will also continue its investment at the local level in sport in a bid to reduce the problem of obesity, which IOC president Jacques said last month would also be his priority if he is elected for a second term.
"It is not that we are co-starring with the World Cup or the Olympics or these mega events. We use these mega events to push the kids and teenagers to participate more in sport," she said.
"We use the big events to drive the grassroots sport and we will continue to drive it. We are partnering with football at every level, we are partnering with schools, we are partnering local teams, with regions."
The World Health Organisation classifies about 400 million people as obese, with 20 million of them under the age of five. The condition raises the risk of diabetes and heart problems.
Lifestyle - London;Mobile internet usage growing in popularity
London, Nov 26 (ANI): Millions of mobile phone owners in the UK use their handsets to access the Internet, a new research by analyst firm Nielsen Online has found.
The media analyst firm says that some 7.3 million people are accessing the Internet via their mobile devices, from 5.8 million, compared to a three per cent rise for PC-based Internet.
This, according to the research, is an increase of 25 percent compared to a growth of just 3 percent for the PC-based net audience, reports BBC.
The study also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.
Google remained the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, whereas on mobile internet BBC News was the most visited site, the research found.
"This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this," said Kent Ferguson, asenior analyst with Nielsen Online.
"The fact that weather, sports, news and e-mail sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites shows that mobile internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and e-commerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites," he added.
Younger web users are also more likely to surf the net on their mobile phones than their computers, with a quarter of all mobile internet users aged between 15 and 24, compared to just 16 per cent of PC web users.
By contrast, older people prefer to use their computers to surf the internet, with just 12 per cent of mobile web users aged 55 and over, compared to 23 per cent of PC web users. (ANI)
The media analyst firm says that some 7.3 million people are accessing the Internet via their mobile devices, from 5.8 million, compared to a three per cent rise for PC-based Internet.
This, according to the research, is an increase of 25 percent compared to a growth of just 3 percent for the PC-based net audience, reports BBC.
The study also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.
Google remained the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, whereas on mobile internet BBC News was the most visited site, the research found.
"This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this," said Kent Ferguson, asenior analyst with Nielsen Online.
"The fact that weather, sports, news and e-mail sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites shows that mobile internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and e-commerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites," he added.
Younger web users are also more likely to surf the net on their mobile phones than their computers, with a quarter of all mobile internet users aged between 15 and 24, compared to just 16 per cent of PC web users.
By contrast, older people prefer to use their computers to surf the internet, with just 12 per cent of mobile web users aged 55 and over, compared to 23 per cent of PC web users. (ANI)
Sports - Football;Chilean striker Salas retires
Former Chile and Lazio striker Marcelo Salas, who scored a record 37 goals for his country, has retired at the age of 33.
"I had a meeting today with Marcelo and he said he had decided not to carry on playing," said Universidad de Chile director Federico Valdes in a television interview on Friday.
"Marcelo's last professional match was against Cobreloa the other Sunday when he scored two goals."
Former Latin American Player of the Year Salas began his career at Universidad in 1994 before joining Argentina's River Plate in 1996.
He helped Chile qualify for the 1998 World Cup, their first appearance in the finals for 16 years, and netted four goals as they reached the last 16, forming an excellent partnership with Ivan Zamorano.
Salas then moved to Lazio where he spent three seasons and helped the Italians win Serie A.
In 2001 he moved to Juventus but was plagued by injuries and his career was never the same again.
Salas returned in 2003 to River Plate where he spent two seasons but continued to be troubled by injury and eventually rejoined Universidad.
He equalled Zamorano's total of 34 goals for Chile in 2001 but needed another four years to break the record, finally hitting the target in a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia.
Salas scored his final two international goals in a 2-2 draw in Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier last year.
"I had a meeting today with Marcelo and he said he had decided not to carry on playing," said Universidad de Chile director Federico Valdes in a television interview on Friday.
"Marcelo's last professional match was against Cobreloa the other Sunday when he scored two goals."
Former Latin American Player of the Year Salas began his career at Universidad in 1994 before joining Argentina's River Plate in 1996.
He helped Chile qualify for the 1998 World Cup, their first appearance in the finals for 16 years, and netted four goals as they reached the last 16, forming an excellent partnership with Ivan Zamorano.
Salas then moved to Lazio where he spent three seasons and helped the Italians win Serie A.
In 2001 he moved to Juventus but was plagued by injuries and his career was never the same again.
Salas returned in 2003 to River Plate where he spent two seasons but continued to be troubled by injury and eventually rejoined Universidad.
He equalled Zamorano's total of 34 goals for Chile in 2001 but needed another four years to break the record, finally hitting the target in a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia.
Salas scored his final two international goals in a 2-2 draw in Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier last year.
Science - Scientists shed light on genetics of cancer relapse
London, November 28 (ANI): A study conducted by researchers at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, has revealed that cancer cells that cause a type of childhood leukaemia to recur are often already present in patients, when they are first diagnosed with the disease.
Lead researcher Charles Mullighan says that the new discovery may help doctors treat the cancer more efficiently.
Existing treatments cure more than 80 per cent of the patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), but children who then have a relapse have only a 30 per cent chance of recovering.
With a view to determining why the disease is so deadly if it relapses, Mullighan and his colleagues collected leukaemic white blood cells from 61 children with ALL as they were diagnosed and after they relapsed.
The researchers examined copy-number variations - stretches of DNA that are lost or duplicated - in the two sets of samples, and found that only six per cent of relapses were caused by completely new cancers.
They revealed that in 42 per cent of the patients who relapsed, the cells were direct descendants of those identified at diagnosis.
However, in 52 per cent of the patients, the relapse arose from ancestors of the original cancer cells that were not detected when the patients were initially screened.
The treatment that a patient with ALL receives depends upon the results of genetic tests of their white blood cells and bone marrow, which are used to classify them into risk categories.
However, the latest discovery by the research team goes to show that some patients might be carrying more dangerous types of cancerous cells that go undiagnosed.
"These variants are present at the time of diagnosis - which is a worry because it means you've got to get them at the time of diagnosis, you can't wait until the patient relapses," Nature magazine quoted Mulligan as saying.
He believes that rare variants of the cancerous cells may be identified with the aid of more sensitive detection techniques, so as to improve treatment of the disease.
The magazine also reports that the research team have found many mutations in genes that are not known to make cancers resistant to drugs.
"They are not drug-resistance genes, they are genes that contribute to the vitality or viability of the leukaemic clones," says co-author James Downing, also from St Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The researchers are presently studying whether single amino-acid mutations in classical drug-resistance genes are important in the evolution of the cancer cells. Their original analysis, which looked at long stretches of DNA, would not have picked up these mutations.
They say that they will publish further findings in a forthcoming issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, based on which doctors will be able to predict whether a particular patient's treatment will be successful. (ANI)
Lead researcher Charles Mullighan says that the new discovery may help doctors treat the cancer more efficiently.
Existing treatments cure more than 80 per cent of the patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), but children who then have a relapse have only a 30 per cent chance of recovering.
With a view to determining why the disease is so deadly if it relapses, Mullighan and his colleagues collected leukaemic white blood cells from 61 children with ALL as they were diagnosed and after they relapsed.
The researchers examined copy-number variations - stretches of DNA that are lost or duplicated - in the two sets of samples, and found that only six per cent of relapses were caused by completely new cancers.
They revealed that in 42 per cent of the patients who relapsed, the cells were direct descendants of those identified at diagnosis.
However, in 52 per cent of the patients, the relapse arose from ancestors of the original cancer cells that were not detected when the patients were initially screened.
The treatment that a patient with ALL receives depends upon the results of genetic tests of their white blood cells and bone marrow, which are used to classify them into risk categories.
However, the latest discovery by the research team goes to show that some patients might be carrying more dangerous types of cancerous cells that go undiagnosed.
"These variants are present at the time of diagnosis - which is a worry because it means you've got to get them at the time of diagnosis, you can't wait until the patient relapses," Nature magazine quoted Mulligan as saying.
He believes that rare variants of the cancerous cells may be identified with the aid of more sensitive detection techniques, so as to improve treatment of the disease.
The magazine also reports that the research team have found many mutations in genes that are not known to make cancers resistant to drugs.
"They are not drug-resistance genes, they are genes that contribute to the vitality or viability of the leukaemic clones," says co-author James Downing, also from St Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The researchers are presently studying whether single amino-acid mutations in classical drug-resistance genes are important in the evolution of the cancer cells. Their original analysis, which looked at long stretches of DNA, would not have picked up these mutations.
They say that they will publish further findings in a forthcoming issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, based on which doctors will be able to predict whether a particular patient's treatment will be successful. (ANI)
Science - Why plastic bends rather than break when put under stress
Washington, Nov 28 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered the mechanism behind plastic's most useful but puzzling quality - the ability to bend rather than break when put under stress.
University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Mark Ediger, says this property, described as "plastic flow", allows many plastics to change shape to absorb energy rather than breaking apart.
"This is an odd combination of properties... These materials shouldn't be able to flow because they're rigid solids, but some of them can. How does that happen?" he said.
Ediger's research team, led by graduate student Hau-Nan Lee, has now described a fundamental mechanism underlying this stiff-but-malleable quality.
Plastics are a type of material known to chemists and engineers as polymer glasses. Unlike a crystal, in which molecules are locked together in a perfectly ordered array, a glass is molecularly jumbled, with its constituent chemical building blocks trapped in whatever helter-skelter arrangement they fell into as the material cooled and solidified.
While this atomic disorder means that glasses are less stable than crystals, it also provides molecules in the glass with some wiggle room to move around without breaking apart.
"Polymer glasses are used in many, many different applications," including polycarbonate, which is found in popular reusable water bottles, Ediger says.
Aircraft windows are also often made of polycarbonate.
"One of the reasons polymer glasses are used is that they don't break when you drop them or fly into a bird at 600 miles per hour."
However, their properties can change dramatically under different physical conditions such as pressure, temperature, and humidity. For example, many polymer glasses become brittle at low temperatures, as anyone knows who has ever dropped a plastic container from the freezer or tried to work on vinyl house siding in cold weather.
The team examined the mechanics of a common plastic called polymethylmethacrylate - also known as Plexiglas or acrylic - and found that a pulling force had a pronounced effect on the molecules within the material, speeding up their individual movements by more than a factor of 1,000.
The team observed internal molecular rearrangements within 50 seconds that would have taken a full day without the force applied.
According to the researchers, this increased motion allows the material to flow without breaking.
"When you pull on it, you increase the mobility in the material. The act of pulling on it actually transforms the glass into a liquid that can then flow. Then when you stop pulling on it, it transforms back to a glass," Ediger said.
The study is appearing Nov. 28 issue of Science Express. (ANI)
University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Mark Ediger, says this property, described as "plastic flow", allows many plastics to change shape to absorb energy rather than breaking apart.
"This is an odd combination of properties... These materials shouldn't be able to flow because they're rigid solids, but some of them can. How does that happen?" he said.
Ediger's research team, led by graduate student Hau-Nan Lee, has now described a fundamental mechanism underlying this stiff-but-malleable quality.
Plastics are a type of material known to chemists and engineers as polymer glasses. Unlike a crystal, in which molecules are locked together in a perfectly ordered array, a glass is molecularly jumbled, with its constituent chemical building blocks trapped in whatever helter-skelter arrangement they fell into as the material cooled and solidified.
While this atomic disorder means that glasses are less stable than crystals, it also provides molecules in the glass with some wiggle room to move around without breaking apart.
"Polymer glasses are used in many, many different applications," including polycarbonate, which is found in popular reusable water bottles, Ediger says.
Aircraft windows are also often made of polycarbonate.
"One of the reasons polymer glasses are used is that they don't break when you drop them or fly into a bird at 600 miles per hour."
However, their properties can change dramatically under different physical conditions such as pressure, temperature, and humidity. For example, many polymer glasses become brittle at low temperatures, as anyone knows who has ever dropped a plastic container from the freezer or tried to work on vinyl house siding in cold weather.
The team examined the mechanics of a common plastic called polymethylmethacrylate - also known as Plexiglas or acrylic - and found that a pulling force had a pronounced effect on the molecules within the material, speeding up their individual movements by more than a factor of 1,000.
The team observed internal molecular rearrangements within 50 seconds that would have taken a full day without the force applied.
According to the researchers, this increased motion allows the material to flow without breaking.
"When you pull on it, you increase the mobility in the material. The act of pulling on it actually transforms the glass into a liquid that can then flow. Then when you stop pulling on it, it transforms back to a glass," Ediger said.
The study is appearing Nov. 28 issue of Science Express. (ANI)
Science - Life on Earth was 'hell' 3.5 billion years ago
Canberra, Nov 28 (ANI): A scientist has developed a computer model which suggests that life on Earth was 'hell' 3.5 billion years ago, with a layer of rock deep inside the mantle resulting in the planet being covered by a sea of lava several kilometers thick.
According to a report by ABC News, using computer models of the earth's interior, Dr Geoff Davies of the Australian National University in Canberra, believes these events would have left only the hardiest of life to survive and may explain how the continents formed.
Heat formed under the surface of the earth's crust due to natural radioactive decay. This heat drives convention currents in the mantle, which push against the tectonic plates that form the crust.
Occasionally, one plate slides under another, a process known as subduction.
Davies developed a computer model of the earth's interior to examine how this subduction process interacts with the mantle.
His model shows that during the earth's first billion years, rock from the crust dives down to a region between the inner and outer mantle, approximately 660 to 750 kilometres below the earth's surface, where it accumulates to form a 'basaltic barrier'.
"Once that blocking layer is there, there's no way for the heat from the deep mantle to escape to the surface," Davies said.
The heat continues to increase in temperature and eventually breaks through the barrier making its way to the surface.
"It melts as it reaches the lower pressure near the top of the mantle and the melted rock erupts as lava flows," said Davies. "The lava flows could pile up to a thickness of ten to fifteen kilometers over much of the earth," he added.
According to Davies' model, these volcanic events last for a million years and occur about once every 100 million years.
Davies added that these events would release large amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, affecting the chemistry of the oceans and atmosphere, and leaving only the hardiest bacteria alive.
This process continues until the earth is approximately 1 billion years old.
"The radioactive heating in the mantle slowly decreases and the mantle cools and moves more slowly, so the tectonic plates become thicker," said Davies.
After this point in time, tectonic plates that undergo subduction are heavier and pass into the inner mantle where they are broken apart, preventing them from forming a basaltic barrier.
Davies believes his finding may help provide a better understanding of how the continents formed. (ANI)
According to a report by ABC News, using computer models of the earth's interior, Dr Geoff Davies of the Australian National University in Canberra, believes these events would have left only the hardiest of life to survive and may explain how the continents formed.
Heat formed under the surface of the earth's crust due to natural radioactive decay. This heat drives convention currents in the mantle, which push against the tectonic plates that form the crust.
Occasionally, one plate slides under another, a process known as subduction.
Davies developed a computer model of the earth's interior to examine how this subduction process interacts with the mantle.
His model shows that during the earth's first billion years, rock from the crust dives down to a region between the inner and outer mantle, approximately 660 to 750 kilometres below the earth's surface, where it accumulates to form a 'basaltic barrier'.
"Once that blocking layer is there, there's no way for the heat from the deep mantle to escape to the surface," Davies said.
The heat continues to increase in temperature and eventually breaks through the barrier making its way to the surface.
"It melts as it reaches the lower pressure near the top of the mantle and the melted rock erupts as lava flows," said Davies. "The lava flows could pile up to a thickness of ten to fifteen kilometers over much of the earth," he added.
According to Davies' model, these volcanic events last for a million years and occur about once every 100 million years.
Davies added that these events would release large amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, affecting the chemistry of the oceans and atmosphere, and leaving only the hardiest bacteria alive.
This process continues until the earth is approximately 1 billion years old.
"The radioactive heating in the mantle slowly decreases and the mantle cools and moves more slowly, so the tectonic plates become thicker," said Davies.
After this point in time, tectonic plates that undergo subduction are heavier and pass into the inner mantle where they are broken apart, preventing them from forming a basaltic barrier.
Davies believes his finding may help provide a better understanding of how the continents formed. (ANI)
Science - Selenium may halt AIDS spread, claims Indian-origin researcher
Washington, Nov 28 (ANI): A protein naturally found in human blood cells that contains selenium can significantly slow down the multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to a team led by an Indian-origin researcher.
"We have found that increasing the expression of proteins that contain selenium negatively affects the replication of HIV," said K. Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State assistant professor of immunology and molecular toxicology.
"Our results suggest a reduction in viral replication by at least 10-fold," the expert added.
Selenium is a micronutrient that the body needs to maintain normal metabolism. Unlike other nutrients, which bind to certain proteins and modulate the protein's activity, selenium gets incorporated into proteins in the form of an amino acid called selenocysteine.
These proteins - selenoproteins - are especially important in reducing the stress caused by an infection, thereby slowing its spread.
Upon infecting a person, the virus quickly degrades selenoproteins so that it can replicate efficiently. It is unclear just how the virus is able to silence these proteins but Prabhu and his colleagues believe that stress inflicted on cells by the rapidly dividing virus, which produces a key protein known as Tat, is the likely culprit.
Tat is one of about 14 odd proteins produced by HIV during the first stage of infection. The job of these proteins is to trigger the expression of all the other genes that the virus needs to sustain itself. In addition, Tat also plays a key role in helping the virus replicate.
One of the proteins that targets Tat is a selenoprotein known as TR1.
"Since HIV targets the selenoproteins, we thought that the logical way to deal with the virus is to increase the expression of such proteins in the body," explained Prabhu, whose team's findings are outlined this week (Nov. 28) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Researchers first isolated blood cells from healthy human volunteers who did not have HIV, and infected those cells with the virus. Next, they added tiny amounts of a selenium compound - sodium selenite - into the cell culture to see the effect on viral replication.
Results from the tests indicate that the addition of selenium inhibits the replication of HIV at least 10-fold, compared to cell cultures in which no selenium is added. When the researchers selectively reduced production of the selenium containing TR1 protein, they observed a 3.5-fold increase in viral replication.
"This confirms that while increasing the expression of TR1 has a negative impact on the replication of HIV, reducing it helps the virus replicate more efficiently," explained Prabhu.
He believes that TR1 works by upsetting the chemical structure of Tat, which in turn reduces the virus' ability to replicate.
"Once we fully understand the function of these selenium proteins, it will give us a handle to come up with more effective drugs," said Prabhu, whose work is partly funded by the National Institutes of Health. (ANI)
"We have found that increasing the expression of proteins that contain selenium negatively affects the replication of HIV," said K. Sandeep Prabhu, Penn State assistant professor of immunology and molecular toxicology.
"Our results suggest a reduction in viral replication by at least 10-fold," the expert added.
Selenium is a micronutrient that the body needs to maintain normal metabolism. Unlike other nutrients, which bind to certain proteins and modulate the protein's activity, selenium gets incorporated into proteins in the form of an amino acid called selenocysteine.
These proteins - selenoproteins - are especially important in reducing the stress caused by an infection, thereby slowing its spread.
Upon infecting a person, the virus quickly degrades selenoproteins so that it can replicate efficiently. It is unclear just how the virus is able to silence these proteins but Prabhu and his colleagues believe that stress inflicted on cells by the rapidly dividing virus, which produces a key protein known as Tat, is the likely culprit.
Tat is one of about 14 odd proteins produced by HIV during the first stage of infection. The job of these proteins is to trigger the expression of all the other genes that the virus needs to sustain itself. In addition, Tat also plays a key role in helping the virus replicate.
One of the proteins that targets Tat is a selenoprotein known as TR1.
"Since HIV targets the selenoproteins, we thought that the logical way to deal with the virus is to increase the expression of such proteins in the body," explained Prabhu, whose team's findings are outlined this week (Nov. 28) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Researchers first isolated blood cells from healthy human volunteers who did not have HIV, and infected those cells with the virus. Next, they added tiny amounts of a selenium compound - sodium selenite - into the cell culture to see the effect on viral replication.
Results from the tests indicate that the addition of selenium inhibits the replication of HIV at least 10-fold, compared to cell cultures in which no selenium is added. When the researchers selectively reduced production of the selenium containing TR1 protein, they observed a 3.5-fold increase in viral replication.
"This confirms that while increasing the expression of TR1 has a negative impact on the replication of HIV, reducing it helps the virus replicate more efficiently," explained Prabhu.
He believes that TR1 works by upsetting the chemical structure of Tat, which in turn reduces the virus' ability to replicate.
"Once we fully understand the function of these selenium proteins, it will give us a handle to come up with more effective drugs," said Prabhu, whose work is partly funded by the National Institutes of Health. (ANI)
Entertainment - Britney suffers from Bulimia
Troubled pop star Britney Spears is battling an eating disorder, one of her bodyguards has allegedly revealed.
According to the 'minder', the 'Toxic' singer, who recently showed off her newly toned figure, which she claims, is down to a healthy eating and fitness regime, has been abusing laxatives and vomiting after meals, reports 'China Daily'.
"Britney's diet consists mostly of Taco Bell and turkey jerky washed down with Red Bull," a source close to one of Britney''s bodyguards told America''s Star magazine
"She throws up after meals, both at home and at restaurants and she isn''t very discreet about it. People around her think she's bulimic," the source added.
It is also believed that the 26-year-old diva is taking diet pills to maintain her slender shape.
"The pills are like diuretics. She has to go to the bathroom constantly. It just runs right through her," said another insider.
"And everyone knows she still throws up when she's eaten too much. You can smell it in the bathroom," the insider added.
It has been previously revealed that Britney is suffering from bulimorexia, an eating disorder which sees her both starving herself and then bingeing and making herself sick.
According to the 'minder', the 'Toxic' singer, who recently showed off her newly toned figure, which she claims, is down to a healthy eating and fitness regime, has been abusing laxatives and vomiting after meals, reports 'China Daily'.
"Britney's diet consists mostly of Taco Bell and turkey jerky washed down with Red Bull," a source close to one of Britney''s bodyguards told America''s Star magazine
"She throws up after meals, both at home and at restaurants and she isn''t very discreet about it. People around her think she's bulimic," the source added.
It is also believed that the 26-year-old diva is taking diet pills to maintain her slender shape.
"The pills are like diuretics. She has to go to the bathroom constantly. It just runs right through her," said another insider.
"And everyone knows she still throws up when she's eaten too much. You can smell it in the bathroom," the insider added.
It has been previously revealed that Britney is suffering from bulimorexia, an eating disorder which sees her both starving herself and then bingeing and making herself sick.
India - Govt bows down to tobacco industry pressure
New Delhi, Nov 28 (ANI/Business Wire India): The tobacco control community and public health organizations strongly condemn the shocking decision taken at a meeting of the GoM on November 24 to defer the much awaited implementation of pictorial warnings on all tobacco products from November 30.
This decision has been repeatedly postponed several times since February 2007.
According to Alok Mukhopadhyay, Chief Executive, VHAI, "It is a matter of great shame that the guardians of the largest democracy in the world decide to put aside the critical health concerns of Indian citizens to boost the health and profits of the tobacco industry, particularly the bidi sector."
The bidi industry which is talking about lost jobs for its workers if pictorial warnings are implemented is the same which does not pay minimum wages, exploits women and children, constantly exposes its workers to hazardous substances, flouts labour laws and spreads serious illnesses and death.
Ironically, the news of this postponement came in while at Durban, South Africa, India along with nearly 160 nations came together on November 22 and signed a treaty unanimously adopting the guidelines for Article 11 of the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC), which refers to the packaging and labeling of tobacco products.
The Government of India was present in that meeting and its decision to implement pack warnings was greatly applauded in the conference of parties.
According to Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay, Senior Director, VHAI, "The government should set up strong and transparent mechanisms at the highest levels to prevent industry interference in the implementation of tobacco control measures and policy making processes. Since the tobacco industry sells a product that kills one million people in India annually, therefore, industry's interests will always be in conflict with the nation's public health and economic aspirations."
Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are intended to increase consumer knowledge of the deadly health effects of tobacco consumption, to encourage cessation and to discourage uptake.
In India, they also break the linguistic and cultural barrier, in addition to informing the illiterate population (a large proportion of this segment smoke bidis), about the harms of tobacco use.
Around 17 countries around the world including Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela and a number of other developed nations have successfully introduced picture-based warnings and many of them are stronger with gorier images than the proposed Indian pictures.
In a survey in Brazil, three months after the introduction of new picture warnings in April 2002, 73 per cent of smokers approved of them, 54 per cent had changed their opinion on the health consequences of smoking and 67 per cent said that the new health warnings made them want to quit the habit. Similar is the experience of countries like Canada and Australia.
The evidence is unequivocal that warning labels improve public health. (ANI)
This decision has been repeatedly postponed several times since February 2007.
According to Alok Mukhopadhyay, Chief Executive, VHAI, "It is a matter of great shame that the guardians of the largest democracy in the world decide to put aside the critical health concerns of Indian citizens to boost the health and profits of the tobacco industry, particularly the bidi sector."
The bidi industry which is talking about lost jobs for its workers if pictorial warnings are implemented is the same which does not pay minimum wages, exploits women and children, constantly exposes its workers to hazardous substances, flouts labour laws and spreads serious illnesses and death.
Ironically, the news of this postponement came in while at Durban, South Africa, India along with nearly 160 nations came together on November 22 and signed a treaty unanimously adopting the guidelines for Article 11 of the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC), which refers to the packaging and labeling of tobacco products.
The Government of India was present in that meeting and its decision to implement pack warnings was greatly applauded in the conference of parties.
According to Bhavna B Mukhopadhyay, Senior Director, VHAI, "The government should set up strong and transparent mechanisms at the highest levels to prevent industry interference in the implementation of tobacco control measures and policy making processes. Since the tobacco industry sells a product that kills one million people in India annually, therefore, industry's interests will always be in conflict with the nation's public health and economic aspirations."
Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are intended to increase consumer knowledge of the deadly health effects of tobacco consumption, to encourage cessation and to discourage uptake.
In India, they also break the linguistic and cultural barrier, in addition to informing the illiterate population (a large proportion of this segment smoke bidis), about the harms of tobacco use.
Around 17 countries around the world including Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela and a number of other developed nations have successfully introduced picture-based warnings and many of them are stronger with gorier images than the proposed Indian pictures.
In a survey in Brazil, three months after the introduction of new picture warnings in April 2002, 73 per cent of smokers approved of them, 54 per cent had changed their opinion on the health consequences of smoking and 67 per cent said that the new health warnings made them want to quit the habit. Similar is the experience of countries like Canada and Australia.
The evidence is unequivocal that warning labels improve public health. (ANI)
Business - US shoppers seek deals,but less on Black Friday
Shoppers lured by money-saving deals filled U.S stores on Friday, but the annual kick-off to holiday shopping appeared weaker this year as worries about a deep recession kept purchases down.
The day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, when retailers can make up to 40 percent of their annual sales. Crowds gathered outside stores for predawn deals.
The frenzied bargain-hunting took a somber turn when a worker at Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, died after shoppers broke down doors to enter the store at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT). Four others were hurt in what Wal-Mart called a "tragic" incident.
Shoppers at Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, California, ran for cover when two men shot and killed each other in the store, the town's mayor said. Toys "R" Us said the dispute appeared to be personal, and no other injuries were reported.
This holiday weekend will test the strength of consumer sentiment, a main driver of the U.S. economy, as the country faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
To generate excitement during what some experts predict may be the bleakest holiday season in nearly two decades, retailers from Wal-Mart to Macy's Inc and Best Buy Co Inc opened early on "Black Friday".
Marjorie Daube, 59, of Manhattan scaled back her shopping and was only buying sale items, aware that her husband's bonus at a financial firm would decline this year.
"Shopping was never fun at all, and it's less fun now," Daube said.
Natalie Diaz, 32, planned to cut by half the $2,000 she shelled out last year for Christmas gifts, but said she would not scrimp on presents for her twins.
"Santa does not have a recession," she said, shopping at a J.C. Penney Co Inc store in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Michele Greaves, browsing in a Brooklyn mall, said she would buy her children only one present each this year.
"I'm penny-pinching, and I ask myself, 'Do you really need that?' My kids are small. I have to save," Greaves said.
MORE TRAFFIC, FEWER BAGS
Early store traffic was lighter this year, but picked up by midday, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD Group.
"The traffic is up compared to last year, but the bag count is down," he said. "There may be more casual shoppers, but they're not buying as much as last year."
Britt Beemer of America's Research Group said he saw shoppers carrying 25 to 40 percent fewer bags this year.
"If the item was there, they bought it. If it wasn't there, they left," said Beemer, calling this year's customer a "hit-and-run shopper."
A weak view of holiday sales was evident on Wall Street on Friday. The Standard & Poor's Retail Index slipped 1.6 percent on Friday and is down 36 percent so far this year, versus a 39 percent drop for the S&P 500 index.
Consumer electronics, toys and clothing were the goods in highest demand, from flat-screen televisions to cashmere sweaters, according to the National Retail Federation.
At a New Jersey Best Buy, it took 1-1/2 hours for a crowd of nearly 1,000 people to enter at 5 a.m., a manager said.
Cars were parked on the lawn and sidewalk outside a Circuit City store in Burlington, Massachusetts, after the bankrupt retailer announced six-hour specials.
Best Buy President Brian Dunn told Reuters he was pleased with customer response to its offers.
"It's almost cathartic to see people out there buying again and focusing not so much on the fear and the drudgery of the tough news that we're all dealing with," Dunn said.
Parking lots at Taubman Centers Inc malls in New Jersey, Virginia, Michigan and Connecticut were nearly 100 percent full by the afternoon, a spokeswoman said.
Still, holiday traffic is not the best indicator of sales, since shoppers may balk at buying once they arrive, or buy sparingly. Deep price cuts mean stores may need to sell twice the merchandise to preserve profits, said NPD's Cohen.
One Macy's employee in San Francisco, Michael Vaughan, said he booked $3,000 in sales in the first three hours the store was open, but associates told him the norm for that period for "Black Friday" was four times that amount.
WAL-MART PROSPERS
Discounters like Wal-Mart have prospered in recent months as more consumers seek out low prices. But mid-tier retailers like department store operator Macy's and specialty chains such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp are fighting to retain customers and eke out profits.
Retail sales at U.S. stores open at least a year could fall 2.4 percent in November, or 7.1 percent excluding Wal-Mart, compared with 4 percent growth last year, based on analysts' forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Macy's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said the company has worked closely with its vendors to craft discounts without cutting too deeply into its own margins.
"One of the great advantages of being the largest customer to practically everyone you do business with is sharing in margin with our vendors and suppliers," Lundgren told Reuters.
Sales of clothing and big-ticket luxury items have been hit particularly hard as consumers cut back on everything but the most basic items. Electronics sellers and toy stores hope their goods will remain on the must-have lists of gift givers.
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said Apple Inc's iPod personal music and video player was the No. 1-selling item on its website in the first 11 hours on Friday.
Some shoppers felt deflated by "Black Friday's" sales.
"It was alright," said Christal Horton, at a Brooklyn Target Corp store. "I thought it would be cheaper."
(Additional reporting by Sarah Coffey, Ellen Wulfhorst and Martinne Geller in New York, Gina Keating in Los Angeles and Karen Jacobs in Wisconsin)
The day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, when retailers can make up to 40 percent of their annual sales. Crowds gathered outside stores for predawn deals.
The frenzied bargain-hunting took a somber turn when a worker at Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, died after shoppers broke down doors to enter the store at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT). Four others were hurt in what Wal-Mart called a "tragic" incident.
Shoppers at Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, California, ran for cover when two men shot and killed each other in the store, the town's mayor said. Toys "R" Us said the dispute appeared to be personal, and no other injuries were reported.
This holiday weekend will test the strength of consumer sentiment, a main driver of the U.S. economy, as the country faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
To generate excitement during what some experts predict may be the bleakest holiday season in nearly two decades, retailers from Wal-Mart to Macy's Inc and Best Buy Co Inc opened early on "Black Friday".
Marjorie Daube, 59, of Manhattan scaled back her shopping and was only buying sale items, aware that her husband's bonus at a financial firm would decline this year.
"Shopping was never fun at all, and it's less fun now," Daube said.
Natalie Diaz, 32, planned to cut by half the $2,000 she shelled out last year for Christmas gifts, but said she would not scrimp on presents for her twins.
"Santa does not have a recession," she said, shopping at a J.C. Penney Co Inc store in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Michele Greaves, browsing in a Brooklyn mall, said she would buy her children only one present each this year.
"I'm penny-pinching, and I ask myself, 'Do you really need that?' My kids are small. I have to save," Greaves said.
MORE TRAFFIC, FEWER BAGS
Early store traffic was lighter this year, but picked up by midday, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD Group.
"The traffic is up compared to last year, but the bag count is down," he said. "There may be more casual shoppers, but they're not buying as much as last year."
Britt Beemer of America's Research Group said he saw shoppers carrying 25 to 40 percent fewer bags this year.
"If the item was there, they bought it. If it wasn't there, they left," said Beemer, calling this year's customer a "hit-and-run shopper."
A weak view of holiday sales was evident on Wall Street on Friday. The Standard & Poor's Retail Index slipped 1.6 percent on Friday and is down 36 percent so far this year, versus a 39 percent drop for the S&P 500 index.
Consumer electronics, toys and clothing were the goods in highest demand, from flat-screen televisions to cashmere sweaters, according to the National Retail Federation.
At a New Jersey Best Buy, it took 1-1/2 hours for a crowd of nearly 1,000 people to enter at 5 a.m., a manager said.
Cars were parked on the lawn and sidewalk outside a Circuit City store in Burlington, Massachusetts, after the bankrupt retailer announced six-hour specials.
Best Buy President Brian Dunn told Reuters he was pleased with customer response to its offers.
"It's almost cathartic to see people out there buying again and focusing not so much on the fear and the drudgery of the tough news that we're all dealing with," Dunn said.
Parking lots at Taubman Centers Inc
Still, holiday traffic is not the best indicator of sales, since shoppers may balk at buying once they arrive, or buy sparingly. Deep price cuts mean stores may need to sell twice the merchandise to preserve profits, said NPD's Cohen.
One Macy's employee in San Francisco, Michael Vaughan, said he booked $3,000 in sales in the first three hours the store was open, but associates told him the norm for that period for "Black Friday" was four times that amount.
WAL-MART PROSPERS
Discounters like Wal-Mart have prospered in recent months as more consumers seek out low prices. But mid-tier retailers like department store operator Macy's and specialty chains such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp are fighting to retain customers and eke out profits.
Retail sales at U.S. stores open at least a year could fall 2.4 percent in November, or 7.1 percent excluding Wal-Mart, compared with 4 percent growth last year, based on analysts' forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Macy's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said the company has worked closely with its vendors to craft discounts without cutting too deeply into its own margins.
"One of the great advantages of being the largest customer to practically everyone you do business with is sharing in margin with our vendors and suppliers," Lundgren told Reuters.
Sales of clothing and big-ticket luxury items have been hit particularly hard as consumers cut back on everything but the most basic items. Electronics sellers and toy stores hope their goods will remain on the must-have lists of gift givers.
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc
Some shoppers felt deflated by "Black Friday's" sales.
"It was alright," said Christal Horton, at a Brooklyn Target Corp
(Additional reporting by Sarah Coffey, Ellen Wulfhorst and Martinne Geller in New York, Gina Keating in Los Angeles and Karen Jacobs in Wisconsin)
India - Pakistan to send spy agency rep
Pakistan will send a representative of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency to Mumbai to help with investigations of attacks there, not its director, Pakistan's state news agency said on Saturday.
In an unprecedented step, Pakistan said on Friday the ISI director general would go to India to help with investigations at the request of the Indian prime minister.
Pakistan's state APP news agency cited an official in the prime minister's office but gave no details.
In an unprecedented step, Pakistan said on Friday the ISI director general would go to India to help with investigations at the request of the Indian prime minister.
Pakistan's state APP news agency cited an official in the prime minister's office but gave no details.
Mktg - Audi & Movie roles
Ron Grover
These are rough times for car companies. Executives from Detroit's Big Three are getting grilled on Capitol Hill. Folks are ignoring new cars in droves, and TV ads—well, they're sounding a bit desperate. So what's a car company to do? Hit the movies, that's what. Cars, of course, have had co-starring roles in movies since before the introduction of Technicolor. James Bond sped along European roads for years in his Aston Martin (or a BMW in later installments). Disney's (DIS) Love Bug starred, well, you know. And last year's megahit Transformers seemed to feature most of the General Motors (GM) lineup, including a bright yellow Camaro that converts itself into one of the robotic heroes.
The hot car in Hollywood, these days, is an Audi (NSUG), the German luxury car that, frankly, always seemed to sneak into lesser roles in movieland. No more. In the past few years, it's hard to go to your local multiplex without seeing that four-ring insignia staring back at you. In this spring's blockbuster Iron Man, the carmaker had three vehicles in starring roles, including the superhot Audi R8 speedster in which action star Tony Stark (aka Robert Downey Jr.) raced around town. And when the action film Transporter 3 opens on Nov. 26, car chase fans will get to see a nearly two-hour commercial for the Audi luxury sedan A8 as it outruns police, outmaneuvers a truck by riding on two wheels, and flies through the air to land on a speeding train—all without so much as losing a hubcap.
Product placement isn't exactly new in Hollywood, and Audi has been doing it for years. But you have to hand it to the automaker, which has gone into overdrive to go gear-shift to gear-shift with the likes of Ford (F), Mercedes, and better-known brands that for years have hogged much of the screen time. Audi has done its best to crash just about every awards party in town. (Disclosure: I was their guest at a post-Emmy party they hosted a month back and was chauffeured there in a decked-out A8). They have a fleet of sleek cars at the ready to lend to stars and directors. And they have turned loose their product placement agency for the last decade, the appropriately named Propaganda, which also shoehorns such clients as Nokia (NOK), Panasonic, and La Coste into scripts.
Hey, Look Me Over
"What we really needed was to get America talking, and that meant targeting Hollywood," says Scott Keogh, Audi's chief marketing officer. "It's about luxury and performance. People who know us get it. We needed more people to know us." Keogh is chatting with me at a cocktail party during the American Film Institute conference, the annual gathering of independent filmmakers and buyers for which Audi just happens to be a sponsor. Directors buzz by, sampling the booze and heading on to check out the sleek Audi parked next to the Roosevelt Hotel's pool.
It's all part of the Audi plan to target mega-events, especially as traditional media splinters and audiences dissipate. Earlier this year, the carmaker spent the requisite $2.7 million for a Godfather-spoofing Super Bowl spot, which shows a man waking up in his bed to find the sawed-off grille of a rival luxury car—and ends with the apparent perpetrator speeding off in an R8.
Rumors have always abounded that companies pay hefty sums to get their cell phones, soft drinks, computers, and cars onto the screen. I'm not going to tell you that it doesn't happen. Audi stresses that Hollywood's producers and directors just love their cars and points out that Transporter star Jason Statham is a frequent Audi guest at races where its cars participate. As for money changing hands, Audi steadfastly denies it pays for script time but acknowledges it will occasionally spend hefty amounts—let's just say $2 million or so—to help promote any flick with which it's associated. When Paramount (VIAB) rolled out Marvel's (MVL) flick Iron Man, Audi set up a Web site with original Iron Man content and promos. It ran promotions for its deals and commercials that featured the movie.
Cocoon for Kids
Did it work? Audi says it doesn't have those numbers, but it did get an added promo bonus when Iron Man director Jon Favreau told Conan O'Brian in a publicity appearance on the late-night show that he tried unsuccessfully to tip over Audi's Q7 SUV in one scene. "That's the family model," says Audi marketing head Keogh. "Does it get much better than a director telling moms how safe our car is?"
Of course, it also helps that the movie did north of $580 million in worldwide ticket sales and is this year's second-highest-grossing flick, at $318 million. Not all the movies are so big, to be sure. The company also provided its compact-size A3 to Sarah Jessica Parker for the film Smart People, which brought in a woeful $9.5 million. But as in everything Hollywood, there's always the next flick. The Transporter film ought to turn on some hard-core car fans. Down the road, what's next? Audi says it has secured a starring role for one of its cars in the next Transformers action film, which is schedule to be released in June. Take that, GM.
Grover is Los Angeles bureau chief for BusinessWeek.
These are rough times for car companies. Executives from Detroit's Big Three are getting grilled on Capitol Hill. Folks are ignoring new cars in droves, and TV ads—well, they're sounding a bit desperate. So what's a car company to do? Hit the movies, that's what. Cars, of course, have had co-starring roles in movies since before the introduction of Technicolor. James Bond sped along European roads for years in his Aston Martin (or a BMW in later installments). Disney's (DIS) Love Bug starred, well, you know. And last year's megahit Transformers seemed to feature most of the General Motors (GM) lineup, including a bright yellow Camaro that converts itself into one of the robotic heroes.
The hot car in Hollywood, these days, is an Audi (NSUG), the German luxury car that, frankly, always seemed to sneak into lesser roles in movieland. No more. In the past few years, it's hard to go to your local multiplex without seeing that four-ring insignia staring back at you. In this spring's blockbuster Iron Man, the carmaker had three vehicles in starring roles, including the superhot Audi R8 speedster in which action star Tony Stark (aka Robert Downey Jr.) raced around town. And when the action film Transporter 3 opens on Nov. 26, car chase fans will get to see a nearly two-hour commercial for the Audi luxury sedan A8 as it outruns police, outmaneuvers a truck by riding on two wheels, and flies through the air to land on a speeding train—all without so much as losing a hubcap.
Product placement isn't exactly new in Hollywood, and Audi has been doing it for years. But you have to hand it to the automaker, which has gone into overdrive to go gear-shift to gear-shift with the likes of Ford (F), Mercedes, and better-known brands that for years have hogged much of the screen time. Audi has done its best to crash just about every awards party in town. (Disclosure: I was their guest at a post-Emmy party they hosted a month back and was chauffeured there in a decked-out A8). They have a fleet of sleek cars at the ready to lend to stars and directors. And they have turned loose their product placement agency for the last decade, the appropriately named Propaganda, which also shoehorns such clients as Nokia (NOK), Panasonic, and La Coste into scripts.
Hey, Look Me Over
"What we really needed was to get America talking, and that meant targeting Hollywood," says Scott Keogh, Audi's chief marketing officer. "It's about luxury and performance. People who know us get it. We needed more people to know us." Keogh is chatting with me at a cocktail party during the American Film Institute conference, the annual gathering of independent filmmakers and buyers for which Audi just happens to be a sponsor. Directors buzz by, sampling the booze and heading on to check out the sleek Audi parked next to the Roosevelt Hotel's pool.
It's all part of the Audi plan to target mega-events, especially as traditional media splinters and audiences dissipate. Earlier this year, the carmaker spent the requisite $2.7 million for a Godfather-spoofing Super Bowl spot, which shows a man waking up in his bed to find the sawed-off grille of a rival luxury car—and ends with the apparent perpetrator speeding off in an R8.
Rumors have always abounded that companies pay hefty sums to get their cell phones, soft drinks, computers, and cars onto the screen. I'm not going to tell you that it doesn't happen. Audi stresses that Hollywood's producers and directors just love their cars and points out that Transporter star Jason Statham is a frequent Audi guest at races where its cars participate. As for money changing hands, Audi steadfastly denies it pays for script time but acknowledges it will occasionally spend hefty amounts—let's just say $2 million or so—to help promote any flick with which it's associated. When Paramount (VIAB) rolled out Marvel's (MVL) flick Iron Man, Audi set up a Web site with original Iron Man content and promos. It ran promotions for its deals and commercials that featured the movie.
Cocoon for Kids
Did it work? Audi says it doesn't have those numbers, but it did get an added promo bonus when Iron Man director Jon Favreau told Conan O'Brian in a publicity appearance on the late-night show that he tried unsuccessfully to tip over Audi's Q7 SUV in one scene. "That's the family model," says Audi marketing head Keogh. "Does it get much better than a director telling moms how safe our car is?"
Of course, it also helps that the movie did north of $580 million in worldwide ticket sales and is this year's second-highest-grossing flick, at $318 million. Not all the movies are so big, to be sure. The company also provided its compact-size A3 to Sarah Jessica Parker for the film Smart People, which brought in a woeful $9.5 million. But as in everything Hollywood, there's always the next flick. The Transporter film ought to turn on some hard-core car fans. Down the road, what's next? Audi says it has secured a starring role for one of its cars in the next Transformers action film, which is schedule to be released in June. Take that, GM.
Grover is Los Angeles bureau chief for BusinessWeek.
India - Mops up last of Mumbai militants - officials
Rina Chandran
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian commandos completed operations on Saturday to dislodge Islamist militants at Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel, officials said, ending three days of attacks in India's financial capital that have killed about 150 people.
"Taj is under our control," Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor told Reuters, shortly after the building was raked by heavy gunfire and flames leaped out.
At least three militants and one trooper were killed, the country's commando chief Jyoti Krishna Dutt told a news conference.
"Our operations will continue until we check each and every room and floor," he told a huge crowd of jostling reporters outside the hotel.
He said a body seen thrown out of a window at the hotel was that of one of the militants.
There was no word on the fate of hostages or any remaining guests who might have been trapped.
Sniffer dogs were shown being taken to the hotel and ambulances arrived. Some commandos left positions they had been holding around the iconic 105-year-old hotel, and police stood around smiling and looking relaxed.
The Taj Mahal was the last battleground after three days of intense fighting in various parts of the city of 18 million. Before Saturday's four deaths, police had said at least 144 people had been killed.
Other than the gunmen holed up in the vast Taj Mahal, all the other militants have previously been killed or taken into custody.
India blamed the strike on "elements" from Pakistan, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy and it would send a representative of its spy agency to share intelligence.
The militants' action has struck at the heart of the city of 18 million people, engine room of an economic boom that has made India a favourite emerging market.
It is also home to the "Bollywood" film industry, the epitome of glamour in a country still blighted by poverty.
An Indian state minister said one of the militants arrested was a Pakistani national and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned of "a cost" if India's neighbours did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch attacks.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi struck a conciliatory note and promised full cooperation.
"Whoever has done this is neither your friend nor our friend," he told reporters in New Delhi. "We are not responsible for this, nor is it in our interest to get involved in something like this."
The attacks were carried out by a small army of young men armed with rifles and grenades, some of whom arrived by sea, who fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and business executives.
Authorities said 18 foreigners were among the 144 killed. At least 283 were wounded.
Three Germans, five Americans, one Australian, a Briton, one Canadian, two French, an Israeli, an Italian, a Japanese, a Singaporean and a Thai, were among the dead, according to various governments.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian commandos completed operations on Saturday to dislodge Islamist militants at Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel, officials said, ending three days of attacks in India's financial capital that have killed about 150 people.
"Taj is under our control," Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor told Reuters, shortly after the building was raked by heavy gunfire and flames leaped out.
At least three militants and one trooper were killed, the country's commando chief Jyoti Krishna Dutt told a news conference.
"Our operations will continue until we check each and every room and floor," he told a huge crowd of jostling reporters outside the hotel.
He said a body seen thrown out of a window at the hotel was that of one of the militants.
There was no word on the fate of hostages or any remaining guests who might have been trapped.
Sniffer dogs were shown being taken to the hotel and ambulances arrived. Some commandos left positions they had been holding around the iconic 105-year-old hotel, and police stood around smiling and looking relaxed.
The Taj Mahal was the last battleground after three days of intense fighting in various parts of the city of 18 million. Before Saturday's four deaths, police had said at least 144 people had been killed.
Other than the gunmen holed up in the vast Taj Mahal, all the other militants have previously been killed or taken into custody.
India blamed the strike on "elements" from Pakistan, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy and it would send a representative of its spy agency to share intelligence.
The militants' action has struck at the heart of the city of 18 million people, engine room of an economic boom that has made India a favourite emerging market.
It is also home to the "Bollywood" film industry, the epitome of glamour in a country still blighted by poverty.
An Indian state minister said one of the militants arrested was a Pakistani national and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned of "a cost" if India's neighbours did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch attacks.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi struck a conciliatory note and promised full cooperation.
"Whoever has done this is neither your friend nor our friend," he told reporters in New Delhi. "We are not responsible for this, nor is it in our interest to get involved in something like this."
The attacks were carried out by a small army of young men armed with rifles and grenades, some of whom arrived by sea, who fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and business executives.
Authorities said 18 foreigners were among the 144 killed. At least 283 were wounded.
Three Germans, five Americans, one Australian, a Briton, one Canadian, two French, an Israeli, an Italian, a Japanese, a Singaporean and a Thai, were among the dead, according to various governments.
World -US;Can Obama's Stimulus Plan Spur Green Jobs
John Carey
Barack Obama's plan to pull the country out of recession has a strong green hue. Conventional wisdom says Washington won't have the stomach or the dollars to tackle long-term issues like climate change or dependence on foreign oil when the economy is in the tank and oil prices have plunged. Wrong conclusion, Obama says. These problems, "left unaddressed, will continue to weaken the economy and threaten national security," he said on Nov. 18 in a video message to a climate summit meeting in California.
His fix? Obama plans to set ambitious targets for reducing emissions that cause global warming—and to invest $15 billion or more per year in energy efficiency, renewables like wind and solar, biofuels, nuclear power, and "clean" coal. Beyond the environmental benefits, says the President-elect, the investment "will also help us transform our industries and steer our economy out of this economic crisis by generating 5 million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."
Whether or not a "green" stimulus will create millions of American jobs is hotly debated by economists. On the one hand, the seeds of the transformation have already been planted thanks to market forces, such as overall higher energy prices, and government policies like tax credits for renewable energy. But there are also major questions. Many executives and experts say the most effective policy to push America toward a clean, efficient energy future is putting a price on emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, thus raising the price of energy. That's a tough sell now to Americans struggling to pay their bills. There's also a danger that the government could steer investments to the wrong technologies. Remember synfuels, President Jimmy Carter's experiment to reduce dependence on foreign oil? Most important, a green stimulus plan from Uncle Sam may end up sending billions of dollars to foreign companies instead of to Main Street, since the U.S. lags in such crucial industries as solar panels and wind turbines. Will green technologies become today's VCRs and flat-panel TVs, invented in the U.S. and commercialized elsewhere?
But the fear of enriching overseas companies simply makes a green stimulus more necessary and urgent, proponents argue. Without a plan like Obama's, which would expand U.S. markets for new technologies, American companies may fall even further behind. Michael R. Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials (AMAT) in Santa Clara, Calif., is a believer in the need for government support. Splinter has seen his business of supplying equipment for factories to make solar panels soar beyond his wildest projections. But 97% of the company's equipment goes to foreign manufacturers, who then sell panels in the U.S. It seems like the U.S. has "given up on manufacturing," Splinter laments. "Right now we are on a path to being a second-tier player in clean energy technology."
A plan like Obama's could turbocharge American industries, Splinter and other executives say. Why have European companies become world leaders in wind and solar power? Because a number of governments guarantee that anyone who supplies renewable power to the electric grid will get a premium price for that power. That cost is then passed along to customers.
POLITICAL LAND MINES
Similar incentives could work magic in the U.S., says Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute. America already has a vibrant green-energy sector, so the transformation could be rapid. There are upward of 3 million Americans employed in green jobs, ranging from renewable-power startups to businesses with products that reduce waste and pollution or boost energy efficiency.
And even when goods come from foreign companies, some of the jobs will be in the U.S. One growing trend is for European and Asian manufacturers to build factories in America so they can be closer to what promises to be the world's largest market.
Spanish wind company Gamesa is bringing 1,000 jobs to several factories in Pennsylvania and its North American headquarters in Philadelphia. In Memphis, Sharp opened its first plant outside of Japan for making solar panels.
Some green industries are homegrown by nature. Biofuel refineries need to be built near the crops that provide the feedstock. Even more jobs would be created by making U.S. houses and buildings more energy efficient, argues economist Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "There is about $26 billion in retrofitting on public buildings that could be done the day after legislation is signed," Pollin says. "The job impacts are very high. Each $1 million in spending would bring about 18 jobs."
What could Washington do to grow the green economy? Limit emissions of greenhouse gases, thus raising the price of using fossil fuel and steering the industry toward more environmentally friendly alternatives. Continue or boost tax credits for biofuels, wind, and solar. Make infrastructure investments, such as building transmission lines needed to bring power from large solar power plants in the desert or from North Dakota's windswept prairies. And increase federal dollars for energy research and development, aiding programs that have withered during years of declining funding. All of this, proponents say, would foster enough innovation to help American companies leapfrog their overseas rivals. "America's future depends on our ability to spark an energy revolution," argues Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Susan Hockfield.
Skeptics wonder, however, if such a sweeping transformation is possible. "The optimist in me wants to believe it," says Matthew E. Kahn, an economist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The cynic in me asks, is this like FDR jobs creation in the guise of green jobs?" Kahn believes that rather than spending federal dollars, the best approach is simply increasing the price of carbon—which is politically difficult.
Passing Obama's green stimulus package will be an uphill battle, and its success if implemented is far from certain. But the nation's financial mess is so bad that the President-elect has a freer hand. He also needs to show action on climate change to help restore America's reputation around the world—and to bring China and India on board. The surge earlier this year in oil prices (expected to rise again after the recession ends) even has brought traditional opponents of renewable energy and climate action to the bipartisan table, as long as they get expanded drilling rights. Says Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: "Energy policy can create jobs, give an economic lift, and get us out of this ditch."
with Adam Aston
Carey is a senior correspondent for BusinessWeek in Washington.
Barack Obama's plan to pull the country out of recession has a strong green hue. Conventional wisdom says Washington won't have the stomach or the dollars to tackle long-term issues like climate change or dependence on foreign oil when the economy is in the tank and oil prices have plunged. Wrong conclusion, Obama says. These problems, "left unaddressed, will continue to weaken the economy and threaten national security," he said on Nov. 18 in a video message to a climate summit meeting in California.
His fix? Obama plans to set ambitious targets for reducing emissions that cause global warming—and to invest $15 billion or more per year in energy efficiency, renewables like wind and solar, biofuels, nuclear power, and "clean" coal. Beyond the environmental benefits, says the President-elect, the investment "will also help us transform our industries and steer our economy out of this economic crisis by generating 5 million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."
Whether or not a "green" stimulus will create millions of American jobs is hotly debated by economists. On the one hand, the seeds of the transformation have already been planted thanks to market forces, such as overall higher energy prices, and government policies like tax credits for renewable energy. But there are also major questions. Many executives and experts say the most effective policy to push America toward a clean, efficient energy future is putting a price on emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, thus raising the price of energy. That's a tough sell now to Americans struggling to pay their bills. There's also a danger that the government could steer investments to the wrong technologies. Remember synfuels, President Jimmy Carter's experiment to reduce dependence on foreign oil? Most important, a green stimulus plan from Uncle Sam may end up sending billions of dollars to foreign companies instead of to Main Street, since the U.S. lags in such crucial industries as solar panels and wind turbines. Will green technologies become today's VCRs and flat-panel TVs, invented in the U.S. and commercialized elsewhere?
But the fear of enriching overseas companies simply makes a green stimulus more necessary and urgent, proponents argue. Without a plan like Obama's, which would expand U.S. markets for new technologies, American companies may fall even further behind. Michael R. Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials (AMAT) in Santa Clara, Calif., is a believer in the need for government support. Splinter has seen his business of supplying equipment for factories to make solar panels soar beyond his wildest projections. But 97% of the company's equipment goes to foreign manufacturers, who then sell panels in the U.S. It seems like the U.S. has "given up on manufacturing," Splinter laments. "Right now we are on a path to being a second-tier player in clean energy technology."
A plan like Obama's could turbocharge American industries, Splinter and other executives say. Why have European companies become world leaders in wind and solar power? Because a number of governments guarantee that anyone who supplies renewable power to the electric grid will get a premium price for that power. That cost is then passed along to customers.
POLITICAL LAND MINES
Similar incentives could work magic in the U.S., says Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute. America already has a vibrant green-energy sector, so the transformation could be rapid. There are upward of 3 million Americans employed in green jobs, ranging from renewable-power startups to businesses with products that reduce waste and pollution or boost energy efficiency.
And even when goods come from foreign companies, some of the jobs will be in the U.S. One growing trend is for European and Asian manufacturers to build factories in America so they can be closer to what promises to be the world's largest market.
Spanish wind company Gamesa is bringing 1,000 jobs to several factories in Pennsylvania and its North American headquarters in Philadelphia. In Memphis, Sharp opened its first plant outside of Japan for making solar panels.
Some green industries are homegrown by nature. Biofuel refineries need to be built near the crops that provide the feedstock. Even more jobs would be created by making U.S. houses and buildings more energy efficient, argues economist Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "There is about $26 billion in retrofitting on public buildings that could be done the day after legislation is signed," Pollin says. "The job impacts are very high. Each $1 million in spending would bring about 18 jobs."
What could Washington do to grow the green economy? Limit emissions of greenhouse gases, thus raising the price of using fossil fuel and steering the industry toward more environmentally friendly alternatives. Continue or boost tax credits for biofuels, wind, and solar. Make infrastructure investments, such as building transmission lines needed to bring power from large solar power plants in the desert or from North Dakota's windswept prairies. And increase federal dollars for energy research and development, aiding programs that have withered during years of declining funding. All of this, proponents say, would foster enough innovation to help American companies leapfrog their overseas rivals. "America's future depends on our ability to spark an energy revolution," argues Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Susan Hockfield.
Skeptics wonder, however, if such a sweeping transformation is possible. "The optimist in me wants to believe it," says Matthew E. Kahn, an economist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The cynic in me asks, is this like FDR jobs creation in the guise of green jobs?" Kahn believes that rather than spending federal dollars, the best approach is simply increasing the price of carbon—which is politically difficult.
Passing Obama's green stimulus package will be an uphill battle, and its success if implemented is far from certain. But the nation's financial mess is so bad that the President-elect has a freer hand. He also needs to show action on climate change to help restore America's reputation around the world—and to bring China and India on board. The surge earlier this year in oil prices (expected to rise again after the recession ends) even has brought traditional opponents of renewable energy and climate action to the bipartisan table, as long as they get expanded drilling rights. Says Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: "Energy policy can create jobs, give an economic lift, and get us out of this ditch."
with Adam Aston
Carey is a senior correspondent for BusinessWeek in Washington.
World - Social Entrepreneurs turn business sense to good (V.G.Read)
Steve Hamm
As chief executive of Mercy Corps since 1994, Neal Keny-Guyer helped turn the Portland (Ore.) relief organization into a global powerhouse with 3,500 employees and a budget of nearly $300 million. But he was taken aback last year when one of his lieutenants proposed the radical step of buying a bank in Indonesia. Why would a not-for-profit disaster relief agency go the capitalist route and buy a bank?
Gradually, though, he warmed to the idea. He saw that, if Mercy Corps operated a wholesale bank that could offer capital to some 2,000 local microcredit organizations and had an ATM network, it could help turn microfinance into a powerful force in Indonesia. Keny-Guyer was in uncharted territory, however. In the last days before the acquisition closed in May, he feared the risky gambit would end in disaster. "I imagined a newspaper headline saying, `Mercy Corps' Bank in Bali Fails,' " he recalls. "I thought of the reaction of our donors to that bit of news."
Now, as the renamed Bank Andara cranks up operations, Keny-Guyer is hopeful. If the strategy works in Indonesia, he says, Mercy Corps may try it in the Philippines next.
This departure from business as usual in the nonprofit realm is part of a major shift in the way people are taking on the world's social problems. In developing nations and parts of the U.S., governments have failed to make substantial progress against poverty, disease, and illiteracy. Traditional charities and social service agencies often provide Band-Aids for problems instead of long-term solutions. Now a new breed of do-gooder—the social entrepreneur—is trying fresh approaches. While the term is used in many different ways, there's a narrow definition that gets to the heart of what makes these people stand out: Rather than depending solely on handouts from philanthropists, social entrepreneurs generate some of their own revenues and use business techniques to address social goals. "Traditional ways of doing things haven't produced the kind of progress we all hoped for, so we're trying to come up with new approaches that are truly transformational," says Keny-Guyer.
The idea of the social entrepreneur has been percolating for decades, but it has become a mass movement in the past couple of years. Thousands of people are launching ventures and trying out new business models, both for-profit and nonprofit. Now that the global financial crisis is squeezing charitable giving, socially oriented organizations are pushing even harder to reduce their dependence on donors and generate their own funds. Lehman Brothers, for instance, was a generous backer of both nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. No more. In this climate, only the most efficient and effective organizations will thrive.
Social entrepreneurs are being backed in part by a new generation of super-aggressive philanthropists and social investors, including Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates and former eBay (EBAY) executives Pierre M. Omidyar and Jeffrey Skoll. These guys expect results from their social investments and grants. Says Gates in an interview with BusinessWeek: "Nonprofits are applying what we've typically thought of as business strategies for better outcomes, and businesses are beginning to apply what I call creative capitalism strategies to increase the positive social impact of their work. That's a powerful combination." He believes the most effective way to make social progress is through partnerships among nonprofits, businesses, government, and philanthropists.
WHICH MODEL WORKS?
In this emerging social sphere, there's a danger of confusing enthusiasm with effectiveness. Many social enterprises, from microfinance organizations to those aimed at purifying water or improving agriculture, aren't being built to grow large or to last. They're poorly managed, undercapitalized, or overly dependent on philanthropic handouts. In India, for example, there are an estimated 1.2 million organizations aimed at addressing social problems. "Many are just too small to be effective," says Manoj Kumar, chief executive of Naandi Foundation, a large Indian social service organization.
In a sense, the social enterprise phenomenon is like an industry just starting to take shape. Think of the early days of autos or computers, when startups tried a variety of approaches to see what worked best. For this movement to have a major impact, it needs the same kind of dynamic business climate as Detroit in the 1920s or Silicon Valley a decade ago. What's necessary—once the global financial crisis eases—is free-flowing capital, a willingness by entrepreneurs to aim high and take risks, and a level of transparency that quickly makes obvious what's working and what isn't. "You have to get beyond the gee-whiz factor of social entrepreneurship," says Michael E. Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School. "Which of these models really works? How do you create a high social value per dollar invested?"
It's difficult to prove success in such an immature field. Nobody has come up with numbers quantifying the overall impact of social entrepreneurship. Some organizations make impressive claims. Grameen Bank, the pioneer of microfinance, says it has brought 65% of its 7.5 million clients out of "extreme poverty." Yet while Grameen's home base of Bangladesh is crawling with microfinance outfits, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 40% of its people under the poverty line.
At the same time, there's much disagreement over which business models are best. Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, argues that social businesses should not make a profit off of poor people. In other cases, people who call themselves social entrepreneurs seem to be in it mainly for the money. Banco Compartamos in Mexico, for example, charges interest rates topping 100% per year, claiming that such rates are justified because it's expensive to operate a microfinance business (BW—Dec. 13, 2007). Yunus berates for-profit outfits for charging exorbitant interest. "When you charge high rates, you're no longer microcredit. You're a loan shark," he says (see a video interview with Yunus).
To others, the profit motive is crucial for addressing the needs of poor people. C.K. Prahalad, a University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor and author of the influential book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, argues that the poor should be seen as consumers, not charity cases. Their basic needs can best be addressed by businesses that are attuned to dealing with them. "If we get entrepreneurship right, social entrepreneurship won't matter as much," he says.
Vikram Akula, a social entrepreneur based in Hyderabad, wants it both ways. He's out to prove you can make a healthy profit while serving—and not gouging—the poor. Akula grew up in Schenectady, N.Y., but returned to his native India in the mid-1990s after he got a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. He first worked for a government-run microfinance organization. But with limited funds, it couldn't expand fast. He says his conversion to the for-profit, faster-growth model came after an encounter with a poor woman he had to turn down for a loan because he couldn't operate in her village. "She said: 'Don't I deserve to get out of poverty, too?' " he recalls. "I decided to come up with a model that works so you don't have to say no to anybody."
Today, Akula is chief executive of SKS Microfinance, which has 9,500 employees and 3.3 million customers throughout India and is adding 300,000 new clients per month. SKS charges an average of 26% annualized interest. Given the cost of granting and servicing microloans, that's considered a reasonable rate by many industry observers. SKS had revenues of $48 million in the half-year ended in September, up 153%, and net income of $6.16 million.
A journey with Akula into the villages of India's state of Andhra Pradesh shows just how aggressive he is about applying business methods to economic development. In a schoolyard in Narayanraopet, a village of 3,500, three dozen women dressed in brightly colored saris sit in a circle in the shade of a spreading rain tree. K. Sandhya Rani, a self-assured 18-year-old SKS field assistant, takes attendance, collects weekly loan payments, and hands out new loans with all of the efficiency of an employee at McDonald's (MCD), which, in fact, Akula uses as a model of business-process excellence. (When he set up the company, he even tracked the time it took to do things with a stopwatch.) The whole meeting lasts just 25 minutes.
Afterward the women hustle back to their shops and farms. There, money from SKS pays for more goods and for the purchase of chickens and buffalo. A woman named Sarojamma carries in her hands a six-inch pile of currency with which she plans to buy rice, lentils, and other food to replenish the shelves in her four-year-old kirana, or mini general store. In the coming days, she explains, her husband will call on his mobile phone to suppliers in neighboring cities to find the best prices for the items they stock, then take a bus and a taxi to fetch the goods back to Narayanraopet. Sarojamma has a simple dream: "I want to make my shop bigger."
Sarojamma and people like her represent a new market opportunity for companies that hope to reach India's vast population of villagers. SKS's Akula is using his network of field agents and customers as a distribution channel for moving a wide variety of products and services on behalf of business partners such as Nokia (NOK). SKS helps sell mobile phones, insurance, and foodstuffs for shopkeepers. "The potential here is huge," says Devinder Kishore, Nokia's marketing director in India.
"BUSINESS IS BUSINESS"
While Grameen Bank's Yunus doesn't believe in profiting off the poor, he, too, sees his microlending network as a strategic jumping-off point for all sorts of economic activity. The bank's parent company, Grameen Family of Enterprises, is forming joint ventures with large multinationals in an effort to develop vast new markets and improve the health and livelihoods of poor people. The first of the ventures, Grameen Danone Foods (GDNNY), sells nutrition-enhanced yogurt to poor people in affordable, single-serving packages, with a portion of the deliveries handled by Grameen Bank customers.
But the strains between social goals and business imperatives are showing. Wahidun Nabi, the executive director of the venture, who came from Danone in mid-2007, says he's being forced by economics to sell larger packages and market to those with more money, which means he's doing less than he might have for poorer people. "For the success of the project, we must improve the bottom line," he says. "This is a social business, but business is business."
Such strains are even more intense in fledgling social enterprises. Belgian Bart Weetjens was focused purely on altruism when he started an organization called Apopo a decade ago. It trains African giant pouch rats to sniff out land mines on former battlefields. The mines, if they remain undetected, occasionally blow up and hurt people and animals. The program was a modest success, with mine-clearing operations in Mozambique and a contract to expand into Africa's Great Lakes Region. But Apopo ran into problems when Weetjens tried to secure a more dependable source of funding. An adopt-a-rat program launched on the Internet, HeroRATS.org, failed to attract many supporters. "We're living in uncertainty," says Apopo Chief Executive Christophe Cox. "If some of the main donors drop off, then we're finished."
So Weetjens and Cox decided to run Apopo more like a business and generate their own money from operations. Earlier this year they hired Virtue Ventures, a consulting group specializing in social enterprises, to help them write a business plan. And in the summer they brought four interns from the MBA program at Oxford University to their headquarters in Tanzania to help size up their money-earning potential. Options include expanding mine-clearing operations to the Middle East, getting into the cargo-inspection business, and forging aggressively into disease detection. It turns out the rats can sniff out the presence of tuberculosis, and perhaps other diseases, at costs dramatically cheaper than traditional laboratory tests.
The pressure of switching to a for-profit model is evident during a meeting of the two founders and their student advisers in Morogoro, Tanzania. The six gather for their weekly progress discussion in the war room, where interns work in stifling heat under two fast-spinning ceiling fans. It's not clear how big the long-term cost differential will be for their rats compared with other outfits that use European-trained dogs for mine-clearing. Cox cautions against exaggerating their advantages: "We don't want to compare the worst dogs with the best rats."
Weetjens, the organization's front man, says it now looks like Apopo may continue the mine-clearing operations on a not-for-profit basis but try to turn disease detection into a profit-maker. Their tests with Tanzanian health-care clinics are producing strong results in cost and quality.
For all the challenges that Apopo faces, there is anecdotal evidence that social enterprises can grow large and balance their social and economic imperatives. But it requires a lot of time and effort.
That was the case with Sekem Group, an Egyptian conglomerate with businesses in organic farming, garment manufacturing, herbal medicines, and food processing and distribution. The family-controlled company got off to a fragile start in 1977 in the desert 50 kilometers northeast of Cairo. Egyptian-born founder Ibrahim Abouleish had been managing a pharmaceutical-research facility in Austria but returned to his homeland after he realized that two decades of socialism had ruined the economy. His goal was to convert the country to organic farming and enrich Egyptian culture with a renaissance of art and education. Abouleish chose a place in the desert far from urban influences so he could create a self-defining community. It all started in a mud hut built for him by Bedouin.
The original hut remains as part of a guest house on a campus that now includes 20 sparkling-white buildings for offices, farm operations, and factory work. Sekem has 2,500 employees, 500 acres of nearby farmland, and a vast composting operation. The company, which has been growing at 25% per year, brought in $40 million in revenues and $3 million in net income in 2007—after spending much of its operating profits on schooling and health care for employees' families. Sekem just bought 4,000 acres of arid land on the Sinai Peninsula and in the Western Desert that it plans on converting to farming.
THE NEED FOR CAPITAL
For Abouleish and his son, Helmy, who now runs day-to-day operations, more important than the financial accomplishments is the impact of Sekem on Egyptian agriculture. When done right, organic farming uses a lot less water, and farmers don't spend money on expensive and polluting herbicides and pesticides. When Sekem started operations, there was no organic farming in Egypt. Today there are several other major organic growers, and Sekem has developed a network of 800 independent farmers on 50,000 acres whose produce it exports to major grocery chains in Europe. The company's nonprofit Sekem Development Foundation runs a school, a medical center, and economic development programs in the seven villages around the campus. But Ibrahim Abouleish is not satisfied. "What we have achieved is a great model. Now we have to change the whole country," he says. He figures it could take more than 100 years to reform Egypt from the bottom up.
While Sekem shows that such enterprises can grow up and make progress, there are many economic and social hurdles that need to be cleared for this phenomenon to become powerful. Money is a major issue. While philanthropies and investors are plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into social enterprises, that's still minuscule compared with the $35 billion in venture capital invested worldwide last year.
To attract more capital, social enterprises have started trying to better quantify their results. A group spearheaded by Acumen Fund, a nonprofit supporter of social enterprises, has begun gathering an ocean of information into one massive, easily accessible database. That way, results can be monitored by the funders and investors, and social entrepreneurs can see how they stack up with their peers.
Still, it's hard to justify most social enterprises on strictly financial grounds. In many cases, investors have to accept lower returns than they would expect from traditional investments. That trade-off has tormented investors in Freeplay Energy, a social business that sells hand-crank radios and lights for people in developing countries and Western nations. The company went public in Britain in 2005, but its revenues have been disappointing, and its stock price plummeted until it was taken private again this year. "It's hard to have a social mission in a capitalistic system," says Rory Stear, Freeplay's co-founder and co-chairman.
When Ramalinga Raju, chairman of India's Satyam Computer Services (SAY), set out to improve India's woeful health-care system, he decided to bring in government as his partner. His idea was that, by combining Satyam's technology and business-operations expertise with government resources, innovative new health-care initiatives could spread rapidly. Emergency Management and Research Institute, a free ambulance service he launched in 2005 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has branched out to two other states. The government pays 95% of operating expenses. "I have no doubt that this will be a model for the rest of the world," Raju says.
Maybe. Raju's ambulance service is catching flack from rivals. Sweta Mangal, co-founder of Dial 1298 for Ambulance, which operates in Mumbai, says EMRI relies too much on government support, which might be fleeting. She also doesn't think it's affordable for governments in emerging nations to offer free ambulance service for everybody. Her company charges wealthy and middle-class patients, which subsidizes free service for poor people.
This is just one of the debates that show how unsettled the world of social enterprise is—and may remain. Until today's entrepreneurs discover which business models really work, there will be uncertainty and wasted effort. The movement is growing and taking on more ambitious projects. But from Mercy Corps' Keny-Guyer to Satyam's Raju, these entrepreneurs know most of their work still lies ahead of them
As chief executive of Mercy Corps since 1994, Neal Keny-Guyer helped turn the Portland (Ore.) relief organization into a global powerhouse with 3,500 employees and a budget of nearly $300 million. But he was taken aback last year when one of his lieutenants proposed the radical step of buying a bank in Indonesia. Why would a not-for-profit disaster relief agency go the capitalist route and buy a bank?
Gradually, though, he warmed to the idea. He saw that, if Mercy Corps operated a wholesale bank that could offer capital to some 2,000 local microcredit organizations and had an ATM network, it could help turn microfinance into a powerful force in Indonesia. Keny-Guyer was in uncharted territory, however. In the last days before the acquisition closed in May, he feared the risky gambit would end in disaster. "I imagined a newspaper headline saying, `Mercy Corps' Bank in Bali Fails,' " he recalls. "I thought of the reaction of our donors to that bit of news."
Now, as the renamed Bank Andara cranks up operations, Keny-Guyer is hopeful. If the strategy works in Indonesia, he says, Mercy Corps may try it in the Philippines next.
This departure from business as usual in the nonprofit realm is part of a major shift in the way people are taking on the world's social problems. In developing nations and parts of the U.S., governments have failed to make substantial progress against poverty, disease, and illiteracy. Traditional charities and social service agencies often provide Band-Aids for problems instead of long-term solutions. Now a new breed of do-gooder—the social entrepreneur—is trying fresh approaches. While the term is used in many different ways, there's a narrow definition that gets to the heart of what makes these people stand out: Rather than depending solely on handouts from philanthropists, social entrepreneurs generate some of their own revenues and use business techniques to address social goals. "Traditional ways of doing things haven't produced the kind of progress we all hoped for, so we're trying to come up with new approaches that are truly transformational," says Keny-Guyer.
The idea of the social entrepreneur has been percolating for decades, but it has become a mass movement in the past couple of years. Thousands of people are launching ventures and trying out new business models, both for-profit and nonprofit. Now that the global financial crisis is squeezing charitable giving, socially oriented organizations are pushing even harder to reduce their dependence on donors and generate their own funds. Lehman Brothers, for instance, was a generous backer of both nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. No more. In this climate, only the most efficient and effective organizations will thrive.
Social entrepreneurs are being backed in part by a new generation of super-aggressive philanthropists and social investors, including Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates and former eBay (EBAY) executives Pierre M. Omidyar and Jeffrey Skoll. These guys expect results from their social investments and grants. Says Gates in an interview with BusinessWeek: "Nonprofits are applying what we've typically thought of as business strategies for better outcomes, and businesses are beginning to apply what I call creative capitalism strategies to increase the positive social impact of their work. That's a powerful combination." He believes the most effective way to make social progress is through partnerships among nonprofits, businesses, government, and philanthropists.
WHICH MODEL WORKS?
In this emerging social sphere, there's a danger of confusing enthusiasm with effectiveness. Many social enterprises, from microfinance organizations to those aimed at purifying water or improving agriculture, aren't being built to grow large or to last. They're poorly managed, undercapitalized, or overly dependent on philanthropic handouts. In India, for example, there are an estimated 1.2 million organizations aimed at addressing social problems. "Many are just too small to be effective," says Manoj Kumar, chief executive of Naandi Foundation, a large Indian social service organization.
In a sense, the social enterprise phenomenon is like an industry just starting to take shape. Think of the early days of autos or computers, when startups tried a variety of approaches to see what worked best. For this movement to have a major impact, it needs the same kind of dynamic business climate as Detroit in the 1920s or Silicon Valley a decade ago. What's necessary—once the global financial crisis eases—is free-flowing capital, a willingness by entrepreneurs to aim high and take risks, and a level of transparency that quickly makes obvious what's working and what isn't. "You have to get beyond the gee-whiz factor of social entrepreneurship," says Michael E. Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School. "Which of these models really works? How do you create a high social value per dollar invested?"
It's difficult to prove success in such an immature field. Nobody has come up with numbers quantifying the overall impact of social entrepreneurship. Some organizations make impressive claims. Grameen Bank, the pioneer of microfinance, says it has brought 65% of its 7.5 million clients out of "extreme poverty." Yet while Grameen's home base of Bangladesh is crawling with microfinance outfits, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 40% of its people under the poverty line.
At the same time, there's much disagreement over which business models are best. Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, argues that social businesses should not make a profit off of poor people. In other cases, people who call themselves social entrepreneurs seem to be in it mainly for the money. Banco Compartamos in Mexico, for example, charges interest rates topping 100% per year, claiming that such rates are justified because it's expensive to operate a microfinance business (BW—Dec. 13, 2007). Yunus berates for-profit outfits for charging exorbitant interest. "When you charge high rates, you're no longer microcredit. You're a loan shark," he says (see a video interview with Yunus).
To others, the profit motive is crucial for addressing the needs of poor people. C.K. Prahalad, a University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor and author of the influential book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, argues that the poor should be seen as consumers, not charity cases. Their basic needs can best be addressed by businesses that are attuned to dealing with them. "If we get entrepreneurship right, social entrepreneurship won't matter as much," he says.
Vikram Akula, a social entrepreneur based in Hyderabad, wants it both ways. He's out to prove you can make a healthy profit while serving—and not gouging—the poor. Akula grew up in Schenectady, N.Y., but returned to his native India in the mid-1990s after he got a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. He first worked for a government-run microfinance organization. But with limited funds, it couldn't expand fast. He says his conversion to the for-profit, faster-growth model came after an encounter with a poor woman he had to turn down for a loan because he couldn't operate in her village. "She said: 'Don't I deserve to get out of poverty, too?' " he recalls. "I decided to come up with a model that works so you don't have to say no to anybody."
Today, Akula is chief executive of SKS Microfinance, which has 9,500 employees and 3.3 million customers throughout India and is adding 300,000 new clients per month. SKS charges an average of 26% annualized interest. Given the cost of granting and servicing microloans, that's considered a reasonable rate by many industry observers. SKS had revenues of $48 million in the half-year ended in September, up 153%, and net income of $6.16 million.
A journey with Akula into the villages of India's state of Andhra Pradesh shows just how aggressive he is about applying business methods to economic development. In a schoolyard in Narayanraopet, a village of 3,500, three dozen women dressed in brightly colored saris sit in a circle in the shade of a spreading rain tree. K. Sandhya Rani, a self-assured 18-year-old SKS field assistant, takes attendance, collects weekly loan payments, and hands out new loans with all of the efficiency of an employee at McDonald's (MCD), which, in fact, Akula uses as a model of business-process excellence. (When he set up the company, he even tracked the time it took to do things with a stopwatch.) The whole meeting lasts just 25 minutes.
Afterward the women hustle back to their shops and farms. There, money from SKS pays for more goods and for the purchase of chickens and buffalo. A woman named Sarojamma carries in her hands a six-inch pile of currency with which she plans to buy rice, lentils, and other food to replenish the shelves in her four-year-old kirana, or mini general store. In the coming days, she explains, her husband will call on his mobile phone to suppliers in neighboring cities to find the best prices for the items they stock, then take a bus and a taxi to fetch the goods back to Narayanraopet. Sarojamma has a simple dream: "I want to make my shop bigger."
Sarojamma and people like her represent a new market opportunity for companies that hope to reach India's vast population of villagers. SKS's Akula is using his network of field agents and customers as a distribution channel for moving a wide variety of products and services on behalf of business partners such as Nokia (NOK). SKS helps sell mobile phones, insurance, and foodstuffs for shopkeepers. "The potential here is huge," says Devinder Kishore, Nokia's marketing director in India.
"BUSINESS IS BUSINESS"
While Grameen Bank's Yunus doesn't believe in profiting off the poor, he, too, sees his microlending network as a strategic jumping-off point for all sorts of economic activity. The bank's parent company, Grameen Family of Enterprises, is forming joint ventures with large multinationals in an effort to develop vast new markets and improve the health and livelihoods of poor people. The first of the ventures, Grameen Danone Foods (GDNNY), sells nutrition-enhanced yogurt to poor people in affordable, single-serving packages, with a portion of the deliveries handled by Grameen Bank customers.
But the strains between social goals and business imperatives are showing. Wahidun Nabi, the executive director of the venture, who came from Danone in mid-2007, says he's being forced by economics to sell larger packages and market to those with more money, which means he's doing less than he might have for poorer people. "For the success of the project, we must improve the bottom line," he says. "This is a social business, but business is business."
Such strains are even more intense in fledgling social enterprises. Belgian Bart Weetjens was focused purely on altruism when he started an organization called Apopo a decade ago. It trains African giant pouch rats to sniff out land mines on former battlefields. The mines, if they remain undetected, occasionally blow up and hurt people and animals. The program was a modest success, with mine-clearing operations in Mozambique and a contract to expand into Africa's Great Lakes Region. But Apopo ran into problems when Weetjens tried to secure a more dependable source of funding. An adopt-a-rat program launched on the Internet, HeroRATS.org, failed to attract many supporters. "We're living in uncertainty," says Apopo Chief Executive Christophe Cox. "If some of the main donors drop off, then we're finished."
So Weetjens and Cox decided to run Apopo more like a business and generate their own money from operations. Earlier this year they hired Virtue Ventures, a consulting group specializing in social enterprises, to help them write a business plan. And in the summer they brought four interns from the MBA program at Oxford University to their headquarters in Tanzania to help size up their money-earning potential. Options include expanding mine-clearing operations to the Middle East, getting into the cargo-inspection business, and forging aggressively into disease detection. It turns out the rats can sniff out the presence of tuberculosis, and perhaps other diseases, at costs dramatically cheaper than traditional laboratory tests.
The pressure of switching to a for-profit model is evident during a meeting of the two founders and their student advisers in Morogoro, Tanzania. The six gather for their weekly progress discussion in the war room, where interns work in stifling heat under two fast-spinning ceiling fans. It's not clear how big the long-term cost differential will be for their rats compared with other outfits that use European-trained dogs for mine-clearing. Cox cautions against exaggerating their advantages: "We don't want to compare the worst dogs with the best rats."
Weetjens, the organization's front man, says it now looks like Apopo may continue the mine-clearing operations on a not-for-profit basis but try to turn disease detection into a profit-maker. Their tests with Tanzanian health-care clinics are producing strong results in cost and quality.
For all the challenges that Apopo faces, there is anecdotal evidence that social enterprises can grow large and balance their social and economic imperatives. But it requires a lot of time and effort.
That was the case with Sekem Group, an Egyptian conglomerate with businesses in organic farming, garment manufacturing, herbal medicines, and food processing and distribution. The family-controlled company got off to a fragile start in 1977 in the desert 50 kilometers northeast of Cairo. Egyptian-born founder Ibrahim Abouleish had been managing a pharmaceutical-research facility in Austria but returned to his homeland after he realized that two decades of socialism had ruined the economy. His goal was to convert the country to organic farming and enrich Egyptian culture with a renaissance of art and education. Abouleish chose a place in the desert far from urban influences so he could create a self-defining community. It all started in a mud hut built for him by Bedouin.
The original hut remains as part of a guest house on a campus that now includes 20 sparkling-white buildings for offices, farm operations, and factory work. Sekem has 2,500 employees, 500 acres of nearby farmland, and a vast composting operation. The company, which has been growing at 25% per year, brought in $40 million in revenues and $3 million in net income in 2007—after spending much of its operating profits on schooling and health care for employees' families. Sekem just bought 4,000 acres of arid land on the Sinai Peninsula and in the Western Desert that it plans on converting to farming.
THE NEED FOR CAPITAL
For Abouleish and his son, Helmy, who now runs day-to-day operations, more important than the financial accomplishments is the impact of Sekem on Egyptian agriculture. When done right, organic farming uses a lot less water, and farmers don't spend money on expensive and polluting herbicides and pesticides. When Sekem started operations, there was no organic farming in Egypt. Today there are several other major organic growers, and Sekem has developed a network of 800 independent farmers on 50,000 acres whose produce it exports to major grocery chains in Europe. The company's nonprofit Sekem Development Foundation runs a school, a medical center, and economic development programs in the seven villages around the campus. But Ibrahim Abouleish is not satisfied. "What we have achieved is a great model. Now we have to change the whole country," he says. He figures it could take more than 100 years to reform Egypt from the bottom up.
While Sekem shows that such enterprises can grow up and make progress, there are many economic and social hurdles that need to be cleared for this phenomenon to become powerful. Money is a major issue. While philanthropies and investors are plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into social enterprises, that's still minuscule compared with the $35 billion in venture capital invested worldwide last year.
To attract more capital, social enterprises have started trying to better quantify their results. A group spearheaded by Acumen Fund, a nonprofit supporter of social enterprises, has begun gathering an ocean of information into one massive, easily accessible database. That way, results can be monitored by the funders and investors, and social entrepreneurs can see how they stack up with their peers.
Still, it's hard to justify most social enterprises on strictly financial grounds. In many cases, investors have to accept lower returns than they would expect from traditional investments. That trade-off has tormented investors in Freeplay Energy, a social business that sells hand-crank radios and lights for people in developing countries and Western nations. The company went public in Britain in 2005, but its revenues have been disappointing, and its stock price plummeted until it was taken private again this year. "It's hard to have a social mission in a capitalistic system," says Rory Stear, Freeplay's co-founder and co-chairman.
When Ramalinga Raju, chairman of India's Satyam Computer Services (SAY), set out to improve India's woeful health-care system, he decided to bring in government as his partner. His idea was that, by combining Satyam's technology and business-operations expertise with government resources, innovative new health-care initiatives could spread rapidly. Emergency Management and Research Institute, a free ambulance service he launched in 2005 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has branched out to two other states. The government pays 95% of operating expenses. "I have no doubt that this will be a model for the rest of the world," Raju says.
Maybe. Raju's ambulance service is catching flack from rivals. Sweta Mangal, co-founder of Dial 1298 for Ambulance, which operates in Mumbai, says EMRI relies too much on government support, which might be fleeting. She also doesn't think it's affordable for governments in emerging nations to offer free ambulance service for everybody. Her company charges wealthy and middle-class patients, which subsidizes free service for poor people.
This is just one of the debates that show how unsettled the world of social enterprise is—and may remain. Until today's entrepreneurs discover which business models really work, there will be uncertainty and wasted effort. The movement is growing and taking on more ambitious projects. But from Mercy Corps' Keny-Guyer to Satyam's Raju, these entrepreneurs know most of their work still lies ahead of them
Business - Can Olympus Keep Its Medical Video Camera Edge?
Arlene Weintraub
Olympus can't do anything about today's financial and economic turmoil, which is dashing sales of digital cameras. But the company has managed to take charge of a fast-growing market that the average shutterbug probably doesn't even know it's in: medical video cameras.
Olympus was the first company to incorporate high-definition television signals into cameras known as "videoscopes," which surgeons snake through patients' bodies to search for stomach tumors, perform colonoscopies, or assist in removing diseased gall bladders. HDTV sharpened the quality of the images doctors could generate and turned Olympus into the No. 1 player in the $2.5 billion gastrointestinal endoscopy market, with 70% of global sales. (Japan's Pentax and Fuji vie for second and third place.)
But with competition on the rise and hospital budgets weighed down by the struggling economy, Olympus must persuade customers that its $20,995 surgical cameras are still worth the premium price. "These devices have to enable them to do more procedures, and to do them more efficiently," argues F. Mark Gumz, chief executive of Olympus Corp. of the Americas, who has been calling hospital CEOs personally to try to assess how far their spending might fall. "It's a concern—there will be significant financial stress on hospitals."
Virtually no one would have expected Olympus to dominate a market by employing HDTV, one of today's hottest consumer-electronics inventions. The Tokyo-based company has spent much of its 89-year history trailing behind far more popular camera makers, such as Kodak, Canon, and Fuji. In 2005, when Olympus introduced its first surgical cameras with HDTV, its medical equipment venture began to outrun its consumer business. In fiscal 2008, which ended in March, Olympus' surgery sales grew 29%, pushing the company's total medical sales up to $3.4 billion, or 31% of Olympus' $10.8 billion in annual sales.
Surgeon Appeal
Olympus' HDTV endeavor was fueled by technological persistence and a dash of foresight. Several years ago, the company's scientists were looking for ways to improve its surgical cameras. The company already had custom-designed and manufactured image-sensor chips, giving it a head start on HDTV. Even though the broadcast industry hadn't fully embraced high-def yet, Olympus executives predicted the lifelike images would appeal to surgeons. After hearing the pitch for the product, executives in Tokyo in 2002 committed to adding HDTV to equipment in the U.S. "We wanted to produce images that were comparable to what the human eye would see," says Frank Filiciotto, executive director of marketing for Olympus America.
To get that effect, Olympus' scientists combined HDTV with a technology called narrow band imaging, which filters out obscuring colors. The technologies work together to magnify fine structures like capillaries—the tiniest blood vessels in the body—letting surgeons easily detect abnormal tissues, such as those that might be precancerous. Then Olympus put the technology in a 6-mm diameter camera at the end of a flexible scope, which can turn corners in the body and produce images from almost every angle.
A version of the scope is now being widely adopted for a new type of surgery that's rapidly gaining in popularity. The surgery, known as laparoendoscopic single site, or LESS, allows complicated work such as gall bladder operations to be done in the abdomen through one tiny, nearly invisible incision in the belly button. The Olympus camera has become the tool of choice because of its crystal clear images and a flexible tip that allows it to see around corners, says Dr. Alex Rosemurgy, professor of surgery at the University of South Florida. "Now we can operate and leave no scar," he says. (Rosemurgy has no financial relationship with Olympus.)
Despite successes on the medical side, investors still think of Olympus as a consumer-focused business, and that's not a flattering angle these days. Since September, Olympus shares, which trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, have dropped 54%, while the Nikkei 225 index has lost 37%. Citing the "difficult environment" Olympus faces in consumer products, Credit Suisse analyst Kunihiko Kanno wrote recently that investors would be wise "to focus on Olympus for its medical business." He expects Olympus' medical sales to grow 13% next year and to be further fueled by the company's recent $1.9 billion acquisition of Gyrus, a British endoscope maker.
Growing Competition
Persuading hospitals that LESS is more won't be easy in today's recessionary times, however. The market for surgical video cameras is fiercely competitive, and an increasing number of Olympus' rivals are incorporating HDTV into their products. U.S. medical devices giant Stryker introduced its first HDTV product last December. And Stryker sells not only surgical video equipment but devices such as artificial hips and knees, as well. That gives Stryker leverage with hospital purchasers.
Furthermore, Olympus' HDTV equipment costs about 10% more than the non-HDTV cameras sold by its competitors. The cost issue is a palpable marketing challenge for all players. "The real issue for hospitals is that if they transition their cameras to HDTV, their monitors and image capture devices must also be replaced," says Brady Shirley, president of Stryker's endoscopy division, in an e-mail. "Transitioning to HDTV becomes more expensive because of the need to also purchase the other products."
CEO Gumz's latest worry is that patients may be delaying elective surgeries because they can't afford them. So far, he says, the decline has been limited mostly to cosmetic surgeries. "We'll continue to monitor this," he says. "I hope people don't put off these procedures." But he's quick to add with an apologetic tone, "I'm not an economist."
Weintraub is the Science Editor for BusinessWeek in New York .
Olympus can't do anything about today's financial and economic turmoil, which is dashing sales of digital cameras. But the company has managed to take charge of a fast-growing market that the average shutterbug probably doesn't even know it's in: medical video cameras.
Olympus was the first company to incorporate high-definition television signals into cameras known as "videoscopes," which surgeons snake through patients' bodies to search for stomach tumors, perform colonoscopies, or assist in removing diseased gall bladders. HDTV sharpened the quality of the images doctors could generate and turned Olympus into the No. 1 player in the $2.5 billion gastrointestinal endoscopy market, with 70% of global sales. (Japan's Pentax and Fuji vie for second and third place.)
But with competition on the rise and hospital budgets weighed down by the struggling economy, Olympus must persuade customers that its $20,995 surgical cameras are still worth the premium price. "These devices have to enable them to do more procedures, and to do them more efficiently," argues F. Mark Gumz, chief executive of Olympus Corp. of the Americas, who has been calling hospital CEOs personally to try to assess how far their spending might fall. "It's a concern—there will be significant financial stress on hospitals."
Virtually no one would have expected Olympus to dominate a market by employing HDTV, one of today's hottest consumer-electronics inventions. The Tokyo-based company has spent much of its 89-year history trailing behind far more popular camera makers, such as Kodak, Canon, and Fuji. In 2005, when Olympus introduced its first surgical cameras with HDTV, its medical equipment venture began to outrun its consumer business. In fiscal 2008, which ended in March, Olympus' surgery sales grew 29%, pushing the company's total medical sales up to $3.4 billion, or 31% of Olympus' $10.8 billion in annual sales.
Surgeon Appeal
Olympus' HDTV endeavor was fueled by technological persistence and a dash of foresight. Several years ago, the company's scientists were looking for ways to improve its surgical cameras. The company already had custom-designed and manufactured image-sensor chips, giving it a head start on HDTV. Even though the broadcast industry hadn't fully embraced high-def yet, Olympus executives predicted the lifelike images would appeal to surgeons. After hearing the pitch for the product, executives in Tokyo in 2002 committed to adding HDTV to equipment in the U.S. "We wanted to produce images that were comparable to what the human eye would see," says Frank Filiciotto, executive director of marketing for Olympus America.
To get that effect, Olympus' scientists combined HDTV with a technology called narrow band imaging, which filters out obscuring colors. The technologies work together to magnify fine structures like capillaries—the tiniest blood vessels in the body—letting surgeons easily detect abnormal tissues, such as those that might be precancerous. Then Olympus put the technology in a 6-mm diameter camera at the end of a flexible scope, which can turn corners in the body and produce images from almost every angle.
A version of the scope is now being widely adopted for a new type of surgery that's rapidly gaining in popularity. The surgery, known as laparoendoscopic single site, or LESS, allows complicated work such as gall bladder operations to be done in the abdomen through one tiny, nearly invisible incision in the belly button. The Olympus camera has become the tool of choice because of its crystal clear images and a flexible tip that allows it to see around corners, says Dr. Alex Rosemurgy, professor of surgery at the University of South Florida. "Now we can operate and leave no scar," he says. (Rosemurgy has no financial relationship with Olympus.)
Despite successes on the medical side, investors still think of Olympus as a consumer-focused business, and that's not a flattering angle these days. Since September, Olympus shares, which trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, have dropped 54%, while the Nikkei 225 index has lost 37%. Citing the "difficult environment" Olympus faces in consumer products, Credit Suisse analyst Kunihiko Kanno wrote recently that investors would be wise "to focus on Olympus for its medical business." He expects Olympus' medical sales to grow 13% next year and to be further fueled by the company's recent $1.9 billion acquisition of Gyrus, a British endoscope maker.
Growing Competition
Persuading hospitals that LESS is more won't be easy in today's recessionary times, however. The market for surgical video cameras is fiercely competitive, and an increasing number of Olympus' rivals are incorporating HDTV into their products. U.S. medical devices giant Stryker introduced its first HDTV product last December. And Stryker sells not only surgical video equipment but devices such as artificial hips and knees, as well. That gives Stryker leverage with hospital purchasers.
Furthermore, Olympus' HDTV equipment costs about 10% more than the non-HDTV cameras sold by its competitors. The cost issue is a palpable marketing challenge for all players. "The real issue for hospitals is that if they transition their cameras to HDTV, their monitors and image capture devices must also be replaced," says Brady Shirley, president of Stryker's endoscopy division, in an e-mail. "Transitioning to HDTV becomes more expensive because of the need to also purchase the other products."
CEO Gumz's latest worry is that patients may be delaying elective surgeries because they can't afford them. So far, he says, the decline has been limited mostly to cosmetic surgeries. "We'll continue to monitor this," he says. "I hope people don't put off these procedures." But he's quick to add with an apologetic tone, "I'm not an economist."
Weintraub is the Science Editor for BusinessWeek in New York .
Tech - Microsoft's New Xbox Experience
Matt Vella
On Nov. 19, Microsoft (MSFT) released a totally overhauled operating system for its Xbox 360 video game console. The free update includes a slick makeover of the graphical user interface and new features such as the ability to install games directly to the console's built-in hard drive as well as to stream movies from Netflix (NFLX).
After a little more than a week with the update, dubbed the New Xbox Experience or NXE, I can say Microsoft has effectively rebooted its three-year-old console. The NXE not only bestows the Xbox's software with Apple-like (AAPL) style and simplicity but adds a compelling mix of substantive new features. In fact, the new design moves the Xbox closer to being the all-purpose set-top box or "iTV" that at least a dozen companies have tried to popularize in recent years.
Best Update, Ever
Crowing, Microsoft compares the NXE to the advent of color television in the mid-1950s. Clearly, the company's copywriters need to pump their brakes. Still, the NXE does represent a significant first. Microsoft's chief competitors Nintendo (NTDOY) and Sony (SNE) have incrementally improved their consoles, adding features via free, downloadable updates similar to the NXE. But neither rival has so thoroughly revamped their consoles' operating systems in one step.
The most obvious change is the NXE's new user interface. The previous design, which separated information into tabs, worked well three years ago when there were relatively few options besides playing games on disc. But as Microsoft added the ability to download new games, television shows, and movies from the Web, for example, the interface became clunky and often confusing.
In contrast, the NXE drastically simplifies use. Scrolling through a menu of options in the top right-hand corner reveals a set of panels in the middle of the screen which users can scroll through easily. The interface looks somewhat like the one for iTunes' Cover Flow, which allows users to quickly access long lists of icons. This new design is light years ahead of most digital video recorders, for panache and ease of use, and is more intuitive to use than Apple TV or even TiVo (TIVO).
Streaming Movies from Netflix
The NXE also brings with it substantive new features. The most exciting is the inclusion of streaming movies from Netflix. The process is simple: Netflix subscribers can log into their accounts directly from the NXE and stream one of the 12,000 movies available from the company's Web site. The feature worked flawlessly throughout my testing. (This feature makes obsolete the $99 device introduced by the company earlier this year (BusinessWeek.com, 5/30/08) that can stream movies to a television.)
Of course, Microsoft included sweeteners for gamers. Players can now create three-dimensional avatars, with customized body types, facial features, and clothes. Developers can incorporate these digital alter-egos into a game, adding a dash of personalization. But the novelty feature is eerily similar to Nintendo's so-called Mii avatars, which have appealed to younger gamers. Games also can now be directly installed onto the Xbox's built-in hard drive. This feature seems only marginally useful, speeding up some load times slightly and cutting down on the buzzing of discs spinning in the Xbox's noisy drive.
All in all, Microsoft's NXE adds a useful set of new features wrapped in a sleek new interface. So rich are these options that the free update would have been worth the $50 or so that a new game costs. In fact, the NXE turns the Xbox into one of the most compelling set-top boxes available for gamers and non-gamers alike.
Vella is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.
On Nov. 19, Microsoft (MSFT) released a totally overhauled operating system for its Xbox 360 video game console. The free update includes a slick makeover of the graphical user interface and new features such as the ability to install games directly to the console's built-in hard drive as well as to stream movies from Netflix (NFLX).
After a little more than a week with the update, dubbed the New Xbox Experience or NXE, I can say Microsoft has effectively rebooted its three-year-old console. The NXE not only bestows the Xbox's software with Apple-like (AAPL) style and simplicity but adds a compelling mix of substantive new features. In fact, the new design moves the Xbox closer to being the all-purpose set-top box or "iTV" that at least a dozen companies have tried to popularize in recent years.
Best Update, Ever
Crowing, Microsoft compares the NXE to the advent of color television in the mid-1950s. Clearly, the company's copywriters need to pump their brakes. Still, the NXE does represent a significant first. Microsoft's chief competitors Nintendo (NTDOY) and Sony (SNE) have incrementally improved their consoles, adding features via free, downloadable updates similar to the NXE. But neither rival has so thoroughly revamped their consoles' operating systems in one step.
The most obvious change is the NXE's new user interface. The previous design, which separated information into tabs, worked well three years ago when there were relatively few options besides playing games on disc. But as Microsoft added the ability to download new games, television shows, and movies from the Web, for example, the interface became clunky and often confusing.
In contrast, the NXE drastically simplifies use. Scrolling through a menu of options in the top right-hand corner reveals a set of panels in the middle of the screen which users can scroll through easily. The interface looks somewhat like the one for iTunes' Cover Flow, which allows users to quickly access long lists of icons. This new design is light years ahead of most digital video recorders, for panache and ease of use, and is more intuitive to use than Apple TV or even TiVo (TIVO).
Streaming Movies from Netflix
The NXE also brings with it substantive new features. The most exciting is the inclusion of streaming movies from Netflix. The process is simple: Netflix subscribers can log into their accounts directly from the NXE and stream one of the 12,000 movies available from the company's Web site. The feature worked flawlessly throughout my testing. (This feature makes obsolete the $99 device introduced by the company earlier this year (BusinessWeek.com, 5/30/08) that can stream movies to a television.)
Of course, Microsoft included sweeteners for gamers. Players can now create three-dimensional avatars, with customized body types, facial features, and clothes. Developers can incorporate these digital alter-egos into a game, adding a dash of personalization. But the novelty feature is eerily similar to Nintendo's so-called Mii avatars, which have appealed to younger gamers. Games also can now be directly installed onto the Xbox's built-in hard drive. This feature seems only marginally useful, speeding up some load times slightly and cutting down on the buzzing of discs spinning in the Xbox's noisy drive.
All in all, Microsoft's NXE adds a useful set of new features wrapped in a sleek new interface. So rich are these options that the free update would have been worth the $50 or so that a new game costs. In fact, the NXE turns the Xbox into one of the most compelling set-top boxes available for gamers and non-gamers alike.
Vella is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.
Personality - David Rockwell: Broadway to Brand
Reena Jana
David Rockwell, the award-winning architect and Broadway set designer who made his name creating minimalist interiors for sushi restaurant chain Nobu, has moved into an unlikely corporate role: brand consultant. Big companies such as JetBlue (JBLU), Coca-Cola (KO), Starwood Hotels (HOT), and Gap (GPS) are hiring his 240-person architecture firm, which consults on everything from store decor to software engineering, to help them come up with ways to broaden their customer appeal in retail and other high-profile environments.
At Coke's Atlanta headquarters, for example, Rockwell built a lab that features facsimiles of big box and fast-food chains where Coke executives can try out new displays and products. The goal? To better showcase products at Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald's (MCD), and elsewhere. "David is very creative," says Richard Smythe, JetBlue's vice-president for redevelopment. "He knows how to understand a brand and how to communicate that brand in ways that go beyond the conventional."
Rockwell, 52, went beyond the conventional in fashioning a high-traffic section of JetBlue's Terminal 5 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The carrier invested about $2.5 million—10 times the typical cost of a public airport lounge—in his vision for the terminal's waiting area, which opened in October to positive reviews. The airline went along after Rockwell convinced executives that he could make JetBlue memorable by creating a dramatic space with such touches as a grandstand seating area along with the usual tables and chairs.
SLOWDOWN AHEAD?
When Chicago-born Rockwell decided to study architecture at Syracuse University, he never set out to be a corporate image shaper. His passion was the theater. Little wonder. He had spent much of his childhood in seaside New Jersey watching his ex-vaudevillian mother direct local stage productions. Rockwell used his architectural training to design sets for Hairspray and Legally Blonde; he's currently producing a Broadway musical based on magician Harry Houdini's life.
Stagecraft segued to interior design work. He gave Nobu its simple, no-tablecloth look when the high-end Japanese restaurant opened in New York in 1994. When Starwood launched its W hotels a decade ago it tapped Rockwell, who came up with a lobby and guest rooms that were sleekly minimalist—designs that came to define the W brand. Starwood brought him back to develop its Aloft chain of hip budget hotels, which opened this year.
Twenty-four years after founding Rockwell Group, he still experiments with dramatic ideas, whether on Broadway or in the boardroom. "Being curious feeds me," he says, showing off his firm's newly renovated offices in Manhattan. "I like taking risks, but in a smart way." He expanded the space to accommodate a staff that has tripled in the last five years. As he makes his way around the office, CEO Rockwell greets nearly every employee—and a big black dog that runs freely through the space—with a cheery "Hi!" like a popular kid roaming the high school hallway.
Rockwell has sometimes missed the mark. He tried to differentiate Gap's (GPS) Forth & Towne chain, geared toward women 35 and older, with a floor plan that included fitting rooms placed in a circle instead of straight lines. Gap trumpeted his concept in test marketing its newest unit. But last year the retailer killed the chain after 18 months because of poor sales at its 25 pilot stores. Still, Gap remains a Rockwell client, though neither will say what he is working on. Rockwell says the failure hasn't altered his approach.
The deepening economic crisis threatens to curb corporate spending, but the designer says his business so far is unaffected. Revenue is up 200% since 2003, from roughly $15 million to more than $45 million. Demand for his firm's insight on shaping brand identities has grown to the point that Rockwell formed a 10-person branding-strategy division in the last year. He also added an in-house software and engineering lab where employees can invent displays, such as a video projection that reacts to the movements of passersby, for both theater productions and shops.
Currently he's remaking the Viking Range outdoor grill, due out next year. His radical changes, which include doing away with the protective smoke hood, inspired Viking to rethink its marketing campaign, says Fred Carl Jr., CEO of the Greenwood (Miss.) company. "We just asked him to design a grill that was part of a new product line," says Carl. "But then great ideas emerged, and I thought, heck, we could build our promotional work around David's design."
David Rockwell, the award-winning architect and Broadway set designer who made his name creating minimalist interiors for sushi restaurant chain Nobu, has moved into an unlikely corporate role: brand consultant. Big companies such as JetBlue (JBLU), Coca-Cola (KO), Starwood Hotels (HOT), and Gap (GPS) are hiring his 240-person architecture firm, which consults on everything from store decor to software engineering, to help them come up with ways to broaden their customer appeal in retail and other high-profile environments.
At Coke's Atlanta headquarters, for example, Rockwell built a lab that features facsimiles of big box and fast-food chains where Coke executives can try out new displays and products. The goal? To better showcase products at Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald's (MCD), and elsewhere. "David is very creative," says Richard Smythe, JetBlue's vice-president for redevelopment. "He knows how to understand a brand and how to communicate that brand in ways that go beyond the conventional."
Rockwell, 52, went beyond the conventional in fashioning a high-traffic section of JetBlue's Terminal 5 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The carrier invested about $2.5 million—10 times the typical cost of a public airport lounge—in his vision for the terminal's waiting area, which opened in October to positive reviews. The airline went along after Rockwell convinced executives that he could make JetBlue memorable by creating a dramatic space with such touches as a grandstand seating area along with the usual tables and chairs.
SLOWDOWN AHEAD?
When Chicago-born Rockwell decided to study architecture at Syracuse University, he never set out to be a corporate image shaper. His passion was the theater. Little wonder. He had spent much of his childhood in seaside New Jersey watching his ex-vaudevillian mother direct local stage productions. Rockwell used his architectural training to design sets for Hairspray and Legally Blonde; he's currently producing a Broadway musical based on magician Harry Houdini's life.
Stagecraft segued to interior design work. He gave Nobu its simple, no-tablecloth look when the high-end Japanese restaurant opened in New York in 1994. When Starwood launched its W hotels a decade ago it tapped Rockwell, who came up with a lobby and guest rooms that were sleekly minimalist—designs that came to define the W brand. Starwood brought him back to develop its Aloft chain of hip budget hotels, which opened this year.
Twenty-four years after founding Rockwell Group, he still experiments with dramatic ideas, whether on Broadway or in the boardroom. "Being curious feeds me," he says, showing off his firm's newly renovated offices in Manhattan. "I like taking risks, but in a smart way." He expanded the space to accommodate a staff that has tripled in the last five years. As he makes his way around the office, CEO Rockwell greets nearly every employee—and a big black dog that runs freely through the space—with a cheery "Hi!" like a popular kid roaming the high school hallway.
Rockwell has sometimes missed the mark. He tried to differentiate Gap's (GPS) Forth & Towne chain, geared toward women 35 and older, with a floor plan that included fitting rooms placed in a circle instead of straight lines. Gap trumpeted his concept in test marketing its newest unit. But last year the retailer killed the chain after 18 months because of poor sales at its 25 pilot stores. Still, Gap remains a Rockwell client, though neither will say what he is working on. Rockwell says the failure hasn't altered his approach.
The deepening economic crisis threatens to curb corporate spending, but the designer says his business so far is unaffected. Revenue is up 200% since 2003, from roughly $15 million to more than $45 million. Demand for his firm's insight on shaping brand identities has grown to the point that Rockwell formed a 10-person branding-strategy division in the last year. He also added an in-house software and engineering lab where employees can invent displays, such as a video projection that reacts to the movements of passersby, for both theater productions and shops.
Currently he's remaking the Viking Range outdoor grill, due out next year. His radical changes, which include doing away with the protective smoke hood, inspired Viking to rethink its marketing campaign, says Fred Carl Jr., CEO of the Greenwood (Miss.) company. "We just asked him to design a grill that was part of a new product line," says Carl. "But then great ideas emerged, and I thought, heck, we could build our promotional work around David's design."
India - Staff emerge as heroes in Mumbai hotel sieges
Krittivas Mukherjee
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Prashant Mangeshikar could be dead, one of more than a hundred victims of militant attacks across Mumbai landmarks, if it had not been for an employee at the Taj Mahal Hotel.
Mangeshikar, his wife and daughter were in the foyer of the 105-year-old hotel on Wednesday night when Islamist gunmen opened indiscriminate fire in one of a series of coordinated attacks in India's financial capital.
Recovering from the initial shock and chaos, hotel staff shepherded the guests, including the Mangeshikar family, through the service section upstairs -- only suddenly to come face to face with one of the gunmen.
"He looked young and did not speak to us. He just fired. We were in sort of a single file," Mangeshikar, a 52-year-old gynaecologist, told Reuters. "The man in front of my wife shielded us. He was a maintenance section staff. He took the bullets."
The tale of the unnamed staff member has echoed across Mumbai where, time after time, hotel workers have emerged as the people who shielded, hid or evacuated their wealthy guests from militants at the Taj and Trident/Oberoi hotels.
Hotel workers in one case ushered guests into a conference room and then locked the doors to protect them from the militants. The guests were later rescued by the fire brigade.
The staff often proved essential, knowing short cuts to safety and where emergency exits were located.
SPRAYING BULLETS
Within seconds after Mangeshikar's family was saved from the bullets, the guests made a dash for the hotel rooms to hide.
Mangeshikar and a few others dragged the wounded hotel employee identified only as "Mr Rajan" into one of the rooms.
"His intestine was a lump hanging from a gaping hole in his abdomen," he said. "The bullet had entered him from close to the spine."
For the next 12 hours, Mangeshikar and other guests surrounded the wounded man trying to push back his intestines with bedsheets and stop the bleeding. He was finally evacuated, but it was not known if he survived.
"The hotel staff has been very, very brave," Mangeshikar said. "Hats off to them."
As the gunmen went around spraying bullets, on another floor hotel staff struggled to secure the doors with bedsheets and put tables and beds against the doors.
Televisions had gone off. Power also went out. Some people tried desperately to call their family on cell phones.
Kanda Noriyaki, a chef at the hotel's Japanese restaurant, led guests trembling and screaming with fear to safety.
"We hid in the restaurant," Noriyaki told Reuters. "We could hear the firing somewhere very close. Intermittently, there were blasts."
Many evacuees from the hotel hailed the bravery of the staff.
"Just imagine, they even served us food the first few hours," said a hotel guest, who did not wish to be named. "Only when the kitchens became out of bounds did they express regret for not being able to serve us food."
One person recounted how Taj staff stopped panicky guests from rushing into the lobby where militants could have shot them.
"They were brilliant," Bhisham Mansukhani told the Mail Today. "If they hadn't kept their cool, many more lives would have been lost."
The wife and children of the Taj's general manager who lived on the hotel premises were killed in the attacks. Witnesses said many trainee chefs had been killed in the kitchen of the Taj.
Mangeshikar said that, but for the courage of Mr. Rajan, his wife and daughter could have been dead.
"I'm going out today to the hospital to find out what happened to him," he said. "I owe it to that brave man."
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Prashant Mangeshikar could be dead, one of more than a hundred victims of militant attacks across Mumbai landmarks, if it had not been for an employee at the Taj Mahal Hotel.
Mangeshikar, his wife and daughter were in the foyer of the 105-year-old hotel on Wednesday night when Islamist gunmen opened indiscriminate fire in one of a series of coordinated attacks in India's financial capital.
Recovering from the initial shock and chaos, hotel staff shepherded the guests, including the Mangeshikar family, through the service section upstairs -- only suddenly to come face to face with one of the gunmen.
"He looked young and did not speak to us. He just fired. We were in sort of a single file," Mangeshikar, a 52-year-old gynaecologist, told Reuters. "The man in front of my wife shielded us. He was a maintenance section staff. He took the bullets."
The tale of the unnamed staff member has echoed across Mumbai where, time after time, hotel workers have emerged as the people who shielded, hid or evacuated their wealthy guests from militants at the Taj and Trident/Oberoi hotels.
Hotel workers in one case ushered guests into a conference room and then locked the doors to protect them from the militants. The guests were later rescued by the fire brigade.
The staff often proved essential, knowing short cuts to safety and where emergency exits were located.
SPRAYING BULLETS
Within seconds after Mangeshikar's family was saved from the bullets, the guests made a dash for the hotel rooms to hide.
Mangeshikar and a few others dragged the wounded hotel employee identified only as "Mr Rajan" into one of the rooms.
"His intestine was a lump hanging from a gaping hole in his abdomen," he said. "The bullet had entered him from close to the spine."
For the next 12 hours, Mangeshikar and other guests surrounded the wounded man trying to push back his intestines with bedsheets and stop the bleeding. He was finally evacuated, but it was not known if he survived.
"The hotel staff has been very, very brave," Mangeshikar said. "Hats off to them."
As the gunmen went around spraying bullets, on another floor hotel staff struggled to secure the doors with bedsheets and put tables and beds against the doors.
Televisions had gone off. Power also went out. Some people tried desperately to call their family on cell phones.
Kanda Noriyaki, a chef at the hotel's Japanese restaurant, led guests trembling and screaming with fear to safety.
"We hid in the restaurant," Noriyaki told Reuters. "We could hear the firing somewhere very close. Intermittently, there were blasts."
Many evacuees from the hotel hailed the bravery of the staff.
"Just imagine, they even served us food the first few hours," said a hotel guest, who did not wish to be named. "Only when the kitchens became out of bounds did they express regret for not being able to serve us food."
One person recounted how Taj staff stopped panicky guests from rushing into the lobby where militants could have shot them.
"They were brilliant," Bhisham Mansukhani told the Mail Today. "If they hadn't kept their cool, many more lives would have been lost."
The wife and children of the Taj's general manager who lived on the hotel premises were killed in the attacks. Witnesses said many trainee chefs had been killed in the kitchen of the Taj.
Mangeshikar said that, but for the courage of Mr. Rajan, his wife and daughter could have been dead.
"I'm going out today to the hospital to find out what happened to him," he said. "I owe it to that brave man."
Lifestyle - Purchasing Obama memorabilia?Buyer beware
Rebekah Kebede
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are snapping up mementos to commemorate President-elect Barack Obama's election -- from plates and coins to sneakers -- but experts are skeptical they will ever become valuable collectibles.
The zeal for Obama merchandise has not flagged since he was elected on November 4 as the first black U.S. president, even as Americans suffer a weak economy.
"This is definitely the most aggressive rush for memorabilia items that we've seen in a long time," said Steve Ferber, part-owner of Arizona-based Lori Ferber Collectibles, who saw newspapers sell for as much as $75.
GreatSeats.com is seeing high demand for tickets to events surrounding Obama's January 20 inauguration, said owner Danny Matta, adding that he suspects many customers want to hold on to the tickets as keepsakes.
"It's not like anything else I've seen before," said Matta. "It may actually be topping Hannah Montana, which is big."
TeleBrands Corp, a New Jersey company that markets gadgets such as pet manicuring tool PediPaws on television, is selling its first commemorative presidential "victory plate."
A.J. Khubani, the company's president, said he came up with the idea for the $19.99 plate as he watched the excitement on Election Day.
WHAT'S IT REALLY WORTH?
Agnes Sammons, a New Jersey retiree, has started collecting Obama mementos to pass on to her two grandchildren, aged 5 and 2. At the moment she has her eye on a "Barack Obama Presidential Commemorative Coin" for $9.99.
"I've been in this world for 78 years ... . I'm so happy that I got to see this," said Sammons, who is black.
The election will heal wounds caused by the U.S. history of segregation and slavery, she said. "To me, a lot of that is put aside."
But the rush for Obama merchandise has its share of skeptics.
Sammons' son, Jeffrey Sammons, a history professor at New York University, said he was appalled by his mother's interest in an Obama commemorative coin.
He said he told her, "That thing is probably worth a dollar and will have no monetary value whatsoever."
Sammons said the value is irrelevant.
"Every once in a while I tell him, let me do what I want to do, let me use my own mind," she said. "I just wanted these things because this has never happened. It's unbelievable."
Those who bought newspapers for $75 right after the election may have to wait as long as 50 years to even recoup their costs because so many copies exist, Ferber said.
An example of a more valuable item, he said, is a copy of the famous Chicago Tribune newspaper printed before President Harry Truman had clinched his victory in 1948. It said "Dewey Defeats Truman."
The rare paper sells for $1,300 on Ferber's website. A reproduction of the front page costs $21.95 at the online bookseller Abe Books.
'DISPOSABLE CRAP!'
Mementos such as campaign buttons going as far back as Truman's presidency for sale online are mostly under $5, with the most optimistic offers at around $20.
The memorabilia craze has now become fodder for comedians.
"The election of Barack Obama has once again demonstrated America's greatest gift: Our capacity to embrace hope and idealism ... and then turn it into worthless, disposable crap!" Lewis Black said on Comedy Central's the Daily Show.
The web abounds with such offers, ranging from throw pillows and coasters to more personal items such as "I have a crush on Obama" thong underwear for women.
Even the pet constituency is not left out, with T-shirts reading "Patriotic Bulldogs for Obama" and campaign buttons that declare "Meow for Change."
Sellers also offer a plethora of autographed items, from baseballs and napkins to books and magazines. On Friday, a copy of a Rolling Stone magazine autographed by Obama was bid at $207.50 on eBay.
AS OLD AS THE PRESIDENCY
At Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses, signed correspondence of past presidents, especially important presidents, can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For instance, a letter from Abraham Lincoln that was never sent is expected to fetch $250,000 to $350,000 at Sotheby's.
Collecting presidential keepsakes is as old as the presidency. In George Washington's day, people bought small metal buttons to sew onto their clothes, said Harry Rubenstein, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's political history division.
Rubenstein and his colleague, Larry Bird, said they will look for unique items from Obama's election, particularly handmade things that strike them as unusual or representative of the spirit of the times.
"Anything that's made to be collectible is not," Bird said.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols, Bill Trott and Xavier Briand)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are snapping up mementos to commemorate President-elect Barack Obama's election -- from plates and coins to sneakers -- but experts are skeptical they will ever become valuable collectibles.
The zeal for Obama merchandise has not flagged since he was elected on November 4 as the first black U.S. president, even as Americans suffer a weak economy.
"This is definitely the most aggressive rush for memorabilia items that we've seen in a long time," said Steve Ferber, part-owner of Arizona-based Lori Ferber Collectibles, who saw newspapers sell for as much as $75.
GreatSeats.com is seeing high demand for tickets to events surrounding Obama's January 20 inauguration, said owner Danny Matta, adding that he suspects many customers want to hold on to the tickets as keepsakes.
"It's not like anything else I've seen before," said Matta. "It may actually be topping Hannah Montana, which is big."
TeleBrands Corp, a New Jersey company that markets gadgets such as pet manicuring tool PediPaws on television, is selling its first commemorative presidential "victory plate."
A.J. Khubani, the company's president, said he came up with the idea for the $19.99 plate as he watched the excitement on Election Day.
WHAT'S IT REALLY WORTH?
Agnes Sammons, a New Jersey retiree, has started collecting Obama mementos to pass on to her two grandchildren, aged 5 and 2. At the moment she has her eye on a "Barack Obama Presidential Commemorative Coin" for $9.99.
"I've been in this world for 78 years ... . I'm so happy that I got to see this," said Sammons, who is black.
The election will heal wounds caused by the U.S. history of segregation and slavery, she said. "To me, a lot of that is put aside."
But the rush for Obama merchandise has its share of skeptics.
Sammons' son, Jeffrey Sammons, a history professor at New York University, said he was appalled by his mother's interest in an Obama commemorative coin.
He said he told her, "That thing is probably worth a dollar and will have no monetary value whatsoever."
Sammons said the value is irrelevant.
"Every once in a while I tell him, let me do what I want to do, let me use my own mind," she said. "I just wanted these things because this has never happened. It's unbelievable."
Those who bought newspapers for $75 right after the election may have to wait as long as 50 years to even recoup their costs because so many copies exist, Ferber said.
An example of a more valuable item, he said, is a copy of the famous Chicago Tribune newspaper printed before President Harry Truman had clinched his victory in 1948. It said "Dewey Defeats Truman."
The rare paper sells for $1,300 on Ferber's website. A reproduction of the front page costs $21.95 at the online bookseller Abe Books.
'DISPOSABLE CRAP!'
Mementos such as campaign buttons going as far back as Truman's presidency for sale online are mostly under $5, with the most optimistic offers at around $20.
The memorabilia craze has now become fodder for comedians.
"The election of Barack Obama has once again demonstrated America's greatest gift: Our capacity to embrace hope and idealism ... and then turn it into worthless, disposable crap!" Lewis Black said on Comedy Central's the Daily Show.
The web abounds with such offers, ranging from throw pillows and coasters to more personal items such as "I have a crush on Obama" thong underwear for women.
Even the pet constituency is not left out, with T-shirts reading "Patriotic Bulldogs for Obama" and campaign buttons that declare "Meow for Change."
Sellers also offer a plethora of autographed items, from baseballs and napkins to books and magazines. On Friday, a copy of a Rolling Stone magazine autographed by Obama was bid at $207.50 on eBay.
AS OLD AS THE PRESIDENCY
At Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses, signed correspondence of past presidents, especially important presidents, can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For instance, a letter from Abraham Lincoln that was never sent is expected to fetch $250,000 to $350,000 at Sotheby's.
Collecting presidential keepsakes is as old as the presidency. In George Washington's day, people bought small metal buttons to sew onto their clothes, said Harry Rubenstein, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's political history division.
Rubenstein and his colleague, Larry Bird, said they will look for unique items from Obama's election, particularly handmade things that strike them as unusual or representative of the spirit of the times.
"Anything that's made to be collectible is not," Bird said.
(Editing by Michelle Nichols, Bill Trott and Xavier Briand)
Mktg - PNC Lures Gen Y With Its 'Virtual Wallet' Account
Burt Helm
As banks lure depositors with higher interest rates, PNC Financial Services (PNC) says it is attracting 130 new customers a day to an account that pays only mediocre returns. And look who's signing up: the finicky members of Generation Y.
The online product is called "Virtual Wallet." What it lacks in generous terms it makes up for in user-friendliness. Virtual Wallet is three accounts--trendily dubbed "Spend," "Reserve," and "Growth"--linked together with a slick personal finance tool. The offering is part of Pittsburgh-based PNC's strategy to grab the next generation of banking customers as they start to shop for home loans and brokerage accounts. But Virtual Wallet is helping in the short term, too. PNC President Joseph C. Guyaux says customers carry above-average balances.
In early 2007, PNC hired IDEO, the Palo Alto (Calif.) design consultancy, to study Gen Y (which PNC defined as people aged 18-34) and help formulate a plan. The research turned up two things: twentysomethings consider bank sites clunky, and they typically don't know how to manage their money. "This group understands how to research online," says Michael Ley, the PNC executive who led the project. "But they said, 'We need help helping ourselves.' "
With that in mind, PNC rolled out Virtual Wallet in July. Customers can drag money from account to account on one screen. Instead of a traditional ledger, they view balances on a calendar that displays estimated future cash flow based on when customers are paid, when they pay bills, and on their spending habits. Customers also can set various saving rules with a feature called "Savings Engine," which transfers money to savings when they receive a paycheck, say.
PNC has been advertising on youth-oriented TV shows such as America's Next Top Model. The bank has also placed ads on job site Monster.com (MWW), wedding site The Knot, and ApartmentFinder.com, places for people making a life change that can include opening a new account.
Colleen Rohlf is a typical customer. The 24-year-old special-needs teacher from Pittsburgh had become frustrated with her previous bank. She found it hard to figure out how much money she had in her account, and sometimes the site froze. At this stage of life, she says, interest rates aren't a big deal, and she was sold on one Virtual Wallet feature: getting balances by text message. "I always know how much money I have," she says.
PNC has found ways to profit from Rohlf and her generation that would make some older customers apoplectic. Because twentysomethings rarely write checks, the bank levies a fee on Virtual Wallet holders who write more than three in a month. PNC pays 0.1% on interest checking accounts vs. the national average of 1.25%. And while the bank pays a relatively healthy 3% on a Virtual Wallet savings account, it limits deposits to less than $25,000.
There is this, too: Gen Yers are cheaper to service than older customers because they rarely call customer service or visit branches (though PNC charges fees for things like transferring money if they do call).
It's early days. PNC says it has signed up more than 20,000 Virtual Wallet customers so far, 65% of them new and 70% in the Gen Y demographic. Guyaux says he expects the project, which cost around $15 million, to break even in two years, about a year less than it would take a new brick-and-mortar branch to do so. As Gen Y grows up, Virtual Wallet will grow up, too, says Guyaux, with new loan and investment tools.
Helm is marketing editor for BusinessWeek in New York .
As banks lure depositors with higher interest rates, PNC Financial Services (PNC) says it is attracting 130 new customers a day to an account that pays only mediocre returns. And look who's signing up: the finicky members of Generation Y.
The online product is called "Virtual Wallet." What it lacks in generous terms it makes up for in user-friendliness. Virtual Wallet is three accounts--trendily dubbed "Spend," "Reserve," and "Growth"--linked together with a slick personal finance tool. The offering is part of Pittsburgh-based PNC's strategy to grab the next generation of banking customers as they start to shop for home loans and brokerage accounts. But Virtual Wallet is helping in the short term, too. PNC President Joseph C. Guyaux says customers carry above-average balances.
In early 2007, PNC hired IDEO, the Palo Alto (Calif.) design consultancy, to study Gen Y (which PNC defined as people aged 18-34) and help formulate a plan. The research turned up two things: twentysomethings consider bank sites clunky, and they typically don't know how to manage their money. "This group understands how to research online," says Michael Ley, the PNC executive who led the project. "But they said, 'We need help helping ourselves.' "
With that in mind, PNC rolled out Virtual Wallet in July. Customers can drag money from account to account on one screen. Instead of a traditional ledger, they view balances on a calendar that displays estimated future cash flow based on when customers are paid, when they pay bills, and on their spending habits. Customers also can set various saving rules with a feature called "Savings Engine," which transfers money to savings when they receive a paycheck, say.
PNC has been advertising on youth-oriented TV shows such as America's Next Top Model. The bank has also placed ads on job site Monster.com (MWW), wedding site The Knot, and ApartmentFinder.com, places for people making a life change that can include opening a new account.
Colleen Rohlf is a typical customer. The 24-year-old special-needs teacher from Pittsburgh had become frustrated with her previous bank. She found it hard to figure out how much money she had in her account, and sometimes the site froze. At this stage of life, she says, interest rates aren't a big deal, and she was sold on one Virtual Wallet feature: getting balances by text message. "I always know how much money I have," she says.
PNC has found ways to profit from Rohlf and her generation that would make some older customers apoplectic. Because twentysomethings rarely write checks, the bank levies a fee on Virtual Wallet holders who write more than three in a month. PNC pays 0.1% on interest checking accounts vs. the national average of 1.25%. And while the bank pays a relatively healthy 3% on a Virtual Wallet savings account, it limits deposits to less than $25,000.
There is this, too: Gen Yers are cheaper to service than older customers because they rarely call customer service or visit branches (though PNC charges fees for things like transferring money if they do call).
It's early days. PNC says it has signed up more than 20,000 Virtual Wallet customers so far, 65% of them new and 70% in the Gen Y demographic. Guyaux says he expects the project, which cost around $15 million, to break even in two years, about a year less than it would take a new brick-and-mortar branch to do so. As Gen Y grows up, Virtual Wallet will grow up, too, says Guyaux, with new loan and investment tools.
Helm is marketing editor for BusinessWeek in New York .
Business - No must-haves Toys this holiday season
Alli McConnon
Christmas shopping typically begins on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and nearly every year certain "must-have" toys emerge that spur parents to camp outside stores and then, at the crack of dawn, to stampede inside for a chance to snag the coveted plaything for the Christmas tree. Think Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmo, and Nintendo's Wii. This year, as many consumers watch their homes and 401(k) accounts shrink dramatically in value, the must-have toy may go the way of the dodo, say analysts such as Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consultancy Davidowitz & Associates. "The customer is so pressed for money, so scared, and so in debt," he says. "They are so focused on price that the huge must-have toys are gone."
Parents will still buy toys for their children, of course, but they may not muster the energy and funds spent in years past. "The toy industry is not recession-proof (BusinessWeek.com, 11/19/08), but historically it is more recession-resistant," says Julie Livingston, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Assn. "This year parents might buy fewer of the special high-end toys, but they won't give up toys for their children." Market research firm TNS Retail Forward surveyed 4,000 shoppers in October around the U.S. and found that a third planned to buy toys this year, down from 38% in 2007. Those that plan to buy toys will spend 12% less than they did last year.
When retailers can't count on pent-up excitement and demand for the "hot" item, they turn to one-upping each other with promotions, says Mandy Putnam, a vice-president with TNS Retail Forward. "Retailers have anticipated that toys might not be as popular this year so they're going to have to promote the heck (BusinessWeek.com, 11/11/08) out of what they have to get shoppers through the door."
Classic Toys Still Conquer
Trudy Lonegan, a mother of two boys in Chapel Hill, N.C., is one of the many parents scaling back on costlier items. In previous years, Santa brought her sons popular gifts like a Nintendo Wii or a Razor USA scooter. This year she's steering clear of high-end gifts. "We're planning a frugal Christmas," says Lonegan, 39, who works in sales for a human resources consulting company where her pay is variable because it is commission-based. To economize on her holiday gifts, she will go to Costco (COST) to get iPod Nanos for her sons or shop online where she can compare prices. Her husband, a woodworker, will also make gifts for their sons like hat racks and shelves for their sports trophies.
Certain classic toys such as Hot Wheels, Barbie, and Play-Doh will still be popular this year, but customers are likely to trade down within brands, predicts Eric Johnson, a management professor at Dartmouth and a toy industry analyst. Parents will go for the $10 Barbie instead of the Barbie Dream House or Jeep, he says. "We don't have anything like the Furbies that generated fistfights when the Wal-Mart opened on Black Friday a few years ago. There is nothing in that category."
The problem isn't a dearth of innovative toys or manufacturers marketing them aggressively to kids that want them, say analysts. But many parents have greater financial worries and fewer discretionary funds this year. That makes them less likely to go on eBay (EBAY), for instance, to pay more than retail for a hot toy. Peter MacDonald, an Irvine (Calif.) attorney who works in the mortgage industry and a father of three, sees the layoffs in his industry affecting holiday shopping plans directly.
Encouraging Financial Literacy
"Colleagues are thinking about making a house payment rather than buying big-ticket items," he says. In his own family, which celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, MacDonald is changing his strategy, too. He plans to buy "smaller-ticket items and less of them," he says. In years past, MacDonald would have purchased electronics and toys for his sons. This year "gifts for the boys will entail things they need to have rather than just want to have," he says.
Retailers hope analysts are wrong, of course, because hot toys generate excitement and drive traffic to the store. But Toys 'R' Us CEO Gerald Storch downplays the importance of any one toy, saying that the chain has "always believed that must-have toys are different based on age." The New Jersey toy retailer recently released research on toy categories that it anticipates will be hot this season. Among the new trends this year that tap into the financial worries of parents is a category the company has dubbed "$avvy Saver." Gifts like electronic ATMs and a toy safe to help kids "stow money and their valuables from any would-be thief" appeal to parents who want their children to be more financially literate, Storch says.
Wal-Mart Stores, the largest toy retailer by sales, set the focus on price for holiday toys back in October when it announced it would sell 10 of its most popular toys for $10 each. It followed by slashing prices on hundreds of other toys. Historically, the competition is around the $30-$60 price toy, says Johnson, the Dartmouth professor, but that amount has dropped to around $10 this year. Target (TGT) is also emphasizing its value toys in holiday television ads and in-store promotions. Toys 'R' Us, which emphasizes its selection in contrast to its discount rivals, has doubled the number of Black Friday "Doorbusters" it will offer more than 4,000 toys in the $10 category, says CEO Storch.
Bakugan Almost a Hit
Analysts say the closest the industry has to a breakout hit this year is Bakugan, a game based on a Japanese anime series that uses metal cards and magnetic spring-loaded miniature figurines. Toys 'R' Us was tipped off to Bakugan's popularity in its Canadian branches, Storch says. Wal-Mart put a Bakugan starter kit on its roster of $10 toys.
Still, while Bakugan has been selling well, Johnson says it has more to do with the price point being right than generating the same "passion level" as hit toys of years past. Furthermore, "Bakugan does not have the true cross-gender appeal of a true must-have like Tickle Me Elmo," wrote Gerrick Johnson, an analyst with Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, in a recent report. But even if toy sellers tickle kids' ardor with a new Wii or Elmo next year, a moribund economy could dampen actual buyers—the parents.
McConnon is a staff editor for BusinessWeek in New York.
Christmas shopping typically begins on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and nearly every year certain "must-have" toys emerge that spur parents to camp outside stores and then, at the crack of dawn, to stampede inside for a chance to snag the coveted plaything for the Christmas tree. Think Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmo, and Nintendo's Wii. This year, as many consumers watch their homes and 401(k) accounts shrink dramatically in value, the must-have toy may go the way of the dodo, say analysts such as Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consultancy Davidowitz & Associates. "The customer is so pressed for money, so scared, and so in debt," he says. "They are so focused on price that the huge must-have toys are gone."
Parents will still buy toys for their children, of course, but they may not muster the energy and funds spent in years past. "The toy industry is not recession-proof (BusinessWeek.com, 11/19/08), but historically it is more recession-resistant," says Julie Livingston, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Assn. "This year parents might buy fewer of the special high-end toys, but they won't give up toys for their children." Market research firm TNS Retail Forward surveyed 4,000 shoppers in October around the U.S. and found that a third planned to buy toys this year, down from 38% in 2007. Those that plan to buy toys will spend 12% less than they did last year.
When retailers can't count on pent-up excitement and demand for the "hot" item, they turn to one-upping each other with promotions, says Mandy Putnam, a vice-president with TNS Retail Forward. "Retailers have anticipated that toys might not be as popular this year so they're going to have to promote the heck (BusinessWeek.com, 11/11/08) out of what they have to get shoppers through the door."
Classic Toys Still Conquer
Trudy Lonegan, a mother of two boys in Chapel Hill, N.C., is one of the many parents scaling back on costlier items. In previous years, Santa brought her sons popular gifts like a Nintendo Wii or a Razor USA scooter. This year she's steering clear of high-end gifts. "We're planning a frugal Christmas," says Lonegan, 39, who works in sales for a human resources consulting company where her pay is variable because it is commission-based. To economize on her holiday gifts, she will go to Costco (COST) to get iPod Nanos for her sons or shop online where she can compare prices. Her husband, a woodworker, will also make gifts for their sons like hat racks and shelves for their sports trophies.
Certain classic toys such as Hot Wheels, Barbie, and Play-Doh will still be popular this year, but customers are likely to trade down within brands, predicts Eric Johnson, a management professor at Dartmouth and a toy industry analyst. Parents will go for the $10 Barbie instead of the Barbie Dream House or Jeep, he says. "We don't have anything like the Furbies that generated fistfights when the Wal-Mart opened on Black Friday a few years ago. There is nothing in that category."
The problem isn't a dearth of innovative toys or manufacturers marketing them aggressively to kids that want them, say analysts. But many parents have greater financial worries and fewer discretionary funds this year. That makes them less likely to go on eBay (EBAY), for instance, to pay more than retail for a hot toy. Peter MacDonald, an Irvine (Calif.) attorney who works in the mortgage industry and a father of three, sees the layoffs in his industry affecting holiday shopping plans directly.
Encouraging Financial Literacy
"Colleagues are thinking about making a house payment rather than buying big-ticket items," he says. In his own family, which celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, MacDonald is changing his strategy, too. He plans to buy "smaller-ticket items and less of them," he says. In years past, MacDonald would have purchased electronics and toys for his sons. This year "gifts for the boys will entail things they need to have rather than just want to have," he says.
Retailers hope analysts are wrong, of course, because hot toys generate excitement and drive traffic to the store. But Toys 'R' Us CEO Gerald Storch downplays the importance of any one toy, saying that the chain has "always believed that must-have toys are different based on age." The New Jersey toy retailer recently released research on toy categories that it anticipates will be hot this season. Among the new trends this year that tap into the financial worries of parents is a category the company has dubbed "$avvy Saver." Gifts like electronic ATMs and a toy safe to help kids "stow money and their valuables from any would-be thief" appeal to parents who want their children to be more financially literate, Storch says.
Wal-Mart Stores, the largest toy retailer by sales, set the focus on price for holiday toys back in October when it announced it would sell 10 of its most popular toys for $10 each. It followed by slashing prices on hundreds of other toys. Historically, the competition is around the $30-$60 price toy, says Johnson, the Dartmouth professor, but that amount has dropped to around $10 this year. Target (TGT) is also emphasizing its value toys in holiday television ads and in-store promotions. Toys 'R' Us, which emphasizes its selection in contrast to its discount rivals, has doubled the number of Black Friday "Doorbusters" it will offer more than 4,000 toys in the $10 category, says CEO Storch.
Bakugan Almost a Hit
Analysts say the closest the industry has to a breakout hit this year is Bakugan, a game based on a Japanese anime series that uses metal cards and magnetic spring-loaded miniature figurines. Toys 'R' Us was tipped off to Bakugan's popularity in its Canadian branches, Storch says. Wal-Mart put a Bakugan starter kit on its roster of $10 toys.
Still, while Bakugan has been selling well, Johnson says it has more to do with the price point being right than generating the same "passion level" as hit toys of years past. Furthermore, "Bakugan does not have the true cross-gender appeal of a true must-have like Tickle Me Elmo," wrote Gerrick Johnson, an analyst with Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, in a recent report. But even if toy sellers tickle kids' ardor with a new Wii or Elmo next year, a moribund economy could dampen actual buyers—the parents.
McConnon is a staff editor for BusinessWeek in New York.
Columnists - Jack&Suzy Welch;Release your Innver Extrovert
My boss recently told me that I am very competent and have a clear vision for my team, but in order to get promoted, I need to show a stronger personality. As a naturally introverted person, what should I do?
— Anonymous, Atlanta
First of all, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we would like to express our gratitude to you for sending in a question we've always wanted to answer, giving us (and our readers) a respite from thinking about the economy's recent upheaval. Amen to that.
And now, back to business and a question of our own. How do you feel about the prospect of putting on a perky face and a big voice and trying to chit-chat and "ho-ho-ho" your way into your team's heart?
Panicked? Depressed? A bit of both?
Or do you simply feel worried, knowing how much people generally dislike phonies? If so, we're with you. Competence and vision are all well and good—and congratulations on having those qualities—but the inescapable fact is that authenticity matters, too. And if you take your boss's recent advice, you'll no doubt be sacrificing in that department.
Except—and this is a big exception —you have no choice. Because your boss is trying to help you, and he's right. Over time, many introverts stagnate in large organizations. They can work hard and deliver to expectations or beyond, but they rarely get their due.
Note that we're talking about big companies. Almost anyone with a great idea can soar at a startup, and small companies often give more latitude, as long as the results are there. But in a big, bureaucratic enterprise, atmospheric conditions just give extroverts a marked advantage.
The reasons are myriad. Big companies are constantly looking for people to move across divisions or around the world, and extroverts, by rights or not, appear more prepared for such opportunities. With their charisma and superior verbal skills, they're thought to be more "out front," able to communicate powerfully and motivate their people, especially during tough times. Extroverts also tend to forge relationships with more ease, another boon in complex hierarchies. And finally, extroverts tend to outshine introverts because early on, their outsize personalities earn them chances to make presentations to higher-ups, always a good way to accelerate the career-changing process of getting out of the pile.
Indeed, big companies are so tilted towards extroverts that introverts within them often experience a dynamic not unlike the one faced by many women and minorities. They have to constantly overdeliver just to stay even.
There are, of course, exceptions. Everyone knows of a reserved, shy, or awkward individual who has risen through the ranks to run something big. But in every such case we can think of, the introvert has something special going on, such as a brilliant, anticipatory mind for technology and its trends, uncommon insights into emerging markets, or a unique ability to critique deals. These "savant" introverts become so indispensable to their companies that they advance—their value virtually demands it. Indeed, that's why many introverts who end up in senior management are often the brains of their organizations, while someone else runs operations.
Now, it could very well be that you are one of those rare introverts whose special competency will carry the day while you keep acting naturally. If that's not the case, we're back where we started. But if you want to take charge of your career, you've already got both your marching orders and some sound mentoring advice. So get out there, mix, speak more often, and connect with both your team and others, deploying all the energy and personality you can muster.
Will your people notice and recoil? Possibly. Our suggestion, though, is to go right ahead and explain what you're doing, which is simply bringing more of your "inner self" to the office so you can all work together more effectively. You might even ask for their help and feedback. Ultimately, any and all candor you can bring to your public transformation will hold you in good stead.
And you may find that being more outgoing is a reward in itself.
— Anonymous, Atlanta
First of all, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we would like to express our gratitude to you for sending in a question we've always wanted to answer, giving us (and our readers) a respite from thinking about the economy's recent upheaval. Amen to that.
And now, back to business and a question of our own. How do you feel about the prospect of putting on a perky face and a big voice and trying to chit-chat and "ho-ho-ho" your way into your team's heart?
Panicked? Depressed? A bit of both?
Or do you simply feel worried, knowing how much people generally dislike phonies? If so, we're with you. Competence and vision are all well and good—and congratulations on having those qualities—but the inescapable fact is that authenticity matters, too. And if you take your boss's recent advice, you'll no doubt be sacrificing in that department.
Except—and this is a big exception —you have no choice. Because your boss is trying to help you, and he's right. Over time, many introverts stagnate in large organizations. They can work hard and deliver to expectations or beyond, but they rarely get their due.
Note that we're talking about big companies. Almost anyone with a great idea can soar at a startup, and small companies often give more latitude, as long as the results are there. But in a big, bureaucratic enterprise, atmospheric conditions just give extroverts a marked advantage.
The reasons are myriad. Big companies are constantly looking for people to move across divisions or around the world, and extroverts, by rights or not, appear more prepared for such opportunities. With their charisma and superior verbal skills, they're thought to be more "out front," able to communicate powerfully and motivate their people, especially during tough times. Extroverts also tend to forge relationships with more ease, another boon in complex hierarchies. And finally, extroverts tend to outshine introverts because early on, their outsize personalities earn them chances to make presentations to higher-ups, always a good way to accelerate the career-changing process of getting out of the pile.
Indeed, big companies are so tilted towards extroverts that introverts within them often experience a dynamic not unlike the one faced by many women and minorities. They have to constantly overdeliver just to stay even.
There are, of course, exceptions. Everyone knows of a reserved, shy, or awkward individual who has risen through the ranks to run something big. But in every such case we can think of, the introvert has something special going on, such as a brilliant, anticipatory mind for technology and its trends, uncommon insights into emerging markets, or a unique ability to critique deals. These "savant" introverts become so indispensable to their companies that they advance—their value virtually demands it. Indeed, that's why many introverts who end up in senior management are often the brains of their organizations, while someone else runs operations.
Now, it could very well be that you are one of those rare introverts whose special competency will carry the day while you keep acting naturally. If that's not the case, we're back where we started. But if you want to take charge of your career, you've already got both your marching orders and some sound mentoring advice. So get out there, mix, speak more often, and connect with both your team and others, deploying all the energy and personality you can muster.
Will your people notice and recoil? Possibly. Our suggestion, though, is to go right ahead and explain what you're doing, which is simply bringing more of your "inner self" to the office so you can all work together more effectively. You might even ask for their help and feedback. Ultimately, any and all candor you can bring to your public transformation will hold you in good stead.
And you may find that being more outgoing is a reward in itself.
India - Arrested terrorist says gang hoped to get away
NEW DELHI: The gang of terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai for three days were made to believe by their Lashkar bosses that they were not being
sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.
In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline.
This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal.
Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai.
Ajmal made another important disclosure: that all terrorists were trained in marine warfare along with the special course Daura-e-Shifa conducted by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in what at once transforms the nature of the planning from a routine terror strike and into a specialized raid by commandos.
Battle-hardened ATS officials are surprised by the details of the training the terrorists were put through before being despatched for the macabre mission. This was very different from a terrorist attack, and amounted to an offensive from the seam, said a source.
Ajmal has revealed the name of his fellow jihadis all Pakistani citizens as Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bara) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota).
The account of Ajmal also strengthens the doubt of the complicity of powerful elements in the Pakistani establishment. According to him, the group set off on November 21 from an isolated creek near Karachi without the deadly cargo of arms and ammunition they were to use against the innocents in Mumbai. The group received arms and ammunition on board a large Pakistani vessel which picked them up the following day. The vessel, whose ownership is now the subject of an international probe, had four Pakistanis apart from the crew.
A day later, they came across an Indian-owned trawler, Kuber, which was promptly commandeered on the seas. Four of the fishermen who were on the trawler were killed, but its skipper, or tandel in fishermen lingo, Amarjit Singh, was forced to proceed towards India. Amarjit was killed the next day, and Ismail the terrorist who was killed at Girgaum Chowpaty took the wheel.
A trained sailor, Ismail used the GPS to reach Mumbai coast on November 26. The group, however, slowed down its advance as they had reached during the day time while the landing was planned after dusk. The group shifted to inflatable boats, before disembarking at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade.
From there, they mandated to kill indiscriminately, particularly white foreign tourists, and spare Muslims split up into five batches. Two of them Ismail and Ajmal took a taxi to Victoria Terminus. Three other batches of two each headed for Oberoi Hotel, Cafe Leopold and Nariman House. The remaining four went to Taj Hotel.
He may have been motivated enough to kill innocents indiscriminately. In police custody, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who was caught alive by
the Mumbai police at Girgaum Chowpatty, has been forthcoming with details about the attack on Mumbai and his accomplices, all suspected Lashkar operatives from Pakistan.
Kasab, who sustained minor injuries in the police firing that killed his partner Abu Ismail (25) on Wednesday night, was produced before the Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate on Friday. The magistrate remanded him to police custody till December 8. Incidentally, Kasab and Ismail were the two who gunned down ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional CP Ashok Kamthe and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
Kasab told the police that he and 9 others got off a vessel about 10 nautical miles from Mumbai and shifted to two boats hijacked from fishermen.
One source in ATS familiar with the details of the interrogation quoted him saying that in all 16 fidayeens came to Mumbai on Wednesday. A native of Faridkot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 21-year-old Kasab told police they had done a reccee of Mumbai few months ago. He said he had come along with eight of the operatives to Mumbai as students and lived in a rented room at Colaba market, a stone's throw away from Nariman House.
sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.
In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline.
This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal.
Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai.
Ajmal made another important disclosure: that all terrorists were trained in marine warfare along with the special course Daura-e-Shifa conducted by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in what at once transforms the nature of the planning from a routine terror strike and into a specialized raid by commandos.
Battle-hardened ATS officials are surprised by the details of the training the terrorists were put through before being despatched for the macabre mission. This was very different from a terrorist attack, and amounted to an offensive from the seam, said a source.
Ajmal has revealed the name of his fellow jihadis all Pakistani citizens as Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bara) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota).
The account of Ajmal also strengthens the doubt of the complicity of powerful elements in the Pakistani establishment. According to him, the group set off on November 21 from an isolated creek near Karachi without the deadly cargo of arms and ammunition they were to use against the innocents in Mumbai. The group received arms and ammunition on board a large Pakistani vessel which picked them up the following day. The vessel, whose ownership is now the subject of an international probe, had four Pakistanis apart from the crew.
A day later, they came across an Indian-owned trawler, Kuber, which was promptly commandeered on the seas. Four of the fishermen who were on the trawler were killed, but its skipper, or tandel in fishermen lingo, Amarjit Singh, was forced to proceed towards India. Amarjit was killed the next day, and Ismail the terrorist who was killed at Girgaum Chowpaty took the wheel.
A trained sailor, Ismail used the GPS to reach Mumbai coast on November 26. The group, however, slowed down its advance as they had reached during the day time while the landing was planned after dusk. The group shifted to inflatable boats, before disembarking at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade.
From there, they mandated to kill indiscriminately, particularly white foreign tourists, and spare Muslims split up into five batches. Two of them Ismail and Ajmal took a taxi to Victoria Terminus. Three other batches of two each headed for Oberoi Hotel, Cafe Leopold and Nariman House. The remaining four went to Taj Hotel.
He may have been motivated enough to kill innocents indiscriminately. In police custody, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who was caught alive by
the Mumbai police at Girgaum Chowpatty, has been forthcoming with details about the attack on Mumbai and his accomplices, all suspected Lashkar operatives from Pakistan.
Kasab, who sustained minor injuries in the police firing that killed his partner Abu Ismail (25) on Wednesday night, was produced before the Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate on Friday. The magistrate remanded him to police custody till December 8. Incidentally, Kasab and Ismail were the two who gunned down ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional CP Ashok Kamthe and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
Kasab told the police that he and 9 others got off a vessel about 10 nautical miles from Mumbai and shifted to two boats hijacked from fishermen.
One source in ATS familiar with the details of the interrogation quoted him saying that in all 16 fidayeens came to Mumbai on Wednesday. A native of Faridkot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 21-year-old Kasab told police they had done a reccee of Mumbai few months ago. He said he had come along with eight of the operatives to Mumbai as students and lived in a rented room at Colaba market, a stone's throw away from Nariman House.
Business - Falling demand erodes Japan industry
TOKYO (AP) -- Production at Japan's vital manufacturers is sinking fast - and is projected to turn in its worst quarter ever - amid a plunge in global demand that is battering the core of the world's second-largest economy.
The government said Friday that industrial production in October fell a sharp 3.1% from the previous month and is expected to decline precipitously in the months ahead. The result follows a 1.1% gain in September and undershot market expectations for a 2.5% contraction.
"The world economy is a disaster," said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo. "Exports are in the process of collapsing, and as a result industrial production is falling at unprecedented speed."
The results, along with labor and spending data released separately, underscore the increasingly grim outlook for Japan as it grapples with recession and the perils of depending so heavily on overseas sales of its cars and gadgets.
Exports in October marked their biggest decline in seven years, and companies expect conditions to only get worse.
Factory output will likely plummet 6.4% in November and fall 2.9% in December, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
At that rate, industrial production is on track for its biggest quarterly fall since the government began compiling the data in 1955, said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JP Morgan Securities in Tokyo.
Adding to the pain is a stronger yen, forcing a growing number of exporters big and small to slash their future expectations for profit, sales and spending.
Electronics giant Panasonic Corp (PC). on Thursday became the latest victim of the global whiplash. It revised down its annual profit forecast by 90%, blaming a strong yen, sluggish sales and heavy discounting.
Earlier, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) reduced its net profit full-year profit forecast to $5.5 billion - about a third of last year's earnings.
October's dismal production figures stem largely from heavy production cutbacks in among auto companies, electronics firms and machinery makers.
Production of transport equipment fell 5.8% during the month, while that of general machinery declined 3.5%. Electrical machinery output was down 1.7%, and electronic parts and device production slid 8.9%.
The government released other troubling data Friday.
Japan's unemployment rate stood at 3.7% in October, down from 4% the previous month.
The figure, however, is misleading, because it does not reflect the growing numbers of those choosing to leave the labor market entirely instead of looking for work, said Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee in a report.
"In the current situation we focus on the number of employed, which has declined for nine months in a row," Lee said. "This says the labor market is deteriorating."
After the data's release, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa urged the Bank of Japan to take more steps to bolster Japan's labor market, without specifying any proposals.
"Looking ahead, Japan's economy is expected to face further deterioration, especially in income and employment," Nakagawa said, according to Kyodo news agency. "If the BOJ shares such a recognition, I would like the bank to carry out necessary steps."
Also, average monthly household spending in October fell a worse-than-expected 3.8% from a year earlier. The figure is an important gauge for individual spending, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.
Retail sales fell 0.6% from a year earlier in the second straight month of decline.
Prices continued to climb in October, though at a slower pace than earlier this year as oil prices eased. Japan's core consumer price index, excluding often volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.9%, climbing for the 13th straight month.
Lower prices should help stabilize domestic demand and offer some support to domestic companies' profits, Macquarie's Jerram said.
"The real disaster is on the export side of the economy," he said. "The domestic economy is not in great shape, but it's nothing like the catastrophe that you can see in export-facing industries."
The government said Friday that industrial production in October fell a sharp 3.1% from the previous month and is expected to decline precipitously in the months ahead. The result follows a 1.1% gain in September and undershot market expectations for a 2.5% contraction.
"The world economy is a disaster," said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo. "Exports are in the process of collapsing, and as a result industrial production is falling at unprecedented speed."
The results, along with labor and spending data released separately, underscore the increasingly grim outlook for Japan as it grapples with recession and the perils of depending so heavily on overseas sales of its cars and gadgets.
Exports in October marked their biggest decline in seven years, and companies expect conditions to only get worse.
Factory output will likely plummet 6.4% in November and fall 2.9% in December, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
At that rate, industrial production is on track for its biggest quarterly fall since the government began compiling the data in 1955, said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JP Morgan Securities in Tokyo.
Adding to the pain is a stronger yen, forcing a growing number of exporters big and small to slash their future expectations for profit, sales and spending.
Electronics giant Panasonic Corp (PC). on Thursday became the latest victim of the global whiplash. It revised down its annual profit forecast by 90%, blaming a strong yen, sluggish sales and heavy discounting.
Earlier, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) reduced its net profit full-year profit forecast to $5.5 billion - about a third of last year's earnings.
October's dismal production figures stem largely from heavy production cutbacks in among auto companies, electronics firms and machinery makers.
Production of transport equipment fell 5.8% during the month, while that of general machinery declined 3.5%. Electrical machinery output was down 1.7%, and electronic parts and device production slid 8.9%.
The government released other troubling data Friday.
Japan's unemployment rate stood at 3.7% in October, down from 4% the previous month.
The figure, however, is misleading, because it does not reflect the growing numbers of those choosing to leave the labor market entirely instead of looking for work, said Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee in a report.
"In the current situation we focus on the number of employed, which has declined for nine months in a row," Lee said. "This says the labor market is deteriorating."
After the data's release, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa urged the Bank of Japan to take more steps to bolster Japan's labor market, without specifying any proposals.
"Looking ahead, Japan's economy is expected to face further deterioration, especially in income and employment," Nakagawa said, according to Kyodo news agency. "If the BOJ shares such a recognition, I would like the bank to carry out necessary steps."
Also, average monthly household spending in October fell a worse-than-expected 3.8% from a year earlier. The figure is an important gauge for individual spending, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.
Retail sales fell 0.6% from a year earlier in the second straight month of decline.
Prices continued to climb in October, though at a slower pace than earlier this year as oil prices eased. Japan's core consumer price index, excluding often volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.9%, climbing for the 13th straight month.
Lower prices should help stabilize domestic demand and offer some support to domestic companies' profits, Macquarie's Jerram said.
"The real disaster is on the export side of the economy," he said. "The domestic economy is not in great shape, but it's nothing like the catastrophe that you can see in export-facing industries."
World - European unemployment soars
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Unemployment in the 15 nations that share the euro shot up to 7.7% in October - the highest level in two years - as growth dropped sharply, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.
Prices also plunged with the annual inflation rate sinking to 2.1% in November from 3.2% in October, Eurostat said. Lower inflation gives the European Central Bank more room to reduce interest rates, which would help stoke growth.
The euro area officially went into a recession in spring and summer this year when growth shrank in the second and third quarters, as a financial crisis curbed global demand.
In real terms, this means job losses - lots of them and more to come.
Eurostat said some 225,000 more people were seeking work in October from the previous month. That means some 12 million people in the euro area were out of work last month. It also said unemployment in September was worse than it had first estimated, revising the rate upward to 7.6% from the 7.5% it reported last month.
Across all the EU's 27 states, some 17 million people were job-hunting in October, 290,000 more than a month earlier. The EU jobless rate was 7.1% in October, up from 7% in September.
The EU's executive Commission forecasts that the labor market will get even worse next year, with the euro-zone rate climbing to 8.4% in 2009 from a decade-low of 7% at the end of 2007. This will see an extra 2 million people out of work.
Unemployment is highest in Spain, at 12.8%. The bursting of a housing bubble has put builders out of work just as the tourism industry has been hurt by the global economic downturn.
The European Commission this week called on EU governments to pay out $258 billion in tax cuts, soft loans to industry and credit guarantees to encourage growth.
Tumbling exports have hurt Europe's manufacturing industry - particularly in Germany, the world's largest exporter - which had helped drive economic growth this year even as household spending froze.
But one of the most important tools to manage the economy is out of the hands of most European governments - the independent European Central Bank decides on borrowing costs for euro nations and until recently was slow to cut interest rates while inflation was high.
The price index is a calmer 2.1% this month, the lowest since September 2007. It is also close to the ECB's guideline of just under 2%. Oil prices have dropped by more than half since July while retailers are slashing prices in the key Christmas shopping season.
The bank's mandate is to tackle inflation, which it has repeatedly stressed was too high this year, but the lower figure released Friday will allow it to move more aggressively to slash rates and kickstart the economy.
In recent days, bank governors have spoken out in favor of lowering its key interest rate - now 3.25% - to tackle the slowing economy. They next meet to decide rates is on Dec. 4 in Brussels.
Marco Valli, an economist at Unicredit, said he expected the ECB to make a "shy cut" next week to bring the interest rate to 2.75% next week. Bank of America's Gilles Moec said he thought the bank might gun for a more dramatic cut to 2.5%.
Lower borrowing costs can tempt businesses and households to borrow more - as long as banks pass on the cuts to customers.
That isn't always the case in the current climate of tight credit. Banks are more fearful about taking on risks in the wake of the financial crisis and are finding it harder and more expensive to borrow money on credit markets that they lend on to customers.
In Britain, the government has pressured banks to pass on hefty interest rate cuts to hard-pressed homeowners and small businesses. Some banks prefer to freeze their rates to claw back profit and shore up their reserves.
Prices also plunged with the annual inflation rate sinking to 2.1% in November from 3.2% in October, Eurostat said. Lower inflation gives the European Central Bank more room to reduce interest rates, which would help stoke growth.
The euro area officially went into a recession in spring and summer this year when growth shrank in the second and third quarters, as a financial crisis curbed global demand.
In real terms, this means job losses - lots of them and more to come.
Eurostat said some 225,000 more people were seeking work in October from the previous month. That means some 12 million people in the euro area were out of work last month. It also said unemployment in September was worse than it had first estimated, revising the rate upward to 7.6% from the 7.5% it reported last month.
Across all the EU's 27 states, some 17 million people were job-hunting in October, 290,000 more than a month earlier. The EU jobless rate was 7.1% in October, up from 7% in September.
The EU's executive Commission forecasts that the labor market will get even worse next year, with the euro-zone rate climbing to 8.4% in 2009 from a decade-low of 7% at the end of 2007. This will see an extra 2 million people out of work.
Unemployment is highest in Spain, at 12.8%. The bursting of a housing bubble has put builders out of work just as the tourism industry has been hurt by the global economic downturn.
The European Commission this week called on EU governments to pay out $258 billion in tax cuts, soft loans to industry and credit guarantees to encourage growth.
Tumbling exports have hurt Europe's manufacturing industry - particularly in Germany, the world's largest exporter - which had helped drive economic growth this year even as household spending froze.
But one of the most important tools to manage the economy is out of the hands of most European governments - the independent European Central Bank decides on borrowing costs for euro nations and until recently was slow to cut interest rates while inflation was high.
The price index is a calmer 2.1% this month, the lowest since September 2007. It is also close to the ECB's guideline of just under 2%. Oil prices have dropped by more than half since July while retailers are slashing prices in the key Christmas shopping season.
The bank's mandate is to tackle inflation, which it has repeatedly stressed was too high this year, but the lower figure released Friday will allow it to move more aggressively to slash rates and kickstart the economy.
In recent days, bank governors have spoken out in favor of lowering its key interest rate - now 3.25% - to tackle the slowing economy. They next meet to decide rates is on Dec. 4 in Brussels.
Marco Valli, an economist at Unicredit, said he expected the ECB to make a "shy cut" next week to bring the interest rate to 2.75% next week. Bank of America's Gilles Moec said he thought the bank might gun for a more dramatic cut to 2.5%.
Lower borrowing costs can tempt businesses and households to borrow more - as long as banks pass on the cuts to customers.
That isn't always the case in the current climate of tight credit. Banks are more fearful about taking on risks in the wake of the financial crisis and are finding it harder and more expensive to borrow money on credit markets that they lend on to customers.
In Britain, the government has pressured banks to pass on hefty interest rate cuts to hard-pressed homeowners and small businesses. Some banks prefer to freeze their rates to claw back profit and shore up their reserves.
World - Iraq;Is it really coming right ?
IT SHOULD be momentous. In Baghdad in the middle of this week, after fierce debate and protests on the streets, Iraq’s fractious parliament at last voted to approve a withdrawal agreement with the United States, under which all American troops will leave the country by the end of 2011. And yet the mood of this exhausted country is far from jubilant.
In Mosul, 320km (200 miles) north of Baghdad up the Tigris river, the governor of Nineveh province, Doraid Kashmoula, furrows his brow, fiddles with his worry-beads in one hand, stubs out yet another cigarette with the other and reels off a litany of woe in his dankly curtained office. The scion of a prominent Sunni Arab family, he took the job two years ago after his predecessor, his cousin, was assassinated.
Since then he has survived half a dozen murder attempts. His son, a brother and four cousins have been killed by insurgents. His house has been burnt down. He is protected both by the Kurdish guerrillas, who control the eastern half of the city and a clutch of fortified government buildings in the western half, and by the Iraqi army and police, with American forces at their shoulder, when he ventures farther afield.
“Security is slowly getting better,” he says, without much conviction. At present the insurgents carry out about ten attacks a day in his province, including car bombs and ambushes, mostly in the vicinity of Mosul. In each of the past four months, more than 100 civilians and about a score of army and police have been killed, according to official figures.
The provincial council’s chairman, another Sunni Arab, tells a similar tale. From a drawer in his desk he takes a sheet of paper displaying 12 coloured photographs of “martyrs”: four brothers and eight cousins, all murdered because of their kinship to himself. A councillor representing the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), a long-established Sunni outfit which heads the main Sunni block in the national parliament and is led by one of the country’s two vice-presidents, Tariq al-Hashemi, says that 420 of his party members in Mosul have been killed in the past two years. Nineveh’s deputy governor, a Kurd, says that 1,600 of his people in Mosul have died at the hands of insurgents since the American invasion—as have “many more Arabs”.
Nobody knows how many insurgents operate in the area. Maybe 5,000, says the council chairman, describing a spectrum from al-Qaeda fanatics to secular Baathists. “Plus a million supporters,” he adds, with a mirthless laugh. As the Americans and their Iraqi army allies successfully hunt them down elsewhere in Iraq, many have gravitated to Mosul. It is close to Syria, from which foreign jihadists still infiltrate. The city has a history of Baathist loyalty to Saddam Hussein and hostility to the Shias, who count for barely 5% of its people.
Iraq’s multiple fault-lines are especially visible—and occasionally bloody—in Nineveh and Mosul. Some towns in the province have a record of Shia-Sunni enmity. Nineveh has Iraq’s largest minority of Christians, themselves divided into various sects, some speaking Aramaic, the language of Christ. In a northern arc dwell the Yazidis, more than 500,000-strong they claim, who follow an ancient religion that reveres a Peacock Angel; many Muslims damn them as devil-worshippers. Then there are the Shabaks, who claim descent from Persians and follow various brands of religion, including Islam. There are also the Turkomens, stay-behinds from the days when Mosul was the capital of one of the three Ottoman vilayets (administrative regions) that were crudely lumped together to form Iraq when the Turkish empire collapsed after the first world war.
Perhaps the biggest and currently the scratchiest division is between Arabs and Kurds, who control most of the east and north of Nineveh, and account for about one-third of its population. Most of the Sunni Arabs, the province’s largest group, boycotted the last elections in 2005, so the Kurds ended up with a disproportionately large chunk of the provincial government (31 out of 41 seats in the council) and hold sway over the hapless Mr Kashmoula and the council chairman, whom the insurgents curse as puppets and traitors.
But this may soon change dramatically because the Sunnis are set to contest provincial elections due on January 31st, when they may well oust the Kurds from local power. To minimise their expected losses, the Kurds are bent on ensuring that all the non-Sunni minorities, such as the Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks, vote for a Kurdish-led list of candidates.
Many people from these small minorities, together perhaps more than a tenth of the province’s people, say that the Kurds, who control the territory where most of them live, are trying to intimidate them into voting their way. The Kurds, they say, are even attempting to frighten them into fleeing east into areas more firmly controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) from its headquarters in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
In Sinjar, west of Mosul, some Yazidis, who predominate there, say the Kurds want to force them to vote for the Kurdish list. Not only would that mean increasing the Kurds’ chances of holding on to the provincial council. It would also strengthen their case to have such places as Sinjar, which are technically part of Nineveh, eventually transferred formally to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, whose area the Kurds seek to widen as much as possible.
The Christians have been hammered, in Nineveh as in the rest of Iraq: their numbers throughout the country are said to be down from 800,000 in 2003 to around 250,000 today. Earlier this year the archbishop of the ancient Chaldean church was abducted in Mosul and murdered. In October, some 10,000 Christians fled into Kurdish-held areas from close to Mosul after a dozen of them had been killed. No one is certain who the culprits were.
In any event, tension is rising across the ethno-sectarian board: between Kurds and Arabs; between Sunnis who have co-operated with government and the larger number who have not; between Kurds and minorities; and within the minorities themselves. “If we [Christians] had guns we’d kill each other too,” says a prominent Chaldean Christian. “If Mosul was peaceful, we’d want to stay in Nineveh,” says a leading Christian businessman in the town of Bartulla, just east of Mosul. “But if it isn’t, we’d like to be part of Kurdistan.”
But there is a gleam of hope that in Nineveh, as elsewhere in Iraq, the coming provincial elections may shift the dynamic of Iraqi politics, pave the way for more genuinely representative government and make it harder for the insurgents to hold the loyalty of the disgruntled. The key is that, unlike last time, the Sunni Arabs are expected to vote en masse. If Nineveh’s council took on a Sunni nationalist hue, the insurgents might be in trouble.
Shaking the political kaleidoscope
Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Shia prime minister, is said to be reaching out to Sunni politicians, military men and tribal leaders in the hope of widening his narrow base in the Islamic Dawa party. But Iraq is entering an even more frenetic political phase than usual. The provincial elections should point, for the first time in three years, to whom the Iraqis want to run their country.
The poll will also serve as a dry run for a general election due at the end of next year. Moreover, under the tutelage of an energetic UN team in Baghdad, the system for the provincial elections provides for open lists, whereas last time they were closed. This time parties will win representation on a proportional basis in each of the 18 provinces (bar the three Kurdish ones and the disputed Kirkuk province, where elections will not take place), but voters will also be able to mark their order of preference for individual candidates on their chosen party list. Some 400-plus parties have been registered, more than 150 in Baghdad alone, with more than 14,600 candidates and 36-odd coalitions.
The main shift will be towards much stronger representation for Sunni Arabs, who have been sorely under-represented since Saddam’s demise. A battle is brewing between the established Sunni parties and an array of groups emerging out of the tribal councils that have played so crucial a part in beating back the insurgency, including al-Qaeda, especially in the western province of Anbar and along the Euphrates valley north-west of Baghdad.
A fight for supremacy within the new Shia establishment has also begun. A striking development is the emergence of Mr Maliki as a would-be strongman. Despite his wooden persona on the dais and on television, he has surprised everyone by his increasingly ruthless determination to tighten his grip. He was boosted by his success, earlier this year, when he personally directed the Iraqi army to sweep the Shia militias loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric, out of Iraq’s then chaotic second city, Basra. The army promptly replicated that success in the hitherto lawless Shia slums of Baghdad, known as Sadr City. Mr Maliki is also interfering with senior appointments in the armed forces: the new divisional army commander in Mosul, for instance, is said to be a brother-in-law.
He has also gained ground, even among Sunnis, by his increasingly acerbic attitude towards the Kurds, who many Arabs think have overreached themselves in the past few years. In August he sent Iraqi army units into Khanaqin, a mainly Kurdish district that is controlled by the Kurdish authorities but falls within Diyala province. He and Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who heads the KDP, one of two rival parties that jointly run Iraqi Kurdistan, are increasingly rude to each other. Mr Barzani is said to have recently told Mr Maliki to his face: “You smell like a dictator.”
And he is rattling a lot of fellow Shias with his powers of patronage and purse. His own Dawa party has split, with his predecessor as prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, promoting himself as a stalking horse for the Sadrists, whose party has been barred from the lists. The other leading Shia party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, led by the ailing Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, is equally worried by what it sees as the prime minister’s authoritarian bent. In particular, Mr Maliki’s assorted rivals have complained about his setting up of “support councils” among various tribes, both Sunni and Shia, to help his party get out the vote—by means of bribery and intimidation, according to his detractors.
Competition among the Sunnis is no less fierce, especially in the tribal movement known as the Sahwa (Awakening) and the Salvation Front, which are bidding to oust candidates tied to the largest Sunni block in parliament, the National Accord Front, or Tawafuq, whose leading party is the IIP. Here too Mr Maliki has been weaving controversial alliances, backing one group against another. The political emergence of the tribes, many of which had previously supported the insurgents, is part of a new dynamic that has seen al-Qaeda and other rebel groups beaten back if not completely defeated. Mr Maliki has also been accused of having hundreds of IIP members arrested, especially in the mixed-sect Diyala province.
No one knows what the new electoral picture will be like. Some say that Mr Maliki’s Dawa will do badly, whatever the advantages of incumbency. The Sadrist movement, internally divided like so many others, is widely thought to have lost ground yet still commands the sympathy of hordes of poor Shias in such places as Sadr City and in the southern provinces. The tribal parties have never been tested.
Back to independence
Mr Maliki will naturally take as much credit as he can from the withdrawal agreement with the Americans. He, or so it will be claimed, has nailed down the occupiers and made them promise to leave within three years. Under the agreement, American forces, now about 146,000-strong in Iraq, will withdraw from the cities by the middle of next year. All military operations will require the assent of Iraqis. Americans will be barred from using Iraq as a launch pad to attack other countries.
There is, in fact, considerable wiggle-room in the agreement. The timing can be extended by mutual consent. Even the requirement for American troops to withdraw from city centres may be open to an elastic interpretation. The Joint Security Stations, where American troops are entrenched in mini-forts scattered across the cities, have been an essential part of the military surge which, since early last year, has stanched the terrible sectarian bloodletting, especially in Baghdad. Already they are jointly manned by Americans and Iraqis. Iraq’s generals may well be loth to remove the Americans, perhaps relabelling them as “advisers”.
The Iraqi army and national police (a kind of gendarmerie) have improved out of all recognition in the past two years and at last count numbered 266,000, alongside 257,000 local police, 36,000 border guards and more than 100,000 “Sons of Iraq”, the militias formed by the mainly Sunni tribal councils. But even their best units still rely heavily on the Americans for air support, not least the helicopters that are crucial in counter-insurgency, and for other technical skills, including communications, intelligence and logistics.
Despite the continuing horrors in Nineveh, bitter fighting in parts of Diyala, rising tension between Arabs and Kurds, and a continuing if less frequent cycle of bombs in Baghdad, the violence overall has greatly subsided from its level of two years ago. In the second half of 2006, violent civilian deaths, mostly in Baghdad, amounted to around 20,000, counted in morgues and hospitals. The latest estimates put the monthly figure at under 500 a month, still a shocking number, but an eighth of what it was. Fewer than 50 Iraqi soldiers and police were killed in October compared with 300-plus in April last year. The American military death toll has dived from 126 in May last year to 14 last month; the total since the invasion in 2003 is nearing 4,200.
But 20,000 out of Iraq’s 34,000 doctors have left (after 2,000 were murdered) and few of the 2m-plus Iraqis now living abroad (many of them middle-class professionals) are yet willing to return. In the past few weeks, suicide-bombers have killed people at the checkpoints into Baghdad’s international zone, on the road to the airport, by one of the main bridges and outside the Ministry of Trade, where eight female employees were killed. The country still offers nothing approaching a secure environment where foreigners can come and do business. A number of foreign companies, especially in the oil sector, have signed big deals. But no major foreign banks or businesses have thought it feasible to set up shop in the open in Baghdad. Though safer than it was, Baghdad is still the most dangerous capital in the world.
In any event, as the recently departed American mastermind of the surge, General David Petraeus, repeatedly said, the gains remain “fragile and reversible”. The coming elections at the beginning and end of next year will give a vivid picture of Iraq’s political balance of power. But a potentially devastating lack of consensus among the main political groups and their leaders still prevails. Corruption is rife. Many ministries are still fiefs of patronage. Family and tribal ties are what count in getting jobs. Intrigue and deceit seem to dog the management of just about every political party. No culture of tolerance or pluralism has yet emerged.
A fundamental three-way split still prevents Iraq from coming together as a country. Though it is hopeful that the Sunni Arabs, probably some 20% of the population, seem set to be drawn back into the heart of parliamentary and provincial politics next year, few of their leaders seem willing yet to acknowledge that they have lost the power that they had always held.
A former deputy prime minister, a Sunni, insisted last week that his fellow Sunnis represent “at least 50% of Iraqis, by God!” Some of the leading Shias, who by most calculations represent more than 50% of the total population, seem prepared to reach out to the Sunnis, especially the biddable tribal sheikhs, provided they accept their new position as second fiddlers. But most Shias still regard the Sunnis with suspicion. “Maliki’s worst nightmare is still waking up to find a Sunni general in charge of the country again,” says a seasoned Western observer in Baghdad.
No national harmony yet
The Kurds are enjoying a golden age of near-independence that they have never had before. Their region still feels the perkiest and safest in Iraq, though its leaders have yet to acquire truly democratic instincts. But the Kurds remain loth to make the sort of compromise over the bitterly disputed mixed Arab-Kurdish-Turkomen city of Kirkuk and the surrounding province which might in turn allow them to have more say over the oil in the area they control. Both Shia and Sunni Arabs habitually refer to the Kurds with ill-disguised contempt. American and UN diplomats fear that the Kurdish leaders, wary of being outflanked by each other on such issues as Kirkuk, are in danger of overplaying their hand—at a risk of losing much that they have already achieved.
In short, the new establishment of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds sorely needs to build a sense of nationhood. The withdrawal agreement means that it will soon be for the Iraqis alone to define their destiny. For the next few years the Americans may yet find themselves holding the ring. But once the occupiers have left, the chances that the Iraqis will entrench and cherish a stable, federal, pluralist democracy must still be rated at less than even.
In Mosul, 320km (200 miles) north of Baghdad up the Tigris river, the governor of Nineveh province, Doraid Kashmoula, furrows his brow, fiddles with his worry-beads in one hand, stubs out yet another cigarette with the other and reels off a litany of woe in his dankly curtained office. The scion of a prominent Sunni Arab family, he took the job two years ago after his predecessor, his cousin, was assassinated.
Since then he has survived half a dozen murder attempts. His son, a brother and four cousins have been killed by insurgents. His house has been burnt down. He is protected both by the Kurdish guerrillas, who control the eastern half of the city and a clutch of fortified government buildings in the western half, and by the Iraqi army and police, with American forces at their shoulder, when he ventures farther afield.
“Security is slowly getting better,” he says, without much conviction. At present the insurgents carry out about ten attacks a day in his province, including car bombs and ambushes, mostly in the vicinity of Mosul. In each of the past four months, more than 100 civilians and about a score of army and police have been killed, according to official figures.
The provincial council’s chairman, another Sunni Arab, tells a similar tale. From a drawer in his desk he takes a sheet of paper displaying 12 coloured photographs of “martyrs”: four brothers and eight cousins, all murdered because of their kinship to himself. A councillor representing the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), a long-established Sunni outfit which heads the main Sunni block in the national parliament and is led by one of the country’s two vice-presidents, Tariq al-Hashemi, says that 420 of his party members in Mosul have been killed in the past two years. Nineveh’s deputy governor, a Kurd, says that 1,600 of his people in Mosul have died at the hands of insurgents since the American invasion—as have “many more Arabs”.
Nobody knows how many insurgents operate in the area. Maybe 5,000, says the council chairman, describing a spectrum from al-Qaeda fanatics to secular Baathists. “Plus a million supporters,” he adds, with a mirthless laugh. As the Americans and their Iraqi army allies successfully hunt them down elsewhere in Iraq, many have gravitated to Mosul. It is close to Syria, from which foreign jihadists still infiltrate. The city has a history of Baathist loyalty to Saddam Hussein and hostility to the Shias, who count for barely 5% of its people.
Iraq’s multiple fault-lines are especially visible—and occasionally bloody—in Nineveh and Mosul. Some towns in the province have a record of Shia-Sunni enmity. Nineveh has Iraq’s largest minority of Christians, themselves divided into various sects, some speaking Aramaic, the language of Christ. In a northern arc dwell the Yazidis, more than 500,000-strong they claim, who follow an ancient religion that reveres a Peacock Angel; many Muslims damn them as devil-worshippers. Then there are the Shabaks, who claim descent from Persians and follow various brands of religion, including Islam. There are also the Turkomens, stay-behinds from the days when Mosul was the capital of one of the three Ottoman vilayets (administrative regions) that were crudely lumped together to form Iraq when the Turkish empire collapsed after the first world war.
Perhaps the biggest and currently the scratchiest division is between Arabs and Kurds, who control most of the east and north of Nineveh, and account for about one-third of its population. Most of the Sunni Arabs, the province’s largest group, boycotted the last elections in 2005, so the Kurds ended up with a disproportionately large chunk of the provincial government (31 out of 41 seats in the council) and hold sway over the hapless Mr Kashmoula and the council chairman, whom the insurgents curse as puppets and traitors.
But this may soon change dramatically because the Sunnis are set to contest provincial elections due on January 31st, when they may well oust the Kurds from local power. To minimise their expected losses, the Kurds are bent on ensuring that all the non-Sunni minorities, such as the Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks, vote for a Kurdish-led list of candidates.
Many people from these small minorities, together perhaps more than a tenth of the province’s people, say that the Kurds, who control the territory where most of them live, are trying to intimidate them into voting their way. The Kurds, they say, are even attempting to frighten them into fleeing east into areas more firmly controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) from its headquarters in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
In Sinjar, west of Mosul, some Yazidis, who predominate there, say the Kurds want to force them to vote for the Kurdish list. Not only would that mean increasing the Kurds’ chances of holding on to the provincial council. It would also strengthen their case to have such places as Sinjar, which are technically part of Nineveh, eventually transferred formally to Iraq’s Kurdistan region, whose area the Kurds seek to widen as much as possible.
The Christians have been hammered, in Nineveh as in the rest of Iraq: their numbers throughout the country are said to be down from 800,000 in 2003 to around 250,000 today. Earlier this year the archbishop of the ancient Chaldean church was abducted in Mosul and murdered. In October, some 10,000 Christians fled into Kurdish-held areas from close to Mosul after a dozen of them had been killed. No one is certain who the culprits were.
In any event, tension is rising across the ethno-sectarian board: between Kurds and Arabs; between Sunnis who have co-operated with government and the larger number who have not; between Kurds and minorities; and within the minorities themselves. “If we [Christians] had guns we’d kill each other too,” says a prominent Chaldean Christian. “If Mosul was peaceful, we’d want to stay in Nineveh,” says a leading Christian businessman in the town of Bartulla, just east of Mosul. “But if it isn’t, we’d like to be part of Kurdistan.”
But there is a gleam of hope that in Nineveh, as elsewhere in Iraq, the coming provincial elections may shift the dynamic of Iraqi politics, pave the way for more genuinely representative government and make it harder for the insurgents to hold the loyalty of the disgruntled. The key is that, unlike last time, the Sunni Arabs are expected to vote en masse. If Nineveh’s council took on a Sunni nationalist hue, the insurgents might be in trouble.
Shaking the political kaleidoscope
Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Shia prime minister, is said to be reaching out to Sunni politicians, military men and tribal leaders in the hope of widening his narrow base in the Islamic Dawa party. But Iraq is entering an even more frenetic political phase than usual. The provincial elections should point, for the first time in three years, to whom the Iraqis want to run their country.
The poll will also serve as a dry run for a general election due at the end of next year. Moreover, under the tutelage of an energetic UN team in Baghdad, the system for the provincial elections provides for open lists, whereas last time they were closed. This time parties will win representation on a proportional basis in each of the 18 provinces (bar the three Kurdish ones and the disputed Kirkuk province, where elections will not take place), but voters will also be able to mark their order of preference for individual candidates on their chosen party list. Some 400-plus parties have been registered, more than 150 in Baghdad alone, with more than 14,600 candidates and 36-odd coalitions.
The main shift will be towards much stronger representation for Sunni Arabs, who have been sorely under-represented since Saddam’s demise. A battle is brewing between the established Sunni parties and an array of groups emerging out of the tribal councils that have played so crucial a part in beating back the insurgency, including al-Qaeda, especially in the western province of Anbar and along the Euphrates valley north-west of Baghdad.
A fight for supremacy within the new Shia establishment has also begun. A striking development is the emergence of Mr Maliki as a would-be strongman. Despite his wooden persona on the dais and on television, he has surprised everyone by his increasingly ruthless determination to tighten his grip. He was boosted by his success, earlier this year, when he personally directed the Iraqi army to sweep the Shia militias loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric, out of Iraq’s then chaotic second city, Basra. The army promptly replicated that success in the hitherto lawless Shia slums of Baghdad, known as Sadr City. Mr Maliki is also interfering with senior appointments in the armed forces: the new divisional army commander in Mosul, for instance, is said to be a brother-in-law.
He has also gained ground, even among Sunnis, by his increasingly acerbic attitude towards the Kurds, who many Arabs think have overreached themselves in the past few years. In August he sent Iraqi army units into Khanaqin, a mainly Kurdish district that is controlled by the Kurdish authorities but falls within Diyala province. He and Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who heads the KDP, one of two rival parties that jointly run Iraqi Kurdistan, are increasingly rude to each other. Mr Barzani is said to have recently told Mr Maliki to his face: “You smell like a dictator.”
And he is rattling a lot of fellow Shias with his powers of patronage and purse. His own Dawa party has split, with his predecessor as prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, promoting himself as a stalking horse for the Sadrists, whose party has been barred from the lists. The other leading Shia party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, led by the ailing Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, is equally worried by what it sees as the prime minister’s authoritarian bent. In particular, Mr Maliki’s assorted rivals have complained about his setting up of “support councils” among various tribes, both Sunni and Shia, to help his party get out the vote—by means of bribery and intimidation, according to his detractors.
Competition among the Sunnis is no less fierce, especially in the tribal movement known as the Sahwa (Awakening) and the Salvation Front, which are bidding to oust candidates tied to the largest Sunni block in parliament, the National Accord Front, or Tawafuq, whose leading party is the IIP. Here too Mr Maliki has been weaving controversial alliances, backing one group against another. The political emergence of the tribes, many of which had previously supported the insurgents, is part of a new dynamic that has seen al-Qaeda and other rebel groups beaten back if not completely defeated. Mr Maliki has also been accused of having hundreds of IIP members arrested, especially in the mixed-sect Diyala province.
No one knows what the new electoral picture will be like. Some say that Mr Maliki’s Dawa will do badly, whatever the advantages of incumbency. The Sadrist movement, internally divided like so many others, is widely thought to have lost ground yet still commands the sympathy of hordes of poor Shias in such places as Sadr City and in the southern provinces. The tribal parties have never been tested.
Back to independence
Mr Maliki will naturally take as much credit as he can from the withdrawal agreement with the Americans. He, or so it will be claimed, has nailed down the occupiers and made them promise to leave within three years. Under the agreement, American forces, now about 146,000-strong in Iraq, will withdraw from the cities by the middle of next year. All military operations will require the assent of Iraqis. Americans will be barred from using Iraq as a launch pad to attack other countries.
There is, in fact, considerable wiggle-room in the agreement. The timing can be extended by mutual consent. Even the requirement for American troops to withdraw from city centres may be open to an elastic interpretation. The Joint Security Stations, where American troops are entrenched in mini-forts scattered across the cities, have been an essential part of the military surge which, since early last year, has stanched the terrible sectarian bloodletting, especially in Baghdad. Already they are jointly manned by Americans and Iraqis. Iraq’s generals may well be loth to remove the Americans, perhaps relabelling them as “advisers”.
The Iraqi army and national police (a kind of gendarmerie) have improved out of all recognition in the past two years and at last count numbered 266,000, alongside 257,000 local police, 36,000 border guards and more than 100,000 “Sons of Iraq”, the militias formed by the mainly Sunni tribal councils. But even their best units still rely heavily on the Americans for air support, not least the helicopters that are crucial in counter-insurgency, and for other technical skills, including communications, intelligence and logistics.
Despite the continuing horrors in Nineveh, bitter fighting in parts of Diyala, rising tension between Arabs and Kurds, and a continuing if less frequent cycle of bombs in Baghdad, the violence overall has greatly subsided from its level of two years ago. In the second half of 2006, violent civilian deaths, mostly in Baghdad, amounted to around 20,000, counted in morgues and hospitals. The latest estimates put the monthly figure at under 500 a month, still a shocking number, but an eighth of what it was. Fewer than 50 Iraqi soldiers and police were killed in October compared with 300-plus in April last year. The American military death toll has dived from 126 in May last year to 14 last month; the total since the invasion in 2003 is nearing 4,200.
But 20,000 out of Iraq’s 34,000 doctors have left (after 2,000 were murdered) and few of the 2m-plus Iraqis now living abroad (many of them middle-class professionals) are yet willing to return. In the past few weeks, suicide-bombers have killed people at the checkpoints into Baghdad’s international zone, on the road to the airport, by one of the main bridges and outside the Ministry of Trade, where eight female employees were killed. The country still offers nothing approaching a secure environment where foreigners can come and do business. A number of foreign companies, especially in the oil sector, have signed big deals. But no major foreign banks or businesses have thought it feasible to set up shop in the open in Baghdad. Though safer than it was, Baghdad is still the most dangerous capital in the world.
In any event, as the recently departed American mastermind of the surge, General David Petraeus, repeatedly said, the gains remain “fragile and reversible”. The coming elections at the beginning and end of next year will give a vivid picture of Iraq’s political balance of power. But a potentially devastating lack of consensus among the main political groups and their leaders still prevails. Corruption is rife. Many ministries are still fiefs of patronage. Family and tribal ties are what count in getting jobs. Intrigue and deceit seem to dog the management of just about every political party. No culture of tolerance or pluralism has yet emerged.
A fundamental three-way split still prevents Iraq from coming together as a country. Though it is hopeful that the Sunni Arabs, probably some 20% of the population, seem set to be drawn back into the heart of parliamentary and provincial politics next year, few of their leaders seem willing yet to acknowledge that they have lost the power that they had always held.
A former deputy prime minister, a Sunni, insisted last week that his fellow Sunnis represent “at least 50% of Iraqis, by God!” Some of the leading Shias, who by most calculations represent more than 50% of the total population, seem prepared to reach out to the Sunnis, especially the biddable tribal sheikhs, provided they accept their new position as second fiddlers. But most Shias still regard the Sunnis with suspicion. “Maliki’s worst nightmare is still waking up to find a Sunni general in charge of the country again,” says a seasoned Western observer in Baghdad.
No national harmony yet
The Kurds are enjoying a golden age of near-independence that they have never had before. Their region still feels the perkiest and safest in Iraq, though its leaders have yet to acquire truly democratic instincts. But the Kurds remain loth to make the sort of compromise over the bitterly disputed mixed Arab-Kurdish-Turkomen city of Kirkuk and the surrounding province which might in turn allow them to have more say over the oil in the area they control. Both Shia and Sunni Arabs habitually refer to the Kurds with ill-disguised contempt. American and UN diplomats fear that the Kurdish leaders, wary of being outflanked by each other on such issues as Kirkuk, are in danger of overplaying their hand—at a risk of losing much that they have already achieved.
In short, the new establishment of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds sorely needs to build a sense of nationhood. The withdrawal agreement means that it will soon be for the Iraqis alone to define their destiny. For the next few years the Americans may yet find themselves holding the ring. But once the occupiers have left, the chances that the Iraqis will entrench and cherish a stable, federal, pluralist democracy must still be rated at less than even.
Business - China;Going,Gome,Gone?
corporate governance for a listed company, having an important executive arrested is a problem. But not even being able to say whether, or why, an executive has been arrested is worse. Such is the lot of Gome, China’s largest electronics retailer, with 12% of the market, about half as much again as its nearest rival. In a few months Gome has gone from an example of extraordinary success, as it served China’s pent-up consumer demand, to an example of the murky and fragile state of Chinese business.
Gome is in trouble partly for reasons beyond its control: the impact of an economic slowdown on clearly chastened Chinese consumers. But it is also at risk because of the way it is managed. In September Gome’s founder and chairman, Huang Guangyu (pictured), was being described as Asia’s equivalent of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. The Hurun Report, a newsletter, calculated that he was China’s richest man, with a fortune of $6.3 billion. Approximately $2 billion of that came from a 36% direct stake in Gome, and the rest from a hotch-potch of other investments in property, shares and an unusual private company that owns 450 of Gome’s 1,300 branches.
Mr Huang’s business dealings have raised questions in the past. In 2006 he was investigated in relation to a large government loan which was said to have funded Gome’s initial growth. But other than an announcement of exoneration, details of the case were never disclosed. Any residual concerns were allayed to some extent by Gome’s extraordinary growth. In the past two years it has bought out two rivals and opened more than 100 branches. Its revenues grew by 72% in 2007, and increased by 20% in the first nine months of this year, driven by demand for televisions to watch the Olympics and for washing-machines and refrigerators to furnish new homes.
Along with this growth, however, came an increase in debt, both to purchase inventory and to pay for expansion. Gome’s share price started to fall in June, along with the share prices of other Chinese retailers, as it became apparent that China’s housing boom was losing momentum. On November 18th, for no apparent reason, Gome’s share price parted company from those of its competitors, and the slide suddenly became a rout.
Six days later a website run by Caijing, a business magazine, reported that Mr Huang had been detained by police on November 19th for insider trading in the shares of Shandong Jintai Group, a pharmaceutical company controlled by his brother, the share price of which had soared and then crashed last year. Police in Beijing confirmed that Mr Huang was under investigation, but did not give any further details. Other Chinese publications reported that Mr Huang had been detained as part of an investigation into bribes paid to government officials in exchange for the right to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. Some reports suggested that political change in southern China, where Mr Huang is from, may have altered the regulatory environment to his disadvantage.
In the face of all this speculation Gome has been at a loss. The company could not even confirm whether or not Mr Huang had been detained, saying only that it was “making necessary inquiries” in an effort to “verify the allegations”. Trading in Gome’s shares on Hong Kong’s stock exchange was suspended on November 24th. The stock exchange requires companies to provide information on factors which could affect the share price. Gome’s response is that it cannot provide information it does not have—an argument that may provide legal cover, but is hardly reassuring. Mr Huang himself has vanished.
Gome’s big suppliers have pledged their support for the company. They would certainly not want to lose such a big distributor in today’s difficult economic climate. Gome’s accounts show that a large bond must be refinanced by May 2010. No one extends credit these days without feeling confident about the recipient. If Gome does not change, it will be gone.
Gome is in trouble partly for reasons beyond its control: the impact of an economic slowdown on clearly chastened Chinese consumers. But it is also at risk because of the way it is managed. In September Gome’s founder and chairman, Huang Guangyu (pictured), was being described as Asia’s equivalent of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. The Hurun Report, a newsletter, calculated that he was China’s richest man, with a fortune of $6.3 billion. Approximately $2 billion of that came from a 36% direct stake in Gome, and the rest from a hotch-potch of other investments in property, shares and an unusual private company that owns 450 of Gome’s 1,300 branches.
Mr Huang’s business dealings have raised questions in the past. In 2006 he was investigated in relation to a large government loan which was said to have funded Gome’s initial growth. But other than an announcement of exoneration, details of the case were never disclosed. Any residual concerns were allayed to some extent by Gome’s extraordinary growth. In the past two years it has bought out two rivals and opened more than 100 branches. Its revenues grew by 72% in 2007, and increased by 20% in the first nine months of this year, driven by demand for televisions to watch the Olympics and for washing-machines and refrigerators to furnish new homes.
Along with this growth, however, came an increase in debt, both to purchase inventory and to pay for expansion. Gome’s share price started to fall in June, along with the share prices of other Chinese retailers, as it became apparent that China’s housing boom was losing momentum. On November 18th, for no apparent reason, Gome’s share price parted company from those of its competitors, and the slide suddenly became a rout.
Six days later a website run by Caijing, a business magazine, reported that Mr Huang had been detained by police on November 19th for insider trading in the shares of Shandong Jintai Group, a pharmaceutical company controlled by his brother, the share price of which had soared and then crashed last year. Police in Beijing confirmed that Mr Huang was under investigation, but did not give any further details. Other Chinese publications reported that Mr Huang had been detained as part of an investigation into bribes paid to government officials in exchange for the right to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. Some reports suggested that political change in southern China, where Mr Huang is from, may have altered the regulatory environment to his disadvantage.
In the face of all this speculation Gome has been at a loss. The company could not even confirm whether or not Mr Huang had been detained, saying only that it was “making necessary inquiries” in an effort to “verify the allegations”. Trading in Gome’s shares on Hong Kong’s stock exchange was suspended on November 24th. The stock exchange requires companies to provide information on factors which could affect the share price. Gome’s response is that it cannot provide information it does not have—an argument that may provide legal cover, but is hardly reassuring. Mr Huang himself has vanished.
Gome’s big suppliers have pledged their support for the company. They would certainly not want to lose such a big distributor in today’s difficult economic climate. Gome’s accounts show that a large bond must be refinanced by May 2010. No one extends credit these days without feeling confident about the recipient. If Gome does not change, it will be gone.
Tech - Blowin' in the wind
Flapping flags may shed light on how fish school and birds flock
OFTEN it pays not to be leader of the pack—just ask a racing cyclist or a Formula One driver. Conserving energy by following the leader, a trick known as slipstreaming, can give a rider or driver that extra bit of juice to pull ahead at the very last moment. In the natural world, however, bodies are more likely to be flexible, like a fish’s, rather than rigid, like a car’s. In these systems, as a recent paper in Physical Review Letters reports, it is the leader that enjoys a significant dynamic advantage over the followers.
Jun Zhang of New York University came to this conclusion obliquely, by examining one of life’s burning questions: why is it that flags flutter in a breeze? Flags are good analogues of birds and fish because all three change their shape as they move through a fluid. In 2000 Dr Zhang did some experiments to study the motion of thin silk filaments (standing in for flags) in flowing films of liquid dishwashing soap (standing in for the breeze).
As the soap film “blew” past a flag it formed streams and eddies. Dr Zhang was able to observe these by illuminating it. Light bouncing within the film between its surfaces creates an interference pattern (this is why soap bubbles appear coloured). Streams and eddies in such a film alter its thickness, and thus the details of this interference pattern, allowing the pattern of irregularities induced by the flag to be captured on camera.
These initial experiments revealed that fluttering is an intrinsic feature of the motion of a flag. Make a flag long enough, and it will flutter no matter how steady the breeze. This is because the shape of the flag changes. Any small instability in shape causes changes in the flow of fluid, which alters the shape further. The whole process thus amplifies the fluttering.
Now, in collaboration with Leif Ristroph of Cornell University, Dr Zhang has used the same technique to look at what happens when there are several objects in the moving fluid—a series of flags outside a government office, for example, or a line of fish in a school.
In this case, the researchers were surprised to find that the familiar physics of slipstreaming were inverted. If one flag has a second downwind of it, that second breaks up the wake of the leader. This stops that wake being a single, coherent back-and-forth wave. As a result, the leading flag flies straighter. In a line of many flags, moreover, most experience this reduced drag in turn, making the whole group more aero- (or hydro-) dynamic.
Inverted slipstreaming of this sort could have some counterintuitive effects. A fish frantically trying to escape from a predator might get the advantage of reduced drag. As the team put it in their paper, “it is better to be chased than to chase.” However, fish and birds actively change their shape when they swim and fly, whereas flags flutter passively in the breeze. Whether this makes a difference is not yet clear. The researchers therefore plan follow-up tests with aquarium fish to see if they, too, experience inverted slipstreaming. If they do, then there may, eventually, be engineering applications. Whether wobbly bikes and flexible racing cars are among them remains to be seen.
OFTEN it pays not to be leader of the pack—just ask a racing cyclist or a Formula One driver. Conserving energy by following the leader, a trick known as slipstreaming, can give a rider or driver that extra bit of juice to pull ahead at the very last moment. In the natural world, however, bodies are more likely to be flexible, like a fish’s, rather than rigid, like a car’s. In these systems, as a recent paper in Physical Review Letters reports, it is the leader that enjoys a significant dynamic advantage over the followers.
Jun Zhang of New York University came to this conclusion obliquely, by examining one of life’s burning questions: why is it that flags flutter in a breeze? Flags are good analogues of birds and fish because all three change their shape as they move through a fluid. In 2000 Dr Zhang did some experiments to study the motion of thin silk filaments (standing in for flags) in flowing films of liquid dishwashing soap (standing in for the breeze).
As the soap film “blew” past a flag it formed streams and eddies. Dr Zhang was able to observe these by illuminating it. Light bouncing within the film between its surfaces creates an interference pattern (this is why soap bubbles appear coloured). Streams and eddies in such a film alter its thickness, and thus the details of this interference pattern, allowing the pattern of irregularities induced by the flag to be captured on camera.
These initial experiments revealed that fluttering is an intrinsic feature of the motion of a flag. Make a flag long enough, and it will flutter no matter how steady the breeze. This is because the shape of the flag changes. Any small instability in shape causes changes in the flow of fluid, which alters the shape further. The whole process thus amplifies the fluttering.
Now, in collaboration with Leif Ristroph of Cornell University, Dr Zhang has used the same technique to look at what happens when there are several objects in the moving fluid—a series of flags outside a government office, for example, or a line of fish in a school.
In this case, the researchers were surprised to find that the familiar physics of slipstreaming were inverted. If one flag has a second downwind of it, that second breaks up the wake of the leader. This stops that wake being a single, coherent back-and-forth wave. As a result, the leading flag flies straighter. In a line of many flags, moreover, most experience this reduced drag in turn, making the whole group more aero- (or hydro-) dynamic.
Inverted slipstreaming of this sort could have some counterintuitive effects. A fish frantically trying to escape from a predator might get the advantage of reduced drag. As the team put it in their paper, “it is better to be chased than to chase.” However, fish and birds actively change their shape when they swim and fly, whereas flags flutter passively in the breeze. Whether this makes a difference is not yet clear. The researchers therefore plan follow-up tests with aquarium fish to see if they, too, experience inverted slipstreaming. If they do, then there may, eventually, be engineering applications. Whether wobbly bikes and flexible racing cars are among them remains to be seen.
World - China's first home made jet flies
China successfully flight tested its first home-grown commercial airliner.
The ARJ-21's maiden flight lasted one hour and the aircraft did not rise above 900 metres in altitude due to safety reasons.
The 90-seat jet flew out of a local Shanghai airport and its manufacturer expects it to fly distances up to 3,700km.
Each jet will cost $27m (£22.6m) and first deliveries are expected to take place within 18 months.
Secured Orders
The plane is being manufactured in Shanghai.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China say they have secured over 200 orders and last month gained five firm orders from GE Commercial Aviation Services who have an option for a further 20 jets.
It's general manager Jin Zhuanglong said: "With less fuel consumption and longer flight hours, the ARJ-21 will reduce air fares by 8% to 10% for Chinese airlines, most of whom currently use large aircraft above 140 seats on short and medium routes."
One of the three pilots on board, Zhao Peng, said "The jet was normal and the flight was smooth."
The jet will face competition from international manufacturers such as Bombardier, Embraer, Airbus and Boeing.
The ARJ-21's maiden flight lasted one hour and the aircraft did not rise above 900 metres in altitude due to safety reasons.
The 90-seat jet flew out of a local Shanghai airport and its manufacturer expects it to fly distances up to 3,700km.
Each jet will cost $27m (£22.6m) and first deliveries are expected to take place within 18 months.
Secured Orders
The plane is being manufactured in Shanghai.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China say they have secured over 200 orders and last month gained five firm orders from GE Commercial Aviation Services who have an option for a further 20 jets.
It's general manager Jin Zhuanglong said: "With less fuel consumption and longer flight hours, the ARJ-21 will reduce air fares by 8% to 10% for Chinese airlines, most of whom currently use large aircraft above 140 seats on short and medium routes."
One of the three pilots on board, Zhao Peng, said "The jet was normal and the flight was smooth."
The jet will face competition from international manufacturers such as Bombardier, Embraer, Airbus and Boeing.
World - UK;How to cope when your firm goes bust
Martin Shankleman
Employment correspondent, BBC News
The 260 workers employed at Budelpack cosmetics factory in Maesteg, south Wales turned up to work on Friday only to be told to leave immediately.
They received no notice, nor redundancy money.
Instead they were given a pack by the administrator which showed them how to claim redundancy money from the state.
The Budelpack factory, which supplies The Body Shop, had gone into administration on Wednesday.
GMB union organiser Mervyn Burnett said the treatment of the workers, some of whom had worked there for 30 years, was a "thundering disgrace".
Options
So what are the options for an employee of a firm like Budelpack, which has become insolvent?
Workers who lose their jobs when their firm falls into administration are advised to contact two different government bodies - the Redundancy Payments Office and HM Revenue & Customs.
The Redundancy Payments Office, part of the Insolvency Service, handles claims from workers for unpaid wages, and redundancy money.
Specifically it deals with:
Redundancy pay
Wages - up to a maximum of eight weeks
Holiday pay - up to a maximum of six weeks
Notice pay - one weeks pay for each year of service, up to twelve weeks
All payments are subject to a maximum of £330 for a week's wage.
Other benefits
HMRC handles claims for other benefits not covered by the Redundancy Payments Office. These are:
Statutory sick pay
Maternity pay
Paternity pay
Adoption pay
The forms for such claims can be obtained from any job centre.
Holiday pay and wages are calculated from the date of insolvency.
Redundancy and notice pay are worked out from either the date the employer become insolvent, or when an employee loses their job, whichever is later.
Helplines
Staff at MFI and Woolworths have been retained by the administrators at the moment, with no guarantee of job security.
In such circumstances, their right to a redundancy payment is not affected if either firm closes down later.
For general enquiries about insolvency, workers can call the Insolvency Service Helpline on 0845 602 9848 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
For queries about redundancy, call the Redundancy Payments Helpline on 0845 145 0004 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
If you want to make a claim because your employer has become insolvent, click below.
Employment correspondent, BBC News
The 260 workers employed at Budelpack cosmetics factory in Maesteg, south Wales turned up to work on Friday only to be told to leave immediately.
They received no notice, nor redundancy money.
Instead they were given a pack by the administrator which showed them how to claim redundancy money from the state.
The Budelpack factory, which supplies The Body Shop, had gone into administration on Wednesday.
GMB union organiser Mervyn Burnett said the treatment of the workers, some of whom had worked there for 30 years, was a "thundering disgrace".
Options
So what are the options for an employee of a firm like Budelpack, which has become insolvent?
Workers who lose their jobs when their firm falls into administration are advised to contact two different government bodies - the Redundancy Payments Office and HM Revenue & Customs.
The Redundancy Payments Office, part of the Insolvency Service, handles claims from workers for unpaid wages, and redundancy money.
Specifically it deals with:
Redundancy pay
Wages - up to a maximum of eight weeks
Holiday pay - up to a maximum of six weeks
Notice pay - one weeks pay for each year of service, up to twelve weeks
All payments are subject to a maximum of £330 for a week's wage.
Other benefits
HMRC handles claims for other benefits not covered by the Redundancy Payments Office. These are:
Statutory sick pay
Maternity pay
Paternity pay
Adoption pay
The forms for such claims can be obtained from any job centre.
Holiday pay and wages are calculated from the date of insolvency.
Redundancy and notice pay are worked out from either the date the employer become insolvent, or when an employee loses their job, whichever is later.
Helplines
Staff at MFI and Woolworths have been retained by the administrators at the moment, with no guarantee of job security.
In such circumstances, their right to a redundancy payment is not affected if either firm closes down later.
For general enquiries about insolvency, workers can call the Insolvency Service Helpline on 0845 602 9848 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
For queries about redundancy, call the Redundancy Payments Helpline on 0845 145 0004 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
If you want to make a claim because your employer has become insolvent, click below.
India - Congress may pay political reckoning
James Lamont
India’s Hindu nationalist opposition senses victory in the shoot out on Mumbai’s Marine Drive. Its own.
For months the Bharatiya Janata party has lashed the government for being soft on terror. With every bomb attack in a major city this year, the criticism has grown in intensity. As terrorists have ticked off Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Delhi and Guwahati, the BJP has chorused that the Congress-led government cannot protect India’s citizens and does not take national security seriously.
Against these assaults a mild-mannered Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, has urged calm, praying public fear does not translate into persecution of, or worse, retaliation against the country’s 140m Muslim minority. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul have likewise preached against divisive politics as ethnic and religious conflict has flared.
This week’s attack on Mumbai was of a ferocity that thrusts India’s financial centre into a club of terror victims alongside New York, London, Madrid and Bali. It has many believing that the balance has tipped in the BJP’s favour. The government’s achievements of sending a rocket to the moon and clinching a nuclear deal with US President George W. Bush seem strangely insignificant as gunmen rampage through the Taj Mahal hotel.
“The Congress party is headed for a meltdown in Maharashtra [Mumbai’s home state],” predicted MJ Akbar, a respected commentator and former editor of the Asian Age. He says the government will be unable to stem a tide of anti-incumbency sentiment and “consolidated anger” in response to its perceived weakness in the face of terror attacks in approaching elections.
On Saturday, residents of Delhi, the country’s capital, go to the polls. A few days later Rajasthan follows. Both have been victims of bomb attacks since May. Votes will be cast with images of Mumbai’s carnage and burning hotels in their mind. The results, with those in four other states, will be the surest sign of whether the BJP’s message has struck home. They may also presage the results of general elections in the first half of next year.
Although some argue India’s troubles will be short-lived, the country’s claim to be an emerging power feels fragile. Terror and the global financial crisis have taken the shine off what only a few months ago was a gathering economic powerhouse striving to match China.
Then, confident executives joked that India’s success proved that even a bumble bee had the aerodynamics to fly. Today the country is wounded, its vulnerability exposed by militants and a liquidity squeeze that has drained foreign investment from its markets.
The attacks in Mumbai are too current for the BJP to ridicule the government. Instead, its leader LK Advani has made a show of unity with Mr Singh. But the gloves are about to fly off.
The government is on the defensive where it promised to be the most aggressive – the economy. After battling an inflation rate that shot up to 12 per cent, the government is struggling to respond to a global financial crisis that has taken the wind out of the sails of India’s growth story.
To the horror of business, Sonia Gandhi invoked her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, citing her much-resented bank nationalisations in 1969 as foresight that was sparing India the pain of many economies.
Government ministers and leading business people have found it difficult to rewrite a script of rising fortune and societal transformation. The cabinet has tried to suppress reports on job losses. Executives are now pleading for deeper interest rate cuts and state intervention.
Domestic consumption may save the day for the economy. But the stand-off in Mumbai increases the odds Congress will not be in power to see it.
India’s Hindu nationalist opposition senses victory in the shoot out on Mumbai’s Marine Drive. Its own.
For months the Bharatiya Janata party has lashed the government for being soft on terror. With every bomb attack in a major city this year, the criticism has grown in intensity. As terrorists have ticked off Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Delhi and Guwahati, the BJP has chorused that the Congress-led government cannot protect India’s citizens and does not take national security seriously.
Against these assaults a mild-mannered Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, has urged calm, praying public fear does not translate into persecution of, or worse, retaliation against the country’s 140m Muslim minority. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul have likewise preached against divisive politics as ethnic and religious conflict has flared.
This week’s attack on Mumbai was of a ferocity that thrusts India’s financial centre into a club of terror victims alongside New York, London, Madrid and Bali. It has many believing that the balance has tipped in the BJP’s favour. The government’s achievements of sending a rocket to the moon and clinching a nuclear deal with US President George W. Bush seem strangely insignificant as gunmen rampage through the Taj Mahal hotel.
“The Congress party is headed for a meltdown in Maharashtra [Mumbai’s home state],” predicted MJ Akbar, a respected commentator and former editor of the Asian Age. He says the government will be unable to stem a tide of anti-incumbency sentiment and “consolidated anger” in response to its perceived weakness in the face of terror attacks in approaching elections.
On Saturday, residents of Delhi, the country’s capital, go to the polls. A few days later Rajasthan follows. Both have been victims of bomb attacks since May. Votes will be cast with images of Mumbai’s carnage and burning hotels in their mind. The results, with those in four other states, will be the surest sign of whether the BJP’s message has struck home. They may also presage the results of general elections in the first half of next year.
Although some argue India’s troubles will be short-lived, the country’s claim to be an emerging power feels fragile. Terror and the global financial crisis have taken the shine off what only a few months ago was a gathering economic powerhouse striving to match China.
Then, confident executives joked that India’s success proved that even a bumble bee had the aerodynamics to fly. Today the country is wounded, its vulnerability exposed by militants and a liquidity squeeze that has drained foreign investment from its markets.
The attacks in Mumbai are too current for the BJP to ridicule the government. Instead, its leader LK Advani has made a show of unity with Mr Singh. But the gloves are about to fly off.
The government is on the defensive where it promised to be the most aggressive – the economy. After battling an inflation rate that shot up to 12 per cent, the government is struggling to respond to a global financial crisis that has taken the wind out of the sails of India’s growth story.
To the horror of business, Sonia Gandhi invoked her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, citing her much-resented bank nationalisations in 1969 as foresight that was sparing India the pain of many economies.
Government ministers and leading business people have found it difficult to rewrite a script of rising fortune and societal transformation. The cabinet has tried to suppress reports on job losses. Executives are now pleading for deeper interest rate cuts and state intervention.
Domestic consumption may save the day for the economy. But the stand-off in Mumbai increases the odds Congress will not be in power to see it.
Business - Black Monday to Black Friday;Tale of Two Flops
Andrew Hill
Royal Bank of Scotland’s share issue has to go down as the biggest flop in the history of modern British equity capital raising, as measured by investor take-up. That investors subscribed for as much as 0.24 per cent of the offer is a miracle, given the stock was trading below the issue price. It makes the 8.29 per cent take-up of HBOS’s catastrophically over-extended rights issue during the summer look a triumph. Even the October 1987 BP share issue, which straddled Black Monday, did better.
Whatever the government hoped, the RBS issue always looked destined to end in taxpayers’ hands. The unpopularity of this summer’s capital raising by the banks set the tone. After RBS attracted 95 per cent subscription to its £12.2bn rights issue, launched in April, the much smaller Cattles was the only financial company to achieve more than a 30 per cent take-up of new shares from its investors.
The latest RBS offer was so unorthodox that it doesn’t bear comparison. But the BP parallel is interesting. In 1987, the Bank of England stepped in overnight to set a floor for the partly-paid shares in BP. If markets had continued to buckle after Black Monday and confidence had disintegrated, the Bank could have ended up holding stock in the oil company. The plan was based in large part on the Bank’s ability to restore confidence. It worked – only a tiny sliver of BP ended in the Bank’s hands – but only just, and partly because the Kuwait Investment Office accumulated a large stake in the oil company, to the embarrassment of the government of the day.
BP was already on a steady course out of public ownership. Black Monday was a sudden shock, which interrupted an aggressive promotion of BP shares to institutions and the public. Once the Bank offered to be the buyer of last resort, the KIO and the pent-up demand created before the slide in world markets helped sustain the price. The RBS offer, on the other hand, came at the end of wearying months of bad news, with investors already exhausted by cash calls from RBS itself and competitors.
While the immediate outcome of the BP debacle was messy, it looks in retrospect like a milestone in the creation of a genuine private-sector champion. With some urging the government to “nationalise” RBS fully, few would bet on such a positive outcome from this Black Friday.
Shortcut to Tate modern
In these straitened times, a man with a reputation for recommending government cost-cuts must be in demand, so Sir Peter Gershon’s appointment as chairman-elect of Tate & Lyle is the icing on the sugar and sweetener group’s cake.
Tate has made big strides to reshape itself recently. Last month, the group signalled it would now focus on raising its return on assets following a long and expensive programme of capital investment. A few tips from Sir Peter about how to achieve those higher returns can’t go amiss, but the hard work is done.
The prospect of a change of chairman is bound to raise questions, though, about whether Iain Ferguson, chief executive, will then come under pressure to step down. That debate looks out of date. The threat to Mr Ferguson was at its highest in autumn last year, after a string of profit warnings. But while the finance director left, Mr Ferguson weathered the crisis. Credit must also go to Sir David Lees, the group’s veteran chairman, who helped keep shareholders sweet.
Sir Peter’s record as chairman at Premier Farnell shows he does not hang around if he believes the wrong person is in the executive suite. He joined the board there in June 2004, took over as chairman in March of the following year and within three months the chief executive had gone. But the electrical components company’s share price had plummeted in the year leading up to that rupture. Tate, by contrast, has again started to outperform the market, helped by its commitment to rising dividends at a time when many are freezing or cutting their pay-outs.
Mr Ferguson’s tenure will not be eternal. Having modernised Tate’s strategy, he will probably be the first to suggest an orderly transition once the new chairman has settled in. But, assuming he can hold Tate steady through the downturn, he should be able to set his own timetable.
Suitably generous
So much for speculation about Sir Philip Green’s plans for Moss Bros. After barely a fortnight, he has flipped his stake in the men’s wear chain to Simon Berwin. For a £1.05m profit, negligible by Sir Philip’s standards, the entrepreneur seems to have done a good deed to Mr Berwin and, potentially, to Moss Bros itself. With discount wars ravaging the high street and vultures squabbling over the carcases of Woolworths and MFI, such an outbreak of seasonal goodwill looks rather touching.
Royal Bank of Scotland’s share issue has to go down as the biggest flop in the history of modern British equity capital raising, as measured by investor take-up. That investors subscribed for as much as 0.24 per cent of the offer is a miracle, given the stock was trading below the issue price. It makes the 8.29 per cent take-up of HBOS’s catastrophically over-extended rights issue during the summer look a triumph. Even the October 1987 BP share issue, which straddled Black Monday, did better.
Whatever the government hoped, the RBS issue always looked destined to end in taxpayers’ hands. The unpopularity of this summer’s capital raising by the banks set the tone. After RBS attracted 95 per cent subscription to its £12.2bn rights issue, launched in April, the much smaller Cattles was the only financial company to achieve more than a 30 per cent take-up of new shares from its investors.
The latest RBS offer was so unorthodox that it doesn’t bear comparison. But the BP parallel is interesting. In 1987, the Bank of England stepped in overnight to set a floor for the partly-paid shares in BP. If markets had continued to buckle after Black Monday and confidence had disintegrated, the Bank could have ended up holding stock in the oil company. The plan was based in large part on the Bank’s ability to restore confidence. It worked – only a tiny sliver of BP ended in the Bank’s hands – but only just, and partly because the Kuwait Investment Office accumulated a large stake in the oil company, to the embarrassment of the government of the day.
BP was already on a steady course out of public ownership. Black Monday was a sudden shock, which interrupted an aggressive promotion of BP shares to institutions and the public. Once the Bank offered to be the buyer of last resort, the KIO and the pent-up demand created before the slide in world markets helped sustain the price. The RBS offer, on the other hand, came at the end of wearying months of bad news, with investors already exhausted by cash calls from RBS itself and competitors.
While the immediate outcome of the BP debacle was messy, it looks in retrospect like a milestone in the creation of a genuine private-sector champion. With some urging the government to “nationalise” RBS fully, few would bet on such a positive outcome from this Black Friday.
Shortcut to Tate modern
In these straitened times, a man with a reputation for recommending government cost-cuts must be in demand, so Sir Peter Gershon’s appointment as chairman-elect of Tate & Lyle is the icing on the sugar and sweetener group’s cake.
Tate has made big strides to reshape itself recently. Last month, the group signalled it would now focus on raising its return on assets following a long and expensive programme of capital investment. A few tips from Sir Peter about how to achieve those higher returns can’t go amiss, but the hard work is done.
The prospect of a change of chairman is bound to raise questions, though, about whether Iain Ferguson, chief executive, will then come under pressure to step down. That debate looks out of date. The threat to Mr Ferguson was at its highest in autumn last year, after a string of profit warnings. But while the finance director left, Mr Ferguson weathered the crisis. Credit must also go to Sir David Lees, the group’s veteran chairman, who helped keep shareholders sweet.
Sir Peter’s record as chairman at Premier Farnell shows he does not hang around if he believes the wrong person is in the executive suite. He joined the board there in June 2004, took over as chairman in March of the following year and within three months the chief executive had gone. But the electrical components company’s share price had plummeted in the year leading up to that rupture. Tate, by contrast, has again started to outperform the market, helped by its commitment to rising dividends at a time when many are freezing or cutting their pay-outs.
Mr Ferguson’s tenure will not be eternal. Having modernised Tate’s strategy, he will probably be the first to suggest an orderly transition once the new chairman has settled in. But, assuming he can hold Tate steady through the downturn, he should be able to set his own timetable.
Suitably generous
So much for speculation about Sir Philip Green’s plans for Moss Bros. After barely a fortnight, he has flipped his stake in the men’s wear chain to Simon Berwin. For a £1.05m profit, negligible by Sir Philip’s standards, the entrepreneur seems to have done a good deed to Mr Berwin and, potentially, to Moss Bros itself. With discount wars ravaging the high street and vultures squabbling over the carcases of Woolworths and MFI, such an outbreak of seasonal goodwill looks rather touching.
Nov 28, 2008
World - Will oil boil again?
Sumita Kale
The fine demand-supply balance suggests it will and falling Saudi output doesn't help either.
Now that crude oil prices are down to $50 a barrel from the stratospheric highs of 140 just four months back, a research paper titled ‘Understanding crude oil prices’* may not be the ‘in’ thing to talk about. Financial stability and growth are of course the urgent issues. But there is a very good reason why crude oil should not go off anybody’s radar and this new paper at NBER by James Hamilton helps in reminding us that the oil prices can just as easily flare up again.
The paper is a comprehensive one, and a short article like this one can only bring out part of its flavour. First, Hamilton examines the statistical regularity of prices using quarterly data from 1970 to 2008. Lagged variables of real oil prices, US nominal interest rates and US growth rates give no explanation for changes in real oil prices in his model. He then looks at levels of prices and finds that ‘the real price of oil is not easy to forecast’. Admitting that more detailed specifications over shorter periods might yield better results, he points out that given the $115 price in Q1 2008, the 95 per cent confidence interval for Q2 would range from $85 to $156 — so ‘the wild swings’ seen this year are well within the normal range. Four years down, oil prices can well be as low as $34 or as high as $391. Fortunately, the paper leaves statistical testing at this point and looks at various theories, which go a long way in explaining why such swings are ‘normal’.
The paper examines theories such as storage arbitrage, futures contracts, looks into the role of speculation, the problems of estimating price and income elasticity of demand etc. But the most important point brought out is the issue of supply and demand mismatch. Global production has stagnated over the last three years and the strong increase in demand from China, oil exporters and other emerging countries needed a big increase in price to maintain an edgy equilibrium. The key question, he asks, is why did supply fail to increase? There are a host of factors here but most important is the conjecture that the excess production capacity of Saudi oil has been eroded. Conjecture because of the opacity of data regarding Saudi oil wells but the fact is that the decline in Saudi production since 2005 goes against the traditional role it has played in varying production to help maintain prices within a generally accepted band, within the comfort zone for both consumers and producers. The problem with oil production is that depletion in old wells can only be offset by production from new wells, those have long lead times from discovery to commercial exploitation.
Hamilton’s analysis shows that till 1997, ‘future supply prospects were sufficiently strong, and the perceived date at which the limit of ultimately recoverable reserves would begin to affect decisions was sufficiently far into the future’. Since then, the surprisingly strong demand growth despite vaulting prices and the realisation of the limits to expanding supply have led to a volatile scenario. The problem though is that, as he concludes, “The $140/barrel price in the summer of 2008 and the $60/barrel in November of 2008 could not both be consistent with the same calculation of a scarcity rent warranted by long-term fundamentals. … the algebra of compound growth suggests that if demand growth resumes in China and other countries at its previous rate, the date at which the scarcity rent will start to make an important contribution to the price, if not here already, cannot be far away.”
Though Hamilton does not say this explicitly, swings in crude oil prices will continue, as they are reflective of a market for exhaustible resources, a market which is near capacity and under stress. However, with such oscillations, there are no clear signals for investment in technology change, nor do they induce a search for alternatives to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This compounds the problem in the long run. This is why a fall in the oil price should not lull people into complacency. This is why understanding crude oil prices is important
The fine demand-supply balance suggests it will and falling Saudi output doesn't help either.
Now that crude oil prices are down to $50 a barrel from the stratospheric highs of 140 just four months back, a research paper titled ‘Understanding crude oil prices’* may not be the ‘in’ thing to talk about. Financial stability and growth are of course the urgent issues. But there is a very good reason why crude oil should not go off anybody’s radar and this new paper at NBER by James Hamilton helps in reminding us that the oil prices can just as easily flare up again.
The paper is a comprehensive one, and a short article like this one can only bring out part of its flavour. First, Hamilton examines the statistical regularity of prices using quarterly data from 1970 to 2008. Lagged variables of real oil prices, US nominal interest rates and US growth rates give no explanation for changes in real oil prices in his model. He then looks at levels of prices and finds that ‘the real price of oil is not easy to forecast’. Admitting that more detailed specifications over shorter periods might yield better results, he points out that given the $115 price in Q1 2008, the 95 per cent confidence interval for Q2 would range from $85 to $156 — so ‘the wild swings’ seen this year are well within the normal range. Four years down, oil prices can well be as low as $34 or as high as $391. Fortunately, the paper leaves statistical testing at this point and looks at various theories, which go a long way in explaining why such swings are ‘normal’.
The paper examines theories such as storage arbitrage, futures contracts, looks into the role of speculation, the problems of estimating price and income elasticity of demand etc. But the most important point brought out is the issue of supply and demand mismatch. Global production has stagnated over the last three years and the strong increase in demand from China, oil exporters and other emerging countries needed a big increase in price to maintain an edgy equilibrium. The key question, he asks, is why did supply fail to increase? There are a host of factors here but most important is the conjecture that the excess production capacity of Saudi oil has been eroded. Conjecture because of the opacity of data regarding Saudi oil wells but the fact is that the decline in Saudi production since 2005 goes against the traditional role it has played in varying production to help maintain prices within a generally accepted band, within the comfort zone for both consumers and producers. The problem with oil production is that depletion in old wells can only be offset by production from new wells, those have long lead times from discovery to commercial exploitation.
Hamilton’s analysis shows that till 1997, ‘future supply prospects were sufficiently strong, and the perceived date at which the limit of ultimately recoverable reserves would begin to affect decisions was sufficiently far into the future’. Since then, the surprisingly strong demand growth despite vaulting prices and the realisation of the limits to expanding supply have led to a volatile scenario. The problem though is that, as he concludes, “The $140/barrel price in the summer of 2008 and the $60/barrel in November of 2008 could not both be consistent with the same calculation of a scarcity rent warranted by long-term fundamentals. … the algebra of compound growth suggests that if demand growth resumes in China and other countries at its previous rate, the date at which the scarcity rent will start to make an important contribution to the price, if not here already, cannot be far away.”
Though Hamilton does not say this explicitly, swings in crude oil prices will continue, as they are reflective of a market for exhaustible resources, a market which is near capacity and under stress. However, with such oscillations, there are no clear signals for investment in technology change, nor do they induce a search for alternatives to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This compounds the problem in the long run. This is why a fall in the oil price should not lull people into complacency. This is why understanding crude oil prices is important
India - How national is NID
Sadanand Menon / New Delhi November 28, 2008, 0:05 IST
As a nation, we have been rather poor in institutional histories. While most societies believe that honest and complete ‘origin stories’ of important institutions often hold the key for their ability to stake a claim to contemporary relevance, we in India seem to take recourse to the opposite practise of obfuscating and mystifying even our immediate past to a point of speculative gossip.
There are no authorised or authoritative biographies of say India’s first ‘Art School’ in Madras, almost 160-years old, or of cultural institutions that emerged a little later like Tagore’s Shantiniketan in Bengal or Rukmini Devi Arundale’s Kalakshetra in Madras or Vallathol’s Kalamandalam in Kerala. Even closer, there are no cogent narratives of the Sangeet Natak or Lalit Kala or the Sahitya Akademis, all of which have crossed their golden jubilees. The story of the National School of Drama too remains to be written in some detail.
The most curious, though, is the case of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. While it was founded in 1961, almost every official document on the institute prepared by the institute itself mysteriously chooses to periodise it only from 1972. It is as if the former decade of design practice and education simply did not exist.
The new book ‘Indian Design Edge’ (Lotus/Roli, 2008), by Darlie Koshy, till recently the NID Director, after a long time, acknowledges 1961as the founding year of the institute. However, he too drops it there like a hot potato and quickly leaps the 18 years to the UNIDO/ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) initiative called the ‘Ahmedabad Declaration’ of 1979, which foregrounds the idea of ‘design for development’. How and why the NID came to be chosen as the site for this meeting, its previous record and work, is entirely bypassed.
This is unusual. The past week that I have been conducting a workshop at NID, I’m surprised to find that the name of Gautam or Gira Sarabhai, at whose initiative the institute was set up in Ahmedabad and who played significant roles in shaping the education programme there over the next decade, simply does not figure anywhere. It’s almost as if they did not exist. So too Dashrath Patel who set up the institute and went on to train at least three batches of faculty for the NID. He also built the profile of the institute with his prolific design practice and executing every major national and international exhibition that the NID had pavilions at, like the trade fairs at New York, Osaka and Montreal, the Nehru and Gandhi exhibitions, the Agri-Expo and so on. While the NID did take credit for some of these events, they conveniently forgot to give credit for the pioneers who were responsible for that.
An institution unable to be honest with its own biography has little chances of producing honest work too. The NID does not have anything like an open archive. What they do have is a dump room behind the library where prototypes created by a generation of designers who worked or visited here, are stacked, covered with cobwebs and dust. These include the original Eames Chair, the Barcelona Chair and so on to the vast range of products designed by Dashrath. No one has access to this and batches of students have been studying and working here without any reference to the history of the institution.
The blankness is evident on campus. It provokes one to ask the question, ‘How National is this National Institute of Design’? What do they know about their nation? What have they contributed to the nation? How many designs or products by this institute have made any impact or difference to life of common people? Is there any capability here to usher in a ‘design revolution’?
The answer can only be an unequivocal no. In 2007, for the first time, the draft of a National Design Policy was tabled in Parliament. This was only the second time, after the Charles Eames report on the ‘Lota’ in 1958, that the country was addressing issues in modern design. The Eames Report led to the founding of the NID. The National Design Policy, however, comes at a time when it might actually be more prudent to shut down the NID, considering its lacunae on several fronts and its disconnect with the larger needs of the Indian economy. The institute has turned into a school for styling and is distanced from real ‘design’ needs. It has forgotten to approach design as if people mattered.
It is not easy to correct this without adequate self-reflexivity. But self-reflexivity is crucially linked to self-knowledge and honest historicising. For this, it is imperative that the NID at least get its own history in order.
A dishonest history can only generate dishonest and counterfeit design.
As a nation, we have been rather poor in institutional histories. While most societies believe that honest and complete ‘origin stories’ of important institutions often hold the key for their ability to stake a claim to contemporary relevance, we in India seem to take recourse to the opposite practise of obfuscating and mystifying even our immediate past to a point of speculative gossip.
There are no authorised or authoritative biographies of say India’s first ‘Art School’ in Madras, almost 160-years old, or of cultural institutions that emerged a little later like Tagore’s Shantiniketan in Bengal or Rukmini Devi Arundale’s Kalakshetra in Madras or Vallathol’s Kalamandalam in Kerala. Even closer, there are no cogent narratives of the Sangeet Natak or Lalit Kala or the Sahitya Akademis, all of which have crossed their golden jubilees. The story of the National School of Drama too remains to be written in some detail.
The most curious, though, is the case of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. While it was founded in 1961, almost every official document on the institute prepared by the institute itself mysteriously chooses to periodise it only from 1972. It is as if the former decade of design practice and education simply did not exist.
The new book ‘Indian Design Edge’ (Lotus/Roli, 2008), by Darlie Koshy, till recently the NID Director, after a long time, acknowledges 1961as the founding year of the institute. However, he too drops it there like a hot potato and quickly leaps the 18 years to the UNIDO/ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) initiative called the ‘Ahmedabad Declaration’ of 1979, which foregrounds the idea of ‘design for development’. How and why the NID came to be chosen as the site for this meeting, its previous record and work, is entirely bypassed.
This is unusual. The past week that I have been conducting a workshop at NID, I’m surprised to find that the name of Gautam or Gira Sarabhai, at whose initiative the institute was set up in Ahmedabad and who played significant roles in shaping the education programme there over the next decade, simply does not figure anywhere. It’s almost as if they did not exist. So too Dashrath Patel who set up the institute and went on to train at least three batches of faculty for the NID. He also built the profile of the institute with his prolific design practice and executing every major national and international exhibition that the NID had pavilions at, like the trade fairs at New York, Osaka and Montreal, the Nehru and Gandhi exhibitions, the Agri-Expo and so on. While the NID did take credit for some of these events, they conveniently forgot to give credit for the pioneers who were responsible for that.
An institution unable to be honest with its own biography has little chances of producing honest work too. The NID does not have anything like an open archive. What they do have is a dump room behind the library where prototypes created by a generation of designers who worked or visited here, are stacked, covered with cobwebs and dust. These include the original Eames Chair, the Barcelona Chair and so on to the vast range of products designed by Dashrath. No one has access to this and batches of students have been studying and working here without any reference to the history of the institution.
The blankness is evident on campus. It provokes one to ask the question, ‘How National is this National Institute of Design’? What do they know about their nation? What have they contributed to the nation? How many designs or products by this institute have made any impact or difference to life of common people? Is there any capability here to usher in a ‘design revolution’?
The answer can only be an unequivocal no. In 2007, for the first time, the draft of a National Design Policy was tabled in Parliament. This was only the second time, after the Charles Eames report on the ‘Lota’ in 1958, that the country was addressing issues in modern design. The Eames Report led to the founding of the NID. The National Design Policy, however, comes at a time when it might actually be more prudent to shut down the NID, considering its lacunae on several fronts and its disconnect with the larger needs of the Indian economy. The institute has turned into a school for styling and is distanced from real ‘design’ needs. It has forgotten to approach design as if people mattered.
It is not easy to correct this without adequate self-reflexivity. But self-reflexivity is crucially linked to self-knowledge and honest historicising. For this, it is imperative that the NID at least get its own history in order.
A dishonest history can only generate dishonest and counterfeit design.
Business - Q&A;Tony Worthington, global head (telecoms, media & technology) at Standard Chartered Bank
Siddharth Zarabi
Tony Worthington, global head (telecoms, media & technology) at Standard Chartered Bank, has been involved with the Indian mobile sector since the original licence bids in 1995 — he’s done M&A transactions for a host of Indian and global firms and has helped raise finance for them. He spoke to Siddharth Zarabi on the sector’s future. Excerpts:
You’ve raised forecast for mobile subscribers in India by around 15 per cent, to 700 million by 2012. Why?
Last year, Standard Chartered was forecasting 252 million subscribers by March 2008. The actual subscribers were 261 million. In the current year, subscriber growth is tracking ahead of forecast. Five main factors have influenced this. We are seeing relentless innovation amongst operators, tariffs are continuing to fall, handset prices are becoming cheaper and are lowering a barrier to entry, the growth of a towers industry is enabling new operators to slash capital expenditures and, most importantly, 2009 will see the arrival of several well-backed new entrants who will have to be highly competitive with their product offerings.
Is the current pace sustainable given the economic scenario?
First of all, let us look elsewhere. Pakistan is experiencing significant macroeconomic problems, yet the mobile market steams ahead. Penetration is now over 50 per cent there, compared with 27 per cent in India. Many African countries have experienced strong mobile growth despite economic problems. For India, I do not see any noticeable slowdown in subscriber growth until 2012. The marginal subscriber in India today is going to be a pre-paid user and not overly concerned about a credit crunch or an economic slowdown. He will have more choice than ever before and very affordable handsets and tariff structures.
We’ve just seen three major M&A deals in India’s mobile space — Tata Teleservices-NTT DoCoMo, Swan Telecom-Etisalat and Unitech Telecom-Telenor. Are the valuations excessive?
You can also probably throw Sistema-Shyam into this mix as well. I think all the selling shareholders will be very satisfied with the valuation levels achieved. However, I do not think that any of the international new entrants will feel aggrieved. India is a special market and a ticket at the table is not cheap. DoCoMo, Etisalat and Telenor are all very experienced, successful operators with operations in many countries and all share a strong strategic intent to be in India.
Will we see more telecom M&A’s?
I think there are probably one or two more deals to be done. Consolidation will take place, and in three to five years, we will have around half a dozen national operators and a few niche regional operators. The dating game amongst the smaller players will probably kick off in a couple of years and mergers will ensue. It is difficult to see today’s big three — Bharti-Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone-Essar — being overtaken, although this will depend to some extent on BSNL’s future corporate structure.
Since global valuations are down significantly, do you see Indian telcos acquiring assets overseas?
We have seen Tata and Reliance acquire international communications infrastructure over the past five years and it is only natural that successful mobile operators move overseas for exposure to new growth markets. Bharti and Reliance are on record as having evaluated sizeable investments this year. It is possible that BSNL, MTNL, Tata and Essar will also invest selectively. Current valuation levels dictate that it is the right time to target new investments, although of course large-scale funding will present problems given the current financial markets. Another problem is that there are not too many willing to sell, given the depressed valuations of many international mobile operators.
What will drive Indian mobile growth? Tariffs?
The same five factors — relentless innovation, low tariffs (possibly induced by the new entrants), cheaper handset prices, availability of third-party towers to lease and the stimulus to be given to the market by Loop, Swan, Unitech, Shyam and the other new entrants.
How do the prospects for the new entrants look?
The international shareholders who’ve come in through M&As have done this many times before, and are entering India with their eyes wide open. They are about to compete with some outstanding mobile operators. I regard Bharti-Airtel as probably the best operator with whom I have worked. Reliance has done a tremendous job given the limitations of CDMA, as has Tata Indicom. Vodafone’s record speaks for itself. BSNL, Aircel and Idea are no slouches and have carved out excellent market positions.The new entrants will need to have a very distinct proposition.
They will be hoping for a market share of 8 per cent of gross additions. The problem is not all will achieve this level. It will be fascinating to see how the market evolves.
The towers industry is a fascinating recent development. Mass players Bharti Infratel, Indus Tower and Reliance Infratel sit side-by-side with independent tower companies such as GTL and Quippo. New entrants and existing operators alike are now able to slash their capital expenditures substantially through co-locating on third party towers and leasing rather than owning the infrastructure. This enables an operator to be up and running without the large costs we have seen historically. The downside is that given the higher operating costs, EBITDA break-even is pushed out by at least a year or two.
The government is targeting an auction of 3-G mobile licences by mid-January 2009. Will the current investment environment affect the interest in 3G?
There are two broad themes which will impact 3G licence valuations. Firstly, there is a scarcity of 2G spectrum in many circles and 3G will help alleviate some of these pressures. Secondly, there is the business case for 3G — domestic operators are looking at the 3G experiences of countries in Asia and Europe. The first question they are asking themselves is what services domestic customers want and do they need 3G for these or will 2.5G suffice? Evidence from elsewhere is that 2.5G does suffice for many customers. Once operators look at the capex required for 3G, they can form a view on valuation. I do not think we will see anything like the valuation levels recorded in Europe in 2000 and 2001, but there will be an element of mind games involved — “if I have this licence then my competitor cannot have it”. The question is how far an operator will be prepared to go to secure the 3G licence.
Tony Worthington, global head (telecoms, media & technology) at Standard Chartered Bank, has been involved with the Indian mobile sector since the original licence bids in 1995 — he’s done M&A transactions for a host of Indian and global firms and has helped raise finance for them. He spoke to Siddharth Zarabi on the sector’s future. Excerpts:
You’ve raised forecast for mobile subscribers in India by around 15 per cent, to 700 million by 2012. Why?
Last year, Standard Chartered was forecasting 252 million subscribers by March 2008. The actual subscribers were 261 million. In the current year, subscriber growth is tracking ahead of forecast. Five main factors have influenced this. We are seeing relentless innovation amongst operators, tariffs are continuing to fall, handset prices are becoming cheaper and are lowering a barrier to entry, the growth of a towers industry is enabling new operators to slash capital expenditures and, most importantly, 2009 will see the arrival of several well-backed new entrants who will have to be highly competitive with their product offerings.
Is the current pace sustainable given the economic scenario?
First of all, let us look elsewhere. Pakistan is experiencing significant macroeconomic problems, yet the mobile market steams ahead. Penetration is now over 50 per cent there, compared with 27 per cent in India. Many African countries have experienced strong mobile growth despite economic problems. For India, I do not see any noticeable slowdown in subscriber growth until 2012. The marginal subscriber in India today is going to be a pre-paid user and not overly concerned about a credit crunch or an economic slowdown. He will have more choice than ever before and very affordable handsets and tariff structures.
We’ve just seen three major M&A deals in India’s mobile space — Tata Teleservices-NTT DoCoMo, Swan Telecom-Etisalat and Unitech Telecom-Telenor. Are the valuations excessive?
You can also probably throw Sistema-Shyam into this mix as well. I think all the selling shareholders will be very satisfied with the valuation levels achieved. However, I do not think that any of the international new entrants will feel aggrieved. India is a special market and a ticket at the table is not cheap. DoCoMo, Etisalat and Telenor are all very experienced, successful operators with operations in many countries and all share a strong strategic intent to be in India.
Will we see more telecom M&A’s?
I think there are probably one or two more deals to be done. Consolidation will take place, and in three to five years, we will have around half a dozen national operators and a few niche regional operators. The dating game amongst the smaller players will probably kick off in a couple of years and mergers will ensue. It is difficult to see today’s big three — Bharti-Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone-Essar — being overtaken, although this will depend to some extent on BSNL’s future corporate structure.
Since global valuations are down significantly, do you see Indian telcos acquiring assets overseas?
We have seen Tata and Reliance acquire international communications infrastructure over the past five years and it is only natural that successful mobile operators move overseas for exposure to new growth markets. Bharti and Reliance are on record as having evaluated sizeable investments this year. It is possible that BSNL, MTNL, Tata and Essar will also invest selectively. Current valuation levels dictate that it is the right time to target new investments, although of course large-scale funding will present problems given the current financial markets. Another problem is that there are not too many willing to sell, given the depressed valuations of many international mobile operators.
What will drive Indian mobile growth? Tariffs?
The same five factors — relentless innovation, low tariffs (possibly induced by the new entrants), cheaper handset prices, availability of third-party towers to lease and the stimulus to be given to the market by Loop, Swan, Unitech, Shyam and the other new entrants.
How do the prospects for the new entrants look?
The international shareholders who’ve come in through M&As have done this many times before, and are entering India with their eyes wide open. They are about to compete with some outstanding mobile operators. I regard Bharti-Airtel as probably the best operator with whom I have worked. Reliance has done a tremendous job given the limitations of CDMA, as has Tata Indicom. Vodafone’s record speaks for itself. BSNL, Aircel and Idea are no slouches and have carved out excellent market positions.The new entrants will need to have a very distinct proposition.
They will be hoping for a market share of 8 per cent of gross additions. The problem is not all will achieve this level. It will be fascinating to see how the market evolves.
The towers industry is a fascinating recent development. Mass players Bharti Infratel, Indus Tower and Reliance Infratel sit side-by-side with independent tower companies such as GTL and Quippo. New entrants and existing operators alike are now able to slash their capital expenditures substantially through co-locating on third party towers and leasing rather than owning the infrastructure. This enables an operator to be up and running without the large costs we have seen historically. The downside is that given the higher operating costs, EBITDA break-even is pushed out by at least a year or two.
The government is targeting an auction of 3-G mobile licences by mid-January 2009. Will the current investment environment affect the interest in 3G?
There are two broad themes which will impact 3G licence valuations. Firstly, there is a scarcity of 2G spectrum in many circles and 3G will help alleviate some of these pressures. Secondly, there is the business case for 3G — domestic operators are looking at the 3G experiences of countries in Asia and Europe. The first question they are asking themselves is what services domestic customers want and do they need 3G for these or will 2.5G suffice? Evidence from elsewhere is that 2.5G does suffice for many customers. Once operators look at the capex required for 3G, they can form a view on valuation. I do not think we will see anything like the valuation levels recorded in Europe in 2000 and 2001, but there will be an element of mind games involved — “if I have this licence then my competitor cannot have it”. The question is how far an operator will be prepared to go to secure the 3G licence.
India - Commandos raid Jewish centre;Five hostages dead
Rina Chandran
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian commandos stormed a Jewish centre in Mumbai on Friday and found two bodies which appeared to be of hostages, the country's National Security Guards chief said.
J.K. Dutt also told Indian television that the commandos had killed two militants in operations at the centre.
"We have neutralised two terrorists," Dutt said. "Along with that we have also found two bodies. Those bodies appear to be of hostages."
An Israeli rescue service run by Orthodox Jews said its staff sent to Mumbai to help at the siege believed that hostages in the Chabad Centre had died.
"Apparently the hostages did not remain alive," the Zaka service said in a brief statement quoting its staff in Mumbai. It did not identify the hostages nor say how many may have died.
Earlier, Israel's ambassador to India said he believed about six Israeli nationals had been held hostage at the centre, including a rabbi and his wife.
A short way across the city, frequent gunshots and explosions also rang out from the luxury Taj hotel as elite commandos fought cat-and-mouse battles with a lone gunmen.
Officials have been vowing to bring a quick end to the nearly two-day-long stand-off that they say has killed 124 people and wounded 284.
At third site, the Trident-Oberoi Hotel, commandos killed two militants and freed 143 guests earlier in the day. Well-dressed foreigners and Indians, some dragging their suitcases, trickled out and were escorted into waiting buses and cars.
One foreign member of the hotel staff left holding a baby in his arms, others wept as police showed them photographs of dead relatives for identification.
As anger mounted, India blamed "elements" from Pakistan for the coordinated assault on its financial capital, which seemed designed to scare off foreign executives and tourists.
Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy. Urging New Delhi not to play politics, it agreed to send its spy chief to share intelligence on the suicide attacks.
Police said 24 bodies had been found at the Trident-Oberoi on Friday, potentially inflating the death toll still further.
On Thursday night they had predicted a quick end to the siege at the nearby Taj hotel. But hundreds of elite commandos have still failed to dislodge a lone gunman, thought to be wounded, in the maze of corridors of the 105-year-old hotel.
"He is moving in two floors, there is a dancefloor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights," Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj told reporters.
"This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him."
The head of an elite commando unit said the militants knew the layout of the hotel better than they did and called them "a very determined lot, remorseless".
The commander, his face disguised by a black scarf and sunglasses, said he had seen 50 bodies in the Taj, including 12 to 15 in one room.
SOUTH ASIAN TENSIONS
One of the militants arrested in Mumbai was a Pakistani national, the interior minister of Maharashtra state, R.R. Patil, told reporters.
In a diplomatic exchange that raised the prospect of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee urged Pakistan to dismantle infrastructure supporting militants.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also warned on Thursday of "a cost" if India's neighbours did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch such attacks.
On Friday he asked the head of Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, to visit to share information.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who says he wants much better relations with India, called Singh by telephone on Friday and agreed to the request for the visit.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on India not to play politics over the attacks.
"Do not bring politics into this issue. This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," he told reporters during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer.
Mumbai, a city of 18 million, is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic might and home to the "Bollywood" film industry.
India's main stock markets reopened on Friday after being closed on Thursday due to the attack, but the main share index closed up 0.73 percent.
An estimated 25 men armed with assault rifles and grenades -- at least some of whom arrived by sea -- had fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.
At least eight foreigners, including three Germans, one Australian, a Briton, Canadian, an Italian and a Japanese national, were among the dead, according to the governments of India and other nations.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian commandos stormed a Jewish centre in Mumbai on Friday and found two bodies which appeared to be of hostages, the country's National Security Guards chief said.
J.K. Dutt also told Indian television that the commandos had killed two militants in operations at the centre.
"We have neutralised two terrorists," Dutt said. "Along with that we have also found two bodies. Those bodies appear to be of hostages."
An Israeli rescue service run by Orthodox Jews said its staff sent to Mumbai to help at the siege believed that hostages in the Chabad Centre had died.
"Apparently the hostages did not remain alive," the Zaka service said in a brief statement quoting its staff in Mumbai. It did not identify the hostages nor say how many may have died.
Earlier, Israel's ambassador to India said he believed about six Israeli nationals had been held hostage at the centre, including a rabbi and his wife.
A short way across the city, frequent gunshots and explosions also rang out from the luxury Taj hotel as elite commandos fought cat-and-mouse battles with a lone gunmen.
Officials have been vowing to bring a quick end to the nearly two-day-long stand-off that they say has killed 124 people and wounded 284.
At third site, the Trident-Oberoi Hotel, commandos killed two militants and freed 143 guests earlier in the day. Well-dressed foreigners and Indians, some dragging their suitcases, trickled out and were escorted into waiting buses and cars.
One foreign member of the hotel staff left holding a baby in his arms, others wept as police showed them photographs of dead relatives for identification.
As anger mounted, India blamed "elements" from Pakistan for the coordinated assault on its financial capital, which seemed designed to scare off foreign executives and tourists.
Pakistan said the two countries faced a common enemy. Urging New Delhi not to play politics, it agreed to send its spy chief to share intelligence on the suicide attacks.
Police said 24 bodies had been found at the Trident-Oberoi on Friday, potentially inflating the death toll still further.
On Thursday night they had predicted a quick end to the siege at the nearby Taj hotel. But hundreds of elite commandos have still failed to dislodge a lone gunman, thought to be wounded, in the maze of corridors of the 105-year-old hotel.
"He is moving in two floors, there is a dancefloor area where apparently he has cut off all the lights," Lieutenant-General N. Thamburaj told reporters.
"This morning while carrying out the operation we heard the sound of a lady and a gentleman, so it is possible that this terrorist has got two or more hostages with him."
The head of an elite commando unit said the militants knew the layout of the hotel better than they did and called them "a very determined lot, remorseless".
The commander, his face disguised by a black scarf and sunglasses, said he had seen 50 bodies in the Taj, including 12 to 15 in one room.
SOUTH ASIAN TENSIONS
One of the militants arrested in Mumbai was a Pakistani national, the interior minister of Maharashtra state, R.R. Patil, told reporters.
In a diplomatic exchange that raised the prospect of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee urged Pakistan to dismantle infrastructure supporting militants.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also warned on Thursday of "a cost" if India's neighbours did not take action to stop their territory being used to launch such attacks.
On Friday he asked the head of Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, to visit to share information.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who says he wants much better relations with India, called Singh by telephone on Friday and agreed to the request for the visit.
But Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on India not to play politics over the attacks.
"Do not bring politics into this issue. This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," he told reporters during a visit to the Indian town of Ajmer.
Mumbai, a city of 18 million, is the nerve-centre of India's growing economic might and home to the "Bollywood" film industry.
India's main stock markets reopened on Friday after being closed on Thursday due to the attack, but the main share index closed up 0.73 percent.
An estimated 25 men armed with assault rifles and grenades -- at least some of whom arrived by sea -- had fanned out across Mumbai on Wednesday night to attack sites popular with tourists and businessmen, including the city's top two luxury hotels.
At least eight foreigners, including three Germans, one Australian, a Briton, Canadian, an Italian and a Japanese national, were among the dead, according to the governments of India and other nations.
India - CCTVs at CST, Taj can nail Mumbai terrorists
Leslie D'Monte
Technology — both hardware and software — may not have been able to stop the terrrorists from firing indiscriminately with their Ak-47(s) and M5(s) at innocent targets. However, they can fully reconstruct the entire episode since surveillance equipment like closed circuit TVs (CCTVs) at the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and the Taj and the Oberoi hotels would have captured and recorded the images of the terrorists.
This can help the police nail them.Mumbai is no stranger to technology like CCTVs and metal detectors. Security firms like Zicom, Honeywell, Siemens and Godrej have installed surveillance equipment to cover the city with virtual eyes (CCTVs) that observe and record round the clock. The entire 30 km stretch from CST (formerly Victoria Terminus) to Thane has CCTVs.
Zicom, on its part, has installed 820 CCTVs covering the entire stretch of Churchgate to Virar (around 60 km). It has installed around 100 CCTVs at all traffic signals in Mumbai (cost only around Rs 4 crore). Besides famous temples like Siddhivinayak in Dadar have CCTVs too.
The cost to the government is not prohibitive. The Churgate-Virar belt installation, for instance, was not expensive since the equipment was installed by Zicom for which it did not charge the government. The state government pays around Rs 11 lakh per month as service fees.
However, the coastal area is very poorly protected when it comes to technology surveillance. Security experts said this is because the government considers it “a wasteful expenditure, and wakes up when terrorist attacks happen only to forget it a few days later”.
For instance, Mumbaiites got an SMS minutes after the terrorists fled in two vehicles with registration plates MH01 ZA
Technology — both hardware and software — may not have been able to stop the terrrorists from firing indiscriminately with their Ak-47(s) and M5(s) at innocent targets. However, they can fully reconstruct the entire episode since surveillance equipment like closed circuit TVs (CCTVs) at the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and the Taj and the Oberoi hotels would have captured and recorded the images of the terrorists.
This can help the police nail them.Mumbai is no stranger to technology like CCTVs and metal detectors. Security firms like Zicom, Honeywell, Siemens and Godrej have installed surveillance equipment to cover the city with virtual eyes (CCTVs) that observe and record round the clock. The entire 30 km stretch from CST (formerly Victoria Terminus) to Thane has CCTVs.
Zicom, on its part, has installed 820 CCTVs covering the entire stretch of Churchgate to Virar (around 60 km). It has installed around 100 CCTVs at all traffic signals in Mumbai (cost only around Rs 4 crore). Besides famous temples like Siddhivinayak in Dadar have CCTVs too.
The cost to the government is not prohibitive. The Churgate-Virar belt installation, for instance, was not expensive since the equipment was installed by Zicom for which it did not charge the government. The state government pays around Rs 11 lakh per month as service fees.
However, the coastal area is very poorly protected when it comes to technology surveillance. Security experts said this is because the government considers it “a wasteful expenditure, and wakes up when terrorist attacks happen only to forget it a few days later”.
For instance, Mumbaiites got an SMS minutes after the terrorists fled in two vehicles with registration plates MH01 ZA