Namita Kohli
Dressed in a black burqa that swamps her petite figure and high heels that don’t much add to her five-feet, Malalai Joya appears to be like any other 30-year-old. There’s nothing in her unassuming demeanour to tell you that she’s been living in hiding for years now, that she travels with 12 bodyguards, and has survived four assassination attempts in the last five years. That she is the woman the BBC once described as the ‘most famous’ in Afghanistan. “It’s all due to the love of my people,” says Joya smiling.
Despite being labelled ‘infidel’ for her tirade against Taliban warlords at the 2003 Loya Jirga (Afghanistan’s constitutional court), Joya was elected to the Afghan Parliament from Farah province with the second highest number of votes in 2005.
More importantly, she won as an independent, without any political affiliations. Two years later, she hit the headlines again when in a television interview she described the Parliament as “worse than a zoo”.
But the Afghan MP isn’t daunted. “Wherever I go, I just speak the truth,” she says. In Delhi last week for Amnesty International India’s programme on human rights, Joya says it was impossible for her to be diplomatic inside Parliament.
“How could I negotiate with criminals, warlords, those who have been accused of serious human rights violations?” But outspokenness has resulted in her being expelled from Parliament, her diplomatic passport being seized and several death threats. Joya has had to go “underground”, living away from her family, her husband of three years and the people for whom she took up the fight.
“It’s hard. But my supporters help me keep in touch with people, they get me everything I need. I survive on donations,” she says. Joya’s fishnet stockings, her multi-coloured muffler and even her black shoes are all ‘gifts’, since she can’t go to the markets herself for fear of never returning.
But Joya would rather not talk about herself, preferring the focus to remain on her war ravaged country. Rattling off facts in her broken English from a little diary, she says: “Democracy is a sham in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai’s government is full of former warlords: Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmed Karzai, the president’s brother and a drug trafficker. Ninety-three per cent of the world’s afeem (opium) is produced in Afghanistan. Suicide among women and rapes are the highest in many decades.”
She speaks of US-led bombings at schools and at wedding parties, and of living among the ruins of the once beautiful city of Kabul.
But once the passion recedes, weariness surfaces. “I was only four days old when my family had to flee since the Soviet army had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. We fled to Iran and then to Pakistan. We lived in refugee camps.” Her father, who was a medical student gave up his studies and took up whatever jobs that came his way. The family returned when Joya was 19, to find their country a wreck.
Joya worked with several NGOs where she got an insight into ground realities. “The US pushed us from the frying pan to the fire. After the Taliban, it’s the fundamentalists of the Northern Alliance. Women’s conditions have only worsened under them,” she says, pointing to a photograph of girls walking in skirts and scarves in 1967. “Now, we can’t roam on the streets like that.”
She shows more photographs of schools in tents, with just a basic blackboard. “Where are all the billions of dollars of foreign aid going? No one knows. Worse, the government is now negotiating with the Taliban!” The only good thing that’s come out of the war, she says, is that people have become politically conscious.
Joya couldn’t go to college, but she wants her country to get schools, hospitals and a democratic system. This is what she speaks of at all the international fora she travels to at considerable risk to herself — travelling first by road in a burqa to a safe destination and then flying out from there. “They can kill me any time, they have reached my house, my office. I know they will succeed. But I am still going to fight; now I am gearing up for the 2010 elections,” she says.
The only time when fear tinges her speech is when she says, “I wish I could go to the markets here, but I am alone here, the mujahideen might create trouble.”
Dec 27, 2008
India - Why war isn't an option
Barkha Dutt
I just got an email from a friend in Pakistan. He had written just five words: do something; stop this war. War? I wrote back arguing that there was no war to run scared from and that the illusion of an imminent catastrophe had been manufactured on the other side. Our dialogue collapsed in a dead-end, which may work well for TV talk but not in real life. Most Pakistanis I have been speaking to in the last one month are convinced that the
Indians are coming. And most Indians, with the inarticulateness that comes with rage, want the government to “do something”. We just aren’t sure what that “something” can or should be.
We are frustrated and angry that even a month after the Bombay attacks, there is no tangible shift in the way Islamabad is respo-nding. If anything, things have only got worse. Even the UN-pushed crackdown on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the ideolo-gical launchpad and political front of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba) has turned out to be cosmetic. And Masood Azhar — the terrorist who walked free in exchange for the safety of the IC-814 passengers — has vanished, after being declared under house arrest. The flip-flops are brazen enough to destroy diplomacy.
And yet, the truth — painful as it may be to families who have suffered directly in the Bombay attacks — is this: war is not an option; it is neither practical nor desirable. First, there are the commonsensical reasons to rule it out. A military conflict will not manage to eliminate the seeds of terrorism that are sown deep into the subsoil of Pakistan’s strategic architecture. Washington cannot be treated as the automatic deterrent to nuclear conflict; the stakes are too high, the game too risky. A civilian establishment that does not trust its own institutions to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (the centrepiece of the PPP’s election campaign was the promise of a UN probe) will hardly be able to control rogue players with a mind of their own, in case of a war. Even surgical strikes (bound to escalate into a full-blown conflict) don’t have ready targets to plan with. Terror camps can be swiftly dismantled and resurrected at new locations once the conflict is over. A military conflict does not even guarantee that the Indian forces can come home with Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed or Masood Azhar. So, what would we really achieve by risking the lives of our soldiers?
But for those who dismiss all this as arguments made by the fainthearted, there’s a more compelling reason not to consider war: India would be playing straight into the hands of Pakistan’s military regime. Talk to Pakistani commentators and they agree that a war with India strengthens the Pakistan army like nothing else has or could in the past year. Some even suggest that precision air strikes by India will present a near-perfect scenario for the Pakistan military. Islamabad will retaliate without immediately risking the fatalities of on-ground conflict; Washington will jump in within days and the military will be back in the centrestage of public approval. This, in a country, where just a few months ago, General Pervez Musharraf was pushed out unceremoniously and the army was blamed for everything from the rise of the Taliban to the price of onions.
Bhutto’s tragic assassination (blamed by her own people on elements in the security establishment) was meant to usher in a political revolution. Exactly a year back, in December, I remember sitting in the Bhutto House at Larkana, and feeling goosebumps when Bilawal Bhutto announced in a trembling voice that that “democracy” would be the “best revenge” for his mother’s murder. But we have seen that democracy being whittled down systematically. Many in Pakistan believe that sections of the ISI and the Army have moved in with quiet, but brutal aggression because President Asif Ali Zardari was moving too quickly in peace talks with India. The offer of a no-first use of N-weapons; the consent to start border trade across the line of control, the attempts to reign in the ISI and the willingness (at least on paper) to investigate its role in the Kabul bombings — none of this made Zardari popular with his own security establishment. And frankly, in the last month it has become clear that neither Zardari nor Nawaz Sharif is the author of this script any longer. The refusal to send the ISI chief to India, pushing Sharif to retract his statement on Pakistani involvement in the Bombay attacks, and now the artificial war hysteria created by moving troops and flying air force jets over residential areas — all have the imprint of a larger plan — one that goes well beyond the terrorist strikes in Bombay.
By whipping up the impression of imminent war, Islamabad’s security establishment is hoping to catapult itself back into the role of saviour. It isn’t my argument that India should be overly concerned about the inner failings of Pakistan’s experiment with democracy. Our decisions should be guided by self-interest. And so we must ask, does India want to strengthen the very section of the Pakistani power structure that it sees as innately hostile to us?
Yes, the domestic mood remains one of “enough is enough.” And contrary to the rather over-imaginative understanding of some TV-bashers that this was an exhortation to war, it’s a simple, effective phrase (first used passionately by Shobhaa De) to capture the mood of a country that is no longer willing to accept a system that lets us down and fails to protect us. But before we demand quick-fix solutions on moving against Pakistan, let us ask ourselves this: are we helping India? India must now look for an unconventional solution that lies somewhere between war and peace.
I just got an email from a friend in Pakistan. He had written just five words: do something; stop this war. War? I wrote back arguing that there was no war to run scared from and that the illusion of an imminent catastrophe had been manufactured on the other side. Our dialogue collapsed in a dead-end, which may work well for TV talk but not in real life. Most Pakistanis I have been speaking to in the last one month are convinced that the
Indians are coming. And most Indians, with the inarticulateness that comes with rage, want the government to “do something”. We just aren’t sure what that “something” can or should be.
We are frustrated and angry that even a month after the Bombay attacks, there is no tangible shift in the way Islamabad is respo-nding. If anything, things have only got worse. Even the UN-pushed crackdown on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the ideolo-gical launchpad and political front of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba) has turned out to be cosmetic. And Masood Azhar — the terrorist who walked free in exchange for the safety of the IC-814 passengers — has vanished, after being declared under house arrest. The flip-flops are brazen enough to destroy diplomacy.
And yet, the truth — painful as it may be to families who have suffered directly in the Bombay attacks — is this: war is not an option; it is neither practical nor desirable. First, there are the commonsensical reasons to rule it out. A military conflict will not manage to eliminate the seeds of terrorism that are sown deep into the subsoil of Pakistan’s strategic architecture. Washington cannot be treated as the automatic deterrent to nuclear conflict; the stakes are too high, the game too risky. A civilian establishment that does not trust its own institutions to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (the centrepiece of the PPP’s election campaign was the promise of a UN probe) will hardly be able to control rogue players with a mind of their own, in case of a war. Even surgical strikes (bound to escalate into a full-blown conflict) don’t have ready targets to plan with. Terror camps can be swiftly dismantled and resurrected at new locations once the conflict is over. A military conflict does not even guarantee that the Indian forces can come home with Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed or Masood Azhar. So, what would we really achieve by risking the lives of our soldiers?
But for those who dismiss all this as arguments made by the fainthearted, there’s a more compelling reason not to consider war: India would be playing straight into the hands of Pakistan’s military regime. Talk to Pakistani commentators and they agree that a war with India strengthens the Pakistan army like nothing else has or could in the past year. Some even suggest that precision air strikes by India will present a near-perfect scenario for the Pakistan military. Islamabad will retaliate without immediately risking the fatalities of on-ground conflict; Washington will jump in within days and the military will be back in the centrestage of public approval. This, in a country, where just a few months ago, General Pervez Musharraf was pushed out unceremoniously and the army was blamed for everything from the rise of the Taliban to the price of onions.
Bhutto’s tragic assassination (blamed by her own people on elements in the security establishment) was meant to usher in a political revolution. Exactly a year back, in December, I remember sitting in the Bhutto House at Larkana, and feeling goosebumps when Bilawal Bhutto announced in a trembling voice that that “democracy” would be the “best revenge” for his mother’s murder. But we have seen that democracy being whittled down systematically. Many in Pakistan believe that sections of the ISI and the Army have moved in with quiet, but brutal aggression because President Asif Ali Zardari was moving too quickly in peace talks with India. The offer of a no-first use of N-weapons; the consent to start border trade across the line of control, the attempts to reign in the ISI and the willingness (at least on paper) to investigate its role in the Kabul bombings — none of this made Zardari popular with his own security establishment. And frankly, in the last month it has become clear that neither Zardari nor Nawaz Sharif is the author of this script any longer. The refusal to send the ISI chief to India, pushing Sharif to retract his statement on Pakistani involvement in the Bombay attacks, and now the artificial war hysteria created by moving troops and flying air force jets over residential areas — all have the imprint of a larger plan — one that goes well beyond the terrorist strikes in Bombay.
By whipping up the impression of imminent war, Islamabad’s security establishment is hoping to catapult itself back into the role of saviour. It isn’t my argument that India should be overly concerned about the inner failings of Pakistan’s experiment with democracy. Our decisions should be guided by self-interest. And so we must ask, does India want to strengthen the very section of the Pakistani power structure that it sees as innately hostile to us?
Yes, the domestic mood remains one of “enough is enough.” And contrary to the rather over-imaginative understanding of some TV-bashers that this was an exhortation to war, it’s a simple, effective phrase (first used passionately by Shobhaa De) to capture the mood of a country that is no longer willing to accept a system that lets us down and fails to protect us. But before we demand quick-fix solutions on moving against Pakistan, let us ask ourselves this: are we helping India? India must now look for an unconventional solution that lies somewhere between war and peace.
Tech - A device to pull water out of thin air
TORONTO: There is cheering news for the water-thirsty world! A Canadian company claims to have developed a device that will pull water out of thin air to end thirst around the world.
British Columbia-based Element Four said the device, called Watermill, can create enough clean and fresh water to overcome the global crisis. Each device will pull 13 litres out of air using the natural condensation process, company officials said.
It will reportedly use coils to squeeze water out of the natural humidity in the air, they said. “This is the next microwave,” said Richard Weisbeck, director of product development at Element Four. He said, “The company will sell about 25,000 devices in 2009.”
“It will take a little while for people to get comfortable with the magic of water from air, but the need is certainly there,” said company president Jonathan. The company, which presented its invention at the United Nations recently, said the device will not only make millions of dollars in revenue for it but also solve the water crisis in the third world countries.
The device adapts to the conditions where it is installed, and will do it more efficiently than anything that has been invented before it, company officials told the news channel.
British Columbia-based Element Four said the device, called Watermill, can create enough clean and fresh water to overcome the global crisis. Each device will pull 13 litres out of air using the natural condensation process, company officials said.
It will reportedly use coils to squeeze water out of the natural humidity in the air, they said. “This is the next microwave,” said Richard Weisbeck, director of product development at Element Four. He said, “The company will sell about 25,000 devices in 2009.”
“It will take a little while for people to get comfortable with the magic of water from air, but the need is certainly there,” said company president Jonathan. The company, which presented its invention at the United Nations recently, said the device will not only make millions of dollars in revenue for it but also solve the water crisis in the third world countries.
The device adapts to the conditions where it is installed, and will do it more efficiently than anything that has been invented before it, company officials told the news channel.
World - Lashkar's all-new intellectual terrorist
NEW DELHI: As India pushes Pakistan to take action against the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the profile of the Lashkar jihadis has undergone a change with
economic deprivation and local grievances no longer the root causes for joining the terror group that is behind the Mumbai terror attacks.
Instead Lashkar’s new recruits, who reportedly hold degrees in business administration and computer science, are bound by the pull of the global brotherhood and the ideology of jihad. It is further believed that the successful call of the global jihad has also helped the Lashkar recruit from the Pakistani diaspora from different parts of Europe.
“There is evidence that the recruits are younger. Both the Lashkar and the Jaish-e-Mohammed are getting recruits from the Pakistan diaspora,’’ said security analyst B Raman.
A Kashmir-based LeT commander Abu Aqasa told a US daily that LeT jihadis also consist of young men with master’s degrees in business administration and bachelor’s degrees in computer science. “We have doctors and engineers and computer specialists working for us,” he was quoted as saying. “These people don’t necessarily fight wars with us. They mainly help us spread our message in cities and villages and also help us in our dispensaries, hospitals and other charitable works.’’
Abu Aqasa was further quoted as saying that the organisation uses educated people and especially those with good communications skills to recruit supporters in religious congregations. The report further said that a new recruit is inducted into the organisation and is then sent for further training.
This busts the theory that local grievances and extreme poverty are the root causes for young men joining terror groups. In fact, the group behind the foiled Glasgow terror plot was also another instance of the new jihadi. A group of five doctors, who were from different countries but united by the common jihadi ideology, plotted and planned the Glasgow airport attack that was ultimately foiled.
Going back to the Lashkar, security experts further believe that Lashkar is attracting recruits as it has embraced the call for global jihad and is no longer a Kashmir centric terror group. `This is a predominantly Punjabi group whose global mission is jihad. It is a myth that this is a Kashmiri separatist group,’’ said Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research. He further said that recruitment in the al-Qaeda and the Lashkar included recruits from rich families.
The Lashkar is known to have increased its presence in Pakistan with the help of the ISI which has continued to provide state patronage to the group. This includes providing protection and sharing intelligence with the terror organisation. The government believes that LeT carried out the Mumbai terror attacks with the help of the Pakistani military.
economic deprivation and local grievances no longer the root causes for joining the terror group that is behind the Mumbai terror attacks.
Instead Lashkar’s new recruits, who reportedly hold degrees in business administration and computer science, are bound by the pull of the global brotherhood and the ideology of jihad. It is further believed that the successful call of the global jihad has also helped the Lashkar recruit from the Pakistani diaspora from different parts of Europe.
“There is evidence that the recruits are younger. Both the Lashkar and the Jaish-e-Mohammed are getting recruits from the Pakistan diaspora,’’ said security analyst B Raman.
A Kashmir-based LeT commander Abu Aqasa told a US daily that LeT jihadis also consist of young men with master’s degrees in business administration and bachelor’s degrees in computer science. “We have doctors and engineers and computer specialists working for us,” he was quoted as saying. “These people don’t necessarily fight wars with us. They mainly help us spread our message in cities and villages and also help us in our dispensaries, hospitals and other charitable works.’’
Abu Aqasa was further quoted as saying that the organisation uses educated people and especially those with good communications skills to recruit supporters in religious congregations. The report further said that a new recruit is inducted into the organisation and is then sent for further training.
This busts the theory that local grievances and extreme poverty are the root causes for young men joining terror groups. In fact, the group behind the foiled Glasgow terror plot was also another instance of the new jihadi. A group of five doctors, who were from different countries but united by the common jihadi ideology, plotted and planned the Glasgow airport attack that was ultimately foiled.
Going back to the Lashkar, security experts further believe that Lashkar is attracting recruits as it has embraced the call for global jihad and is no longer a Kashmir centric terror group. `This is a predominantly Punjabi group whose global mission is jihad. It is a myth that this is a Kashmiri separatist group,’’ said Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research. He further said that recruitment in the al-Qaeda and the Lashkar included recruits from rich families.
The Lashkar is known to have increased its presence in Pakistan with the help of the ISI which has continued to provide state patronage to the group. This includes providing protection and sharing intelligence with the terror organisation. The government believes that LeT carried out the Mumbai terror attacks with the help of the Pakistani military.
World - After 30 years,a cinema in Saudi
JEDDAH: They howled, clapped and ate popcorn -- a normal cinema scene elsewhere, but revolutionary in Saudi Arabia where films have not played
publicly for decades. Massive lines snaked out from the King Abdul Aziz Cultural Centre as Jeddah residents queued up to see the first feature film open to the public for 30 years, hoping the event heralded a big change in the ultra-conservative kingdom's cultural scene.
In what took hush-hush negotiations with senior political officials and the strict religious police, the Red Sea port of Jeddah and the nearby city of Taif allowed the Rotana entertainment group, owned by powerful Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, to show its new comedy "Manahi" for nine days. "The hall was filled up till the very last seat during the two shows scheduled each day, forcing us to add a third show after midnight,” said organizer Mamdouh Salem .
Decades ago film lovers in Saudi Arabia would crowd into clubs and halls to watch the same movies enjoyed throughout the Arab world. But in the 1970s, clerics of the ultra-conservative Wahhabist version of Islam cracked down and banned cinemas as having a corrupting influence on society.
The taboo has been broken somewhat in recent years, with videos, satellite television and movies shown surreptitiously at night in popular coffee shops. But to see a movie in a real theatre, Saudis still have to travel to neighboring countries.
The local religious police, from the feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, inspected the hall ahead of the screenings to ensure that women and men would be separated. With women sitting apart in the balcony, and men and boys on the ground floor below them, the hall echoed with raucous laughter.
"This is a hall with 1,200 seats. It was not built for movies, and the projector is not made for 35mm films," Salem said. On hand for the opening, "Manahi" star Fayez Malki said he was pleased at the turnout. "This encourages me to play in more Saudi films and I plan to make a new one with Rotana," he said.
Roua Mohammed, an interior designer, said "she visits Cairo three times a year to check out the latest releases in the theatres." Despite the success in Jeddah, it was not yet clear whether Rotana would be able to show "Manahi" in Riyadh, where the religious police are much tougher and government officials more conservative.
publicly for decades. Massive lines snaked out from the King Abdul Aziz Cultural Centre as Jeddah residents queued up to see the first feature film open to the public for 30 years, hoping the event heralded a big change in the ultra-conservative kingdom's cultural scene.
In what took hush-hush negotiations with senior political officials and the strict religious police, the Red Sea port of Jeddah and the nearby city of Taif allowed the Rotana entertainment group, owned by powerful Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, to show its new comedy "Manahi" for nine days. "The hall was filled up till the very last seat during the two shows scheduled each day, forcing us to add a third show after midnight,” said organizer Mamdouh Salem .
Decades ago film lovers in Saudi Arabia would crowd into clubs and halls to watch the same movies enjoyed throughout the Arab world. But in the 1970s, clerics of the ultra-conservative Wahhabist version of Islam cracked down and banned cinemas as having a corrupting influence on society.
The taboo has been broken somewhat in recent years, with videos, satellite television and movies shown surreptitiously at night in popular coffee shops. But to see a movie in a real theatre, Saudis still have to travel to neighboring countries.
The local religious police, from the feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, inspected the hall ahead of the screenings to ensure that women and men would be separated. With women sitting apart in the balcony, and men and boys on the ground floor below them, the hall echoed with raucous laughter.
"This is a hall with 1,200 seats. It was not built for movies, and the projector is not made for 35mm films," Salem said. On hand for the opening, "Manahi" star Fayez Malki said he was pleased at the turnout. "This encourages me to play in more Saudi films and I plan to make a new one with Rotana," he said.
Roua Mohammed, an interior designer, said "she visits Cairo three times a year to check out the latest releases in the theatres." Despite the success in Jeddah, it was not yet clear whether Rotana would be able to show "Manahi" in Riyadh, where the religious police are much tougher and government officials more conservative.
Sport - Cricket;Lanka's Pak tour is on
Sutirtho Patranobis
Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan is officially on. Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday gave the go-ahead after a detailed discussion with foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama on the security situation in Pakistan.
Subsequently, Bogollagama recommended to the Sports Ministry that the tour should be on as scheduled. The month-long tour of Lankan cricket team would begin on January 20. Questions were raised about the tour after the Sports Ministry had dissolved an interim committee for cricket in Sri Lanka headed by former captain Arujuna Ranatunga earlier in the week. Sports minister Gamini Lokuge had told HT that it was up to the government to decide on the tour.
According to the foreign ministry here, Bogollagama was of the view that "sport is an effective means of promoting connectivity between nations and thereby enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill between countries.'
Earlier, Lokuge had told the foreign minister that since the tour would take place under the aegis of the ICC, the tour should be subject to the ICC's security clearance.
Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan is officially on. Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday gave the go-ahead after a detailed discussion with foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama on the security situation in Pakistan.
Subsequently, Bogollagama recommended to the Sports Ministry that the tour should be on as scheduled. The month-long tour of Lankan cricket team would begin on January 20. Questions were raised about the tour after the Sports Ministry had dissolved an interim committee for cricket in Sri Lanka headed by former captain Arujuna Ranatunga earlier in the week. Sports minister Gamini Lokuge had told HT that it was up to the government to decide on the tour.
According to the foreign ministry here, Bogollagama was of the view that "sport is an effective means of promoting connectivity between nations and thereby enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill between countries.'
Earlier, Lokuge had told the foreign minister that since the tour would take place under the aegis of the ICC, the tour should be subject to the ICC's security clearance.
India - Alumni help B-schools take pride of place
Jessica Mehroin Irani
MUMBAI: With the slowdown adversely impacting recruitment, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are taking no chances. The placement season
for 2009 is just a few weeks away, and the IIMs are banking heavily on the strength of its alumni to make sure there are not many hiccups along the way.
IIM Bangalore (IIM-B) has been proactive in contacting its alumni and asking them to support the institute and its students through the placement season which will commence shortly. IIM-B’s placement committee recently made a presentation to its 1998 batch at a recent alumni reunion. The presentation outlined the recruitment process from the past and highlighted how the alumni could take part in the ensuing season. The objective is to invite past students to visit the campus during the 2009 placement season and recruit in large numbers. “Our alumni, who are with various companies, helped us with our summer internships this year. We have a large alumni network and we shall continue to look at it for support,” said a member of the committee.
Like IIM-B, IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is banking on its past students. The institute, which will complete 50 years of its existence in December 2011, has sent an e-mail to its alumni — a copy of which is with ET — which summed up the mood among the students. “There is some apprehension among the current students in the institute that the forthcoming placement (March 2009) may be difficult. I would request you to individually and collectively to put in a special effort to ensure that the organisations you are with do visit the institute for permanent placement and give an opportunity to students to present their credentials for recruitment,” the mail stated.
It also touched upon the recent attacks in Mumbai and asked the alumni to contribute to the endowment fund set up by the institute. IIM-A did not respond to a query from ET.
In the midst of all this, some former students have been optimistic about how the placement season will play out. The Alumni Council head for IIM-A, V Vaidyanathan, an alumnus of the class of 1985, said that the institute would not face too many problems during the placement season. “If the bride is attractive, the suitors will come,” is how he put it. The big sectors — Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) — have over the past few years recruited around 40% of a batch’s students. That may not be the case this time around. Likewise, information technology (IT) may go a little slow this time around. “However, sectors like infrastructure, consulting, manufacturing and consumer marketing will continue to recruit,” said Mr Vaidyanathan. It is expected that there may not be a case of students holding too many job offers compared to the scenario in the past. “Earlier, each student had 5-6 offers. This year it might be 2-3,” he added.
So far, other IIMs have not reacted to the slowdown. When ET contacted past students from IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), they said they were not in receipt of any mail from the institute. “Even if companies do go, they will make fewer offers. They would want to maintain good relations with the institute and may make a goodwill gesture by hiring a few students,” says an IIM-C graduate from the 1987 batch.
MUMBAI: With the slowdown adversely impacting recruitment, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are taking no chances. The placement season
for 2009 is just a few weeks away, and the IIMs are banking heavily on the strength of its alumni to make sure there are not many hiccups along the way.
IIM Bangalore (IIM-B) has been proactive in contacting its alumni and asking them to support the institute and its students through the placement season which will commence shortly. IIM-B’s placement committee recently made a presentation to its 1998 batch at a recent alumni reunion. The presentation outlined the recruitment process from the past and highlighted how the alumni could take part in the ensuing season. The objective is to invite past students to visit the campus during the 2009 placement season and recruit in large numbers. “Our alumni, who are with various companies, helped us with our summer internships this year. We have a large alumni network and we shall continue to look at it for support,” said a member of the committee.
Like IIM-B, IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is banking on its past students. The institute, which will complete 50 years of its existence in December 2011, has sent an e-mail to its alumni — a copy of which is with ET — which summed up the mood among the students. “There is some apprehension among the current students in the institute that the forthcoming placement (March 2009) may be difficult. I would request you to individually and collectively to put in a special effort to ensure that the organisations you are with do visit the institute for permanent placement and give an opportunity to students to present their credentials for recruitment,” the mail stated.
It also touched upon the recent attacks in Mumbai and asked the alumni to contribute to the endowment fund set up by the institute. IIM-A did not respond to a query from ET.
In the midst of all this, some former students have been optimistic about how the placement season will play out. The Alumni Council head for IIM-A, V Vaidyanathan, an alumnus of the class of 1985, said that the institute would not face too many problems during the placement season. “If the bride is attractive, the suitors will come,” is how he put it. The big sectors — Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) — have over the past few years recruited around 40% of a batch’s students. That may not be the case this time around. Likewise, information technology (IT) may go a little slow this time around. “However, sectors like infrastructure, consulting, manufacturing and consumer marketing will continue to recruit,” said Mr Vaidyanathan. It is expected that there may not be a case of students holding too many job offers compared to the scenario in the past. “Earlier, each student had 5-6 offers. This year it might be 2-3,” he added.
So far, other IIMs have not reacted to the slowdown. When ET contacted past students from IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), they said they were not in receipt of any mail from the institute. “Even if companies do go, they will make fewer offers. They would want to maintain good relations with the institute and may make a goodwill gesture by hiring a few students,” says an IIM-C graduate from the 1987 batch.
Mktg - Beckham & Pepsi no longer together
LONDON: Football star David Beckham, who was the face of the soft drink giant Pepsi for over ten years, has finally decided to give up his
money-minting contract.
The 33-year-old footballer has decided to give up the two-million-pound-a-year contract to focus on his work with brands like Vodafone and Armani, the Sun reported.
The star has appeared dressed up as gladiator, cowboy and surfer for the Pepsi's advertising campaign.
"I have nothing but good memories of my association with Pepsi. I've played a gladiator, a cowboy, a surfer, and worked alongside Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez as well as some of the biggest names in world football," Beckham said last night.
Beckham, currently playing at AC Milan after being loaned out by his US team LA Galaxy, further added, "I hope everyone who has seen the work enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it."
Pepsi hailed its work with Beckham as "one of the most enduring partnerships in global brand history," the paper reported.
"David's football legacy will live on, and everyone at Pepsi will continue to be passionate about his success," the soft drink company said.
money-minting contract.
The 33-year-old footballer has decided to give up the two-million-pound-a-year contract to focus on his work with brands like Vodafone and Armani, the Sun reported.
The star has appeared dressed up as gladiator, cowboy and surfer for the Pepsi's advertising campaign.
"I have nothing but good memories of my association with Pepsi. I've played a gladiator, a cowboy, a surfer, and worked alongside Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez as well as some of the biggest names in world football," Beckham said last night.
Beckham, currently playing at AC Milan after being loaned out by his US team LA Galaxy, further added, "I hope everyone who has seen the work enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it."
Pepsi hailed its work with Beckham as "one of the most enduring partnerships in global brand history," the paper reported.
"David's football legacy will live on, and everyone at Pepsi will continue to be passionate about his success," the soft drink company said.
India - Energy policy wants end to fuel subsidies
The government on Friday approved the Integrated Energy Policy that calls for a swift transition to a market-determined pricing of petroleum products in line with global prices.
“A phased adjustment of domestic petroleum prices to trade parity prices must be undertaken in a relatively short period,” the policy said. This means a mix of import and export prices should determine petrol and diesel retail prices, rather than being fixed by government through a subsidy regime.
At present, the government issues bonds to oil companies to ensure high crude oil prices do not immediately translate into an increase in retail prices of petroleum products.
“A monitoring committee chaired by cabinet secretary has been set up to review the progress of implementation of the policy,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram said after a meeting of the cabinet that approved the policy.
The policy also favoured market-determined prices of coal. It also called for building strategic stockpile of nuclear fuel to counter the risk of disruption of international fuel supply and suggested acquiring energy assets abroad.
The Integrated Energy Policy report of the Planning Commission, which provides the basis for these measures, however, is not so bullish about India’s nuclear development programme.
“Even if a 20-fold increase takes place in India’s nuclear power capacity by 2031-32, the contribution of nuclear energy to the country’s energy-mix is at best expected to be 4 to 6.4 per cent (of the total power produced in the country),” the report said. Currently, 17 nuclear reactors produce only 4,200 MW of a total of 1,70,00 MW of power produced in the country.
To sustain eight per cent growth through 2031-32 India needs to increase its energy generation to 8,00,000 MW, the policy said.
“A phased adjustment of domestic petroleum prices to trade parity prices must be undertaken in a relatively short period,” the policy said. This means a mix of import and export prices should determine petrol and diesel retail prices, rather than being fixed by government through a subsidy regime.
At present, the government issues bonds to oil companies to ensure high crude oil prices do not immediately translate into an increase in retail prices of petroleum products.
“A monitoring committee chaired by cabinet secretary has been set up to review the progress of implementation of the policy,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram said after a meeting of the cabinet that approved the policy.
The policy also favoured market-determined prices of coal. It also called for building strategic stockpile of nuclear fuel to counter the risk of disruption of international fuel supply and suggested acquiring energy assets abroad.
The Integrated Energy Policy report of the Planning Commission, which provides the basis for these measures, however, is not so bullish about India’s nuclear development programme.
“Even if a 20-fold increase takes place in India’s nuclear power capacity by 2031-32, the contribution of nuclear energy to the country’s energy-mix is at best expected to be 4 to 6.4 per cent (of the total power produced in the country),” the report said. Currently, 17 nuclear reactors produce only 4,200 MW of a total of 1,70,00 MW of power produced in the country.
To sustain eight per cent growth through 2031-32 India needs to increase its energy generation to 8,00,000 MW, the policy said.
Business - Q&A COO Procter & Gamble (V.G.Read)
Vinay Kamath
Robert McDonald, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of consumer goods multinational Procter & Gamble (P&G), maker of several blockbuster brands such as Ariel and Head & Shoulders, among others, was listed as one of the star speakers at the Pan-IIT 2008 global conference. Zipping into Chennai in a corporate jet, McDonald, a former US Army Officer who served five years in the Army before joining P&G in 1980, spoke to BrandLine on P&G’s innovation, on competition and the Indian market.
Ask him how his military career helped him, he says, “The mission is different in the military but it’s all about leadership, its part of the same piece of cloth.” And if the techniques he learnt in the Army helped his corporate career, pat comes his reply: “Yes definitely, you get a lot of responsibility at a very young age and that usually means peoples lives and that’s a good way to learn.” Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Your growth in China has been spectacular, perhaps mixed in India. How would you compare P&G’s performance in China vis-À-vis India?
Our Indian business is actually growing at a remarkable rate. Since the year 2000 our business has quintupled. The difference is in China too we started at the same time in 1988 when the economy opened up. Whereas, Hindustan Unilever is very strong and established in India. So, we are coming from behind but that can be a competitive advantage as well because you can leapfrog technology and infrastructure.
How would you compare the two markets — the Chinese and Indian? Are the growth rates comparable?
Our total sales would be more in China. In India, our sales would be lower, but we are in fewer product categories. Here, we are in about eight product categories; in the US we are in 21 categories. As a result, it is pretty obvious what our strategies will be going forward.
Bijoy Ghosh
How are you innovating products for the Indian market — would you say the market here is similar to markets elsewhere?
There are peculiarities to every market and we try to spend time and lot of money understanding individual consumers. When I arrived in Mumbai, the first thing I did was go to a consumer’s home — what I did was watched them use our products. I spoke to them about our products, looking for insights, nuggets of information we can use to innovate. Of course, there are lots of differences. I am visiting an Indian home after 17 years, and there are lots of changes I see. But the cultural things will remain the same.
For example, in China, every household has a washing machine, many don’t use it, but they have one. In India, I was talking to this lady, she was relatively well off, but said her husband wouldn’t buy her a washing machine because he said it would make her lazy.
So, we have to formulate our product differently since she is not using a machine, but we also have to understand her psychology because if her husband is measuring her energy levels on her washing, we have to help her be the hero of the family.
It’s fascinating, that’s one of the reasons I love my job. Can you imagine the versatility I get to see all around the world and the detective work we got to do to uncover these nuggets of knowledge that lead to innovation, and that leads to touching and improving lives, which is our goal.
Sometimes the consumer insight is blindingly simple, so what kind of insights have you gleaned from the Indian market that have helped you develop products?
One example is, in India, many of the households don’t have water supply for 24 hours, and they may have a pump and a tank, so we have to develop products, which are efficient in the use of water. And we have a product, which is available in many other international markets called Downys single rinse that allows consumers to use less water to rinse clothes thereby saving water. In some markets, the water they use is more expensive than the detergent. It’s true in Japan!
So you have to formulate for that kind of an environment.
In China, we discovered that the clothes were very dirty and because they were so dirty it was overwhelming the cleaning agents. So we took one of the cleaning agents, substituted something else and it cleaned better but if we use the formula anywhere else it would be a disaster.
I ran the Asia hair care business for five years. Asian hair is twice the diameter of Caucasian hair — if you look at the cross section under a microscope at Asian hair it’s much thicker than Caucasian hair — so, they need a lot more conditioning. If an Indian or a Japanese consumer buys shampoo in the US they won’t like it because it won’t condition your hair. Our job is to get close to consumers and formulate our products innovatively for those consumers.
So, is that why you launched Rejoice brand of shampoo in the Chinese and Indian markets?
Yes, they were specific for these markets. When we launched Rejoice in China 60 per cent of our business was anti-dandruff, which is a very high percentage to rest of the world, but Chinese consumers wash hair only once a week, so you have to take into account consumer needs.
Plus, you got such economic gradations you need a brand for people at the bottom and top of the pyramid, their habits and cultures are different.
So you have Pantene, Head & Shoulders and you also have different sizes, sachets, bottles, and the formulation will be different because the usage experience is different, you got to design it for the usage experience. It sounds complex because you have these different permutations, but it is all focused on consumer needs.
You said you are present in only eight categories in the Indian market — so do we see P&G entering more categories?
Of course, the US is our most developed market and there consumers spend $100 a year on P&G products in 21 categories so we would like to replicate that everywhere. India’s about a dollar a year, China is about $3, Mexico is about $20 and Russia is about $9 a year. So, it varies.
How do you view the development of modern trade in India?
We really haven’t seen the entry and dramatic growth of modern global retailers, even Wal Mart has small stores. We see quite a growth of small stores. Our job is to get our products to all stores.
Our largest customers globally are small stores. They would be 19 per cent of our business; Wal Mart would be 16 per cent of our business. So these small stores are critical to our business. So that’s why we set up an innovation centre in Bangalore to better understand these consumer needs.
So, you are not looking only at the premium end of the market you will look at the mass end of the market as well?
Our purpose is to improve lives. There are 6.5 billion people in the world; we are reaching 3.5 billion so we think by the end of decade it will be 4 billion. We still have 2.5 billion to go, those people tend to live in rural areas and at the bottom of the economic pyramid, so innovation is the challenge, how do we innovate for those people.
There was a time in the early part of the decade when P&G was very aggressive, took the battle to the Unilever camp, but somehow it seemed P&G withdrew from the battle. What’s your perspective on that?
Obviously if our business quintupled since the year 2000 we wouldn’t see it that way. We have lots of respect for Hindustan Unilever, Nirma and all of our competitors. This is a huge market and one that is growing quickly. There is plenty of room for everyone. So we are not fixated with any one competitor.
P&G did a lot of innovation on sanitary products and Whisper is a huge brand, would one see that kind of innovation where P&G would put its entire marketing buck behind new brands?
We put money behind all our brands. Whisper Choice has been a great innovation. Pampers is a good growing business too. We have said publicly that we are installing a diaper line somewhere in the world every two weeks.
We have two in India and adding one more.
Are you revisiting your distribution in the Indian market? You had the golden eye programme a few years ago to target the premium end only …
That is one of the things we did in India. But it is true globally we are trying to innovate in ways to reach markets so that we can reach more consumers.
We use distributors not stockists so it takes time to develop their capability but that’s the right thing to do.
P&G has major share of market elsewhere in the world, but somehow in detergents and shampoo you haven’t ramped up in India as in other markets to gain the share.
It takes time, not due to lack of investment or lack of innovation or capability. We went to Japan in 1973, we made our first profit in laundry in Japan in 1994 and now we are competing with Kao, a Japanese company, for leadership.
So it takes time, we have been around for 170 years, so we measure time in long spans. I am confident that we will do in India what we have done in other markets of the world.
The market for skincare and cosmetics has exploded around the world. But P&G, apart from Olay, hasn’t come in with its brands such as Max Factor, Cover Girl. Would you look at special formulations for the Indian market?
Something like cosmetics is very fashion oriented so you have got to be relevant to consumers in local markets — if you look at those 21 product categories and look at other eight categories in Indian market we have to get into those 13 categories and we have plans in place to do those.
In the earlier part of this decade, it seemed consumer goods giants like you and Levers were warring but now it seems that each is sticking to their markets and core strengths?
It’s good news that you are telling me that you are not seeing a war — we don’t want a war we want to go out and earn the respect and loyalty of consumers to our brands, we don’t want a war with competition.
Surprising coming from a military man, that you don’t want a war…?
Well, if you look at the history of warfare and you can decide what kind of war you want — guerrilla warfare is better for shareholders and employees!
Vicks is another huge brand for you. What plans do you have for it?
Last week, we announced a new home care strategy. Vicks has an important role in that strategy — India is one of the largest markets for Vicks. We bought Vicks in 1986-87 which gave us our first geographic footprint in Asia. If it wasn’t for that acquisition we wouldn’t have expanded as fast in Asia.
Is the great recession worrying you?
We have been around for 170 years. We have been through recessions, through currency crises.
I was in Asia in 1997 when the currency crisis exploded, I was in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, recession is part of life but you can’t lose your focus, you have got to keep innovating — if you innovate and launch great products consumers will buy them regardless of the economic conditions. Innovation is everything.
Robert McDonald, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of consumer goods multinational Procter & Gamble (P&G), maker of several blockbuster brands such as Ariel and Head & Shoulders, among others, was listed as one of the star speakers at the Pan-IIT 2008 global conference. Zipping into Chennai in a corporate jet, McDonald, a former US Army Officer who served five years in the Army before joining P&G in 1980, spoke to BrandLine on P&G’s innovation, on competition and the Indian market.
Ask him how his military career helped him, he says, “The mission is different in the military but it’s all about leadership, its part of the same piece of cloth.” And if the techniques he learnt in the Army helped his corporate career, pat comes his reply: “Yes definitely, you get a lot of responsibility at a very young age and that usually means peoples lives and that’s a good way to learn.” Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Your growth in China has been spectacular, perhaps mixed in India. How would you compare P&G’s performance in China vis-À-vis India?
Our Indian business is actually growing at a remarkable rate. Since the year 2000 our business has quintupled. The difference is in China too we started at the same time in 1988 when the economy opened up. Whereas, Hindustan Unilever is very strong and established in India. So, we are coming from behind but that can be a competitive advantage as well because you can leapfrog technology and infrastructure.
How would you compare the two markets — the Chinese and Indian? Are the growth rates comparable?
Our total sales would be more in China. In India, our sales would be lower, but we are in fewer product categories. Here, we are in about eight product categories; in the US we are in 21 categories. As a result, it is pretty obvious what our strategies will be going forward.
Bijoy Ghosh
How are you innovating products for the Indian market — would you say the market here is similar to markets elsewhere?
There are peculiarities to every market and we try to spend time and lot of money understanding individual consumers. When I arrived in Mumbai, the first thing I did was go to a consumer’s home — what I did was watched them use our products. I spoke to them about our products, looking for insights, nuggets of information we can use to innovate. Of course, there are lots of differences. I am visiting an Indian home after 17 years, and there are lots of changes I see. But the cultural things will remain the same.
For example, in China, every household has a washing machine, many don’t use it, but they have one. In India, I was talking to this lady, she was relatively well off, but said her husband wouldn’t buy her a washing machine because he said it would make her lazy.
So, we have to formulate our product differently since she is not using a machine, but we also have to understand her psychology because if her husband is measuring her energy levels on her washing, we have to help her be the hero of the family.
It’s fascinating, that’s one of the reasons I love my job. Can you imagine the versatility I get to see all around the world and the detective work we got to do to uncover these nuggets of knowledge that lead to innovation, and that leads to touching and improving lives, which is our goal.
Sometimes the consumer insight is blindingly simple, so what kind of insights have you gleaned from the Indian market that have helped you develop products?
One example is, in India, many of the households don’t have water supply for 24 hours, and they may have a pump and a tank, so we have to develop products, which are efficient in the use of water. And we have a product, which is available in many other international markets called Downys single rinse that allows consumers to use less water to rinse clothes thereby saving water. In some markets, the water they use is more expensive than the detergent. It’s true in Japan!
So you have to formulate for that kind of an environment.
In China, we discovered that the clothes were very dirty and because they were so dirty it was overwhelming the cleaning agents. So we took one of the cleaning agents, substituted something else and it cleaned better but if we use the formula anywhere else it would be a disaster.
I ran the Asia hair care business for five years. Asian hair is twice the diameter of Caucasian hair — if you look at the cross section under a microscope at Asian hair it’s much thicker than Caucasian hair — so, they need a lot more conditioning. If an Indian or a Japanese consumer buys shampoo in the US they won’t like it because it won’t condition your hair. Our job is to get close to consumers and formulate our products innovatively for those consumers.
So, is that why you launched Rejoice brand of shampoo in the Chinese and Indian markets?
Yes, they were specific for these markets. When we launched Rejoice in China 60 per cent of our business was anti-dandruff, which is a very high percentage to rest of the world, but Chinese consumers wash hair only once a week, so you have to take into account consumer needs.
Plus, you got such economic gradations you need a brand for people at the bottom and top of the pyramid, their habits and cultures are different.
So you have Pantene, Head & Shoulders and you also have different sizes, sachets, bottles, and the formulation will be different because the usage experience is different, you got to design it for the usage experience. It sounds complex because you have these different permutations, but it is all focused on consumer needs.
You said you are present in only eight categories in the Indian market — so do we see P&G entering more categories?
Of course, the US is our most developed market and there consumers spend $100 a year on P&G products in 21 categories so we would like to replicate that everywhere. India’s about a dollar a year, China is about $3, Mexico is about $20 and Russia is about $9 a year. So, it varies.
How do you view the development of modern trade in India?
We really haven’t seen the entry and dramatic growth of modern global retailers, even Wal Mart has small stores. We see quite a growth of small stores. Our job is to get our products to all stores.
Our largest customers globally are small stores. They would be 19 per cent of our business; Wal Mart would be 16 per cent of our business. So these small stores are critical to our business. So that’s why we set up an innovation centre in Bangalore to better understand these consumer needs.
So, you are not looking only at the premium end of the market you will look at the mass end of the market as well?
Our purpose is to improve lives. There are 6.5 billion people in the world; we are reaching 3.5 billion so we think by the end of decade it will be 4 billion. We still have 2.5 billion to go, those people tend to live in rural areas and at the bottom of the economic pyramid, so innovation is the challenge, how do we innovate for those people.
There was a time in the early part of the decade when P&G was very aggressive, took the battle to the Unilever camp, but somehow it seemed P&G withdrew from the battle. What’s your perspective on that?
Obviously if our business quintupled since the year 2000 we wouldn’t see it that way. We have lots of respect for Hindustan Unilever, Nirma and all of our competitors. This is a huge market and one that is growing quickly. There is plenty of room for everyone. So we are not fixated with any one competitor.
P&G did a lot of innovation on sanitary products and Whisper is a huge brand, would one see that kind of innovation where P&G would put its entire marketing buck behind new brands?
We put money behind all our brands. Whisper Choice has been a great innovation. Pampers is a good growing business too. We have said publicly that we are installing a diaper line somewhere in the world every two weeks.
We have two in India and adding one more.
Are you revisiting your distribution in the Indian market? You had the golden eye programme a few years ago to target the premium end only …
That is one of the things we did in India. But it is true globally we are trying to innovate in ways to reach markets so that we can reach more consumers.
We use distributors not stockists so it takes time to develop their capability but that’s the right thing to do.
P&G has major share of market elsewhere in the world, but somehow in detergents and shampoo you haven’t ramped up in India as in other markets to gain the share.
It takes time, not due to lack of investment or lack of innovation or capability. We went to Japan in 1973, we made our first profit in laundry in Japan in 1994 and now we are competing with Kao, a Japanese company, for leadership.
So it takes time, we have been around for 170 years, so we measure time in long spans. I am confident that we will do in India what we have done in other markets of the world.
The market for skincare and cosmetics has exploded around the world. But P&G, apart from Olay, hasn’t come in with its brands such as Max Factor, Cover Girl. Would you look at special formulations for the Indian market?
Something like cosmetics is very fashion oriented so you have got to be relevant to consumers in local markets — if you look at those 21 product categories and look at other eight categories in Indian market we have to get into those 13 categories and we have plans in place to do those.
In the earlier part of this decade, it seemed consumer goods giants like you and Levers were warring but now it seems that each is sticking to their markets and core strengths?
It’s good news that you are telling me that you are not seeing a war — we don’t want a war we want to go out and earn the respect and loyalty of consumers to our brands, we don’t want a war with competition.
Surprising coming from a military man, that you don’t want a war…?
Well, if you look at the history of warfare and you can decide what kind of war you want — guerrilla warfare is better for shareholders and employees!
Vicks is another huge brand for you. What plans do you have for it?
Last week, we announced a new home care strategy. Vicks has an important role in that strategy — India is one of the largest markets for Vicks. We bought Vicks in 1986-87 which gave us our first geographic footprint in Asia. If it wasn’t for that acquisition we wouldn’t have expanded as fast in Asia.
Is the great recession worrying you?
We have been around for 170 years. We have been through recessions, through currency crises.
I was in Asia in 1997 when the currency crisis exploded, I was in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, recession is part of life but you can’t lose your focus, you have got to keep innovating — if you innovate and launch great products consumers will buy them regardless of the economic conditions. Innovation is everything.
World - Bangladesh;A vote most closely watched
Haroon Habib
With the lifting of the state of emergency on December 17, the last hurdle in the way of elections to the Bangladesh parliament goes and the country is all set to elect its ninth parliament on December 29.
The elections, scheduled to be held way back in January 2007, were stalled by a caretaker government backed by the country’s military following the promulgation of emergency in the backdrop of a serious political crisis. According to analysts, the timing of these elections adds a unique dimension to the process because it is in December that Bangladesh celebrates its national Victory Day, commemorating the 1971 surrender of the Pakistan army in Dhaka.
The elections are going to be held on the basis of new electoral rolls — prepared after removing 13 million fake voters enrolled by the erstwhile Khaleda Zia regime. Armed with a digital electoral list and having issued photo identification cards to 81 million voters, the government hopes to conduct free and fair elections in a peaceful manner. It has deployed some 50,000 troops across the country.
Washington’s interests in the elections has been summed up by its Ambassador to Dhaka, James F. Moriarty, who said in last week: “there will be no more transformational election in the world this year than the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 29 in Bangladesh.”
In the fray are two opposing alliances — the secular pro-liberation alliance led by the Awami League (AL), which took part in the country’s independence war against Pakistan, and the Islamist alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), many of whose partners had opposed the independence from Pakistan. This sharp polarisation has led analysts to predict the formation of either a model Muslim democracy or a new hotbed of extremism.
The military-backed caretaker government, which is holding the election nearly two years after its rule, has promised to hold a credible election. Though initially it received the unanimous support from the common people, the interim administration failed to hold its popularity due to lack of transparency in many of its activities. Added to it was its ill-designed attempt to implement the ‘minus two theory’ of ousting the two powerful women — the AL’s Sheikh Hasina and the BNP’s Khaleda Zia — from the nation’s political scene. Moreover, the administration’s inability to contain the price spiral of essentials due to its naïve market management policy eroded its popularity further.
The people of Bangladesh are still appreciative of some pragmatic steps taken by the interim administration such as its drive against financial corruption, reformation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Election Commission (EC). The initiative to correct the distorted history of the nation’s independence war in school textbooks was also widely appreciated.
The Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have announced their manifestos. They contain programmes of action to contain inflation and keep prices of commodities under check, vitalise industries and agriculture, ensure the basic right to food, shelter, clothing, education and health. While both the parties promise a range of political reforms to improve governance and counter-militancy, there are important differences in their approach.
The AL’s Vision-2021 manifesto is aimed at the young generation of voters, who got registered for the first time this year. The BNP promises poverty reduction through economic growth. Fight against corruption ranks the second in AL’s priority, and third in the BNP’s. Both talk about increased transparency and stiff penalties for corruption.
While the AL puts the need for maintaining economic stability in the face of the global financial crisis right at the top of its priorities, it is striking that the BNP merely mentions the worst economic crisis in generations half way through its manifesto.
While the Jatiya Party of Gen. H.M. Ershad promises a corruption and terrorism-free society in line with its ally Awami League, the Jamaat’s manifesto says the party will formulate blasphemy laws preventing and punishing those responsible for hurting religious sentiments. The promise of blasphemy laws by the premier ally of the BNP has come under sharp criticism.
A total of 39 political parties are contesting the election. After about two years of emergency restrictions, there is vibrancy in the country’s politics with the leaders of the two key alliances — the AL and the BNP — engaging themselves in hectic election tours, addressing meetings everyday. They are, however, under the watchful eyes of the special security personnel. The security for Ms Hasina is extremely tight because of the number of death threats she has received from Islamist militants.
A near full-time campaigner, Khaleda Zia is urging voters to give her four-party alliance another chance to complete her unfinished tasks. “Independence and sovereignty of the country is safe in the BNP’s hands and only the BNP-led alliance can solve the present crises of the country,” she tells her audience.
Begum Zia fears sabotage in the election process but cites no immediate reason. Urging voters to protect “Islam,” she alleges that the election is going to be a “managed affair” to install a “puppet” government. Ms Hasina who is said to be better positioned than her arch rival promises economic freedom, peace, prosperity and development if her grand alliance is voted to power.
Asking the people to take a vow to stop ‘war criminals’ from taking office again, Ms Hasina promises to put on trial the war criminals, who collaborated with the Pakistan army in the nation’s liberation war, and now allegedly getting political patronage from Khaleda Zia’s BNP.
Analysts say that the alliance with Mr. Ershad’s party appears to be a plus point for the Hasina-led grand alliance though the former president and military dictator still suffers from an image crisis but his party enjoys roughly a 10 per cent vote, particularly in the vast northern Rangpur region.
In 2001, the Awami League independently polled 41 per cent of the votes while the BNP-Jamaat coalition polled 47 per cent. The grand alliance has brought all the smaller Left leaning parties into its fold.
In a bid to woo the voters, both the alliances have accommodated popular issues such as arresting the commodity price hike, providing a social safety net for the poor and vulnerable groups, increasing power generation, infrastructure development, carrying forward administrative reforms, investment and employment generation, anti-corruption measures and good governance.
The AL’s manifesto says it will address terrorism originating both from the Islamists and criminals and promises to try the war criminals of 1971; the BNP is silent on war criminals but says it will curb terrorism. While Begum Zia has urged the voters to ‘save Islam and the country’ by electing her four-party alliance, Ms Hasina’s stress is on a campaign against the five years of “misrule” by the BNP and the Jamaat.
There will be over 200,000 local and foreign observers, making it the most closely watched vote in the country’s history. Whatever the outcome, everybody is eager to see a credible and peaceful exercise to help strengthen Bangladesh’s quest for a stable democracy.
With the lifting of the state of emergency on December 17, the last hurdle in the way of elections to the Bangladesh parliament goes and the country is all set to elect its ninth parliament on December 29.
The elections, scheduled to be held way back in January 2007, were stalled by a caretaker government backed by the country’s military following the promulgation of emergency in the backdrop of a serious political crisis. According to analysts, the timing of these elections adds a unique dimension to the process because it is in December that Bangladesh celebrates its national Victory Day, commemorating the 1971 surrender of the Pakistan army in Dhaka.
The elections are going to be held on the basis of new electoral rolls — prepared after removing 13 million fake voters enrolled by the erstwhile Khaleda Zia regime. Armed with a digital electoral list and having issued photo identification cards to 81 million voters, the government hopes to conduct free and fair elections in a peaceful manner. It has deployed some 50,000 troops across the country.
Washington’s interests in the elections has been summed up by its Ambassador to Dhaka, James F. Moriarty, who said in last week: “there will be no more transformational election in the world this year than the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 29 in Bangladesh.”
In the fray are two opposing alliances — the secular pro-liberation alliance led by the Awami League (AL), which took part in the country’s independence war against Pakistan, and the Islamist alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), many of whose partners had opposed the independence from Pakistan. This sharp polarisation has led analysts to predict the formation of either a model Muslim democracy or a new hotbed of extremism.
The military-backed caretaker government, which is holding the election nearly two years after its rule, has promised to hold a credible election. Though initially it received the unanimous support from the common people, the interim administration failed to hold its popularity due to lack of transparency in many of its activities. Added to it was its ill-designed attempt to implement the ‘minus two theory’ of ousting the two powerful women — the AL’s Sheikh Hasina and the BNP’s Khaleda Zia — from the nation’s political scene. Moreover, the administration’s inability to contain the price spiral of essentials due to its naïve market management policy eroded its popularity further.
The people of Bangladesh are still appreciative of some pragmatic steps taken by the interim administration such as its drive against financial corruption, reformation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Election Commission (EC). The initiative to correct the distorted history of the nation’s independence war in school textbooks was also widely appreciated.
The Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have announced their manifestos. They contain programmes of action to contain inflation and keep prices of commodities under check, vitalise industries and agriculture, ensure the basic right to food, shelter, clothing, education and health. While both the parties promise a range of political reforms to improve governance and counter-militancy, there are important differences in their approach.
The AL’s Vision-2021 manifesto is aimed at the young generation of voters, who got registered for the first time this year. The BNP promises poverty reduction through economic growth. Fight against corruption ranks the second in AL’s priority, and third in the BNP’s. Both talk about increased transparency and stiff penalties for corruption.
While the AL puts the need for maintaining economic stability in the face of the global financial crisis right at the top of its priorities, it is striking that the BNP merely mentions the worst economic crisis in generations half way through its manifesto.
While the Jatiya Party of Gen. H.M. Ershad promises a corruption and terrorism-free society in line with its ally Awami League, the Jamaat’s manifesto says the party will formulate blasphemy laws preventing and punishing those responsible for hurting religious sentiments. The promise of blasphemy laws by the premier ally of the BNP has come under sharp criticism.
A total of 39 political parties are contesting the election. After about two years of emergency restrictions, there is vibrancy in the country’s politics with the leaders of the two key alliances — the AL and the BNP — engaging themselves in hectic election tours, addressing meetings everyday. They are, however, under the watchful eyes of the special security personnel. The security for Ms Hasina is extremely tight because of the number of death threats she has received from Islamist militants.
A near full-time campaigner, Khaleda Zia is urging voters to give her four-party alliance another chance to complete her unfinished tasks. “Independence and sovereignty of the country is safe in the BNP’s hands and only the BNP-led alliance can solve the present crises of the country,” she tells her audience.
Begum Zia fears sabotage in the election process but cites no immediate reason. Urging voters to protect “Islam,” she alleges that the election is going to be a “managed affair” to install a “puppet” government. Ms Hasina who is said to be better positioned than her arch rival promises economic freedom, peace, prosperity and development if her grand alliance is voted to power.
Asking the people to take a vow to stop ‘war criminals’ from taking office again, Ms Hasina promises to put on trial the war criminals, who collaborated with the Pakistan army in the nation’s liberation war, and now allegedly getting political patronage from Khaleda Zia’s BNP.
Analysts say that the alliance with Mr. Ershad’s party appears to be a plus point for the Hasina-led grand alliance though the former president and military dictator still suffers from an image crisis but his party enjoys roughly a 10 per cent vote, particularly in the vast northern Rangpur region.
In 2001, the Awami League independently polled 41 per cent of the votes while the BNP-Jamaat coalition polled 47 per cent. The grand alliance has brought all the smaller Left leaning parties into its fold.
In a bid to woo the voters, both the alliances have accommodated popular issues such as arresting the commodity price hike, providing a social safety net for the poor and vulnerable groups, increasing power generation, infrastructure development, carrying forward administrative reforms, investment and employment generation, anti-corruption measures and good governance.
The AL’s manifesto says it will address terrorism originating both from the Islamists and criminals and promises to try the war criminals of 1971; the BNP is silent on war criminals but says it will curb terrorism. While Begum Zia has urged the voters to ‘save Islam and the country’ by electing her four-party alliance, Ms Hasina’s stress is on a campaign against the five years of “misrule” by the BNP and the Jamaat.
There will be over 200,000 local and foreign observers, making it the most closely watched vote in the country’s history. Whatever the outcome, everybody is eager to see a credible and peaceful exercise to help strengthen Bangladesh’s quest for a stable democracy.
World - U.S. economy — it’s business as unusual
P. Sainath
Things are not as bad as they seem for the U.S. economy. They are worse.
On average, the United States has seen the loss of nearly 14,000 jobs each day since September 1. In 90 days from that date, close to 1.3 million Americans lost their jobs. After weeks of headline-grabbing events on Wall Street, these developments tend to recede into the background. Current estimates suggest that over half a million Americans lost their jobs in November alone. Something not seen in a single month since December 1974.
Things are not as bad as they seem for the U.S. economy. They are worse. As the data flow in, even estimates for earlier months have been revised sharply upwards. The September job loss figure was recorded as 159,000 two months ago. The Bureau of Labour Statistics now says the figure is 403,000. The first figure for October was 240,000 jobs lost. Now it is 320,000. The unemployment rate for teenagers, at 20.4 per cent, is three times the claimed national rate of 6.7 per cent. (This does not include those who have given up looking for work in despair. Nor does it count those working far fewer hours than they need or would like to.) A measure that includes such factors would raise the unemployment rate to 12.5 per cent. Yet, even with this flawed measure, the rate is at its highest in 15 years. There were 10.3 million jobless people in November and that was 3.1 million more workers unemployed than just a year ago. Worse, massive layoffs continue. Even the IT sector has lost thousands of jobs.
There are other icebergs ahead. This is winter, when at least two major sectors — agriculture and construction — do not hire much. Come spring, and there will be different benchmarks to test jobless figures against. There could also be a new round of layoffs (in Retail, for instance) starting January after the last two major holidays — Christmas and New Year — get over. Things might improve if the new administration has massive programmes running by spring that help millions return to work. Circumstances might force this administration to make choices that could in America be denounced as “Leftist.” Not impossible — but on current evidence, tough. Huge job stimulus programmes, even if brought in, would take time to work through. If Barack Obama’s plan to create 3 million jobs over the next two years works, it would still barely recover those that vanished over the previous two.
The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to between 0 and 0.25 per cent. (Leading one wit to declare that “the Fed is now the only institution truly attempting Islamic Banking.”) It believes the positive results of this will be seen in time. However, this will not solve the credit crunch — the problem of banks fearful or unwilling to lend to those who currently need it. The mortgage and other crises show no major signs of a let-up. Even if all the measures of the Bush and the incoming Obama administration work, it won’t be a return to business as usual. For tens of millions of people, life might never be the same again.
The housing mortgage crisis still burns. Six million people could lose their homes over the next two years. And the credit card crisis, already setting in, could strike sharply in a few months. That hit would encompass far more people than housing would, even if the amounts involved (and impact on the financial markets) are smaller. As Business Week puts it: “Making matters worse, the subprime threat is also greater in credit-card land. Risky borrowers with low credit scores account for roughly 30% of outstanding credit-card debt, compared with 11% of mortgage debt.” This is a country where almost everybody uses credit cards (often several of them).
If job losses continue to mount at their present pace, the card catastrophe will accelerate. Those out of work will not be able to meet their payments. They could also find it hard to purchase essentials and would likely fall deeper into debt. This was a sector already headed for crisis for quite some time. In some estimates, U.S. credit card debt grew from $211 billion in 2002 to $915 billion by the end of 2007. When this house of cards falls, it will spur further the home mortgage mess and the recession already under way. There are those making their housing payments off their credit cards — at huge interest.
Meanwhile, the emphasis right through has been on bailing out the financial giants. (An Institute for Policy Studies report notes that the U.S. and European governments are set to spend 40 times more to rescue financial firms than to fight climate and poverty crises in the developing world.) And yet, daily, new scandals emerge from Wall Street. Both from the banks and other types of operations. The billions paid out as bonuses to executives have not been reversed even when the ‘profits’ for which these bonuses were ‘rewards’ have proved illusory. Merrill Lynch, as the New York Times points out, handed out $5 billion to $6 billion in bonuses in 2006. “But Merrill’s record earnings in 2006 — $7.5 billion — turned out to be a mirage.”
It is only now that the obscene compensation for CEOs and top executives is a matter of — limited — debate. As for the hundreds of billions of dollars given to the banks in the bailout, there is no evidence of this money being used to ease the credit and mortgage crises at the level of the public. Not even a requirement that they make details of their use of the money public — though it is public money they make use of.
Meanwhile, the latest Wall Street scandal snowballing is that of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Madoff, a shining beacon of Wall Street enterprise and philanthropy, ran what has been described as “the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.” His own estimate of the fraud is in the region of $50 billion (more than three times India’s farm loan waiver). Huge charities, trusts and individuals, including billionaires, have lost massively in this rip-off. And there’s more to come. Yet again the question how such gigantic rackets thrived in Wall Street without the massive financial media ever noticing leaps up. The Madoff scam is only one among many things unravelling.
However, there is far more passion generated over the obnoxious Governor of Illinois who tried to sell the Senate seat that Mr. Obama vacated — for personal benefit. Governor Blagojevich’s action is neither new to Chicago, nor huge. It is a petty deal by a petty person, reeking of low corruption in high places. The energy it generates, though, is like focussing on the local pick-pocket when grand larceny proceeds next door. Maybe there is a need to hold businessmen to the same standards as elected representatives. Especially those dealing with untold sums of public money?
In this bleak landscape came a surprise at a factory in Chicago. “You got bailed out. We got sold out.” So read the banner at the sit-in strike of the workers of the Republic Windows and Doors factory. Having been robbed of their jobs in a stealthy shutdown, over 200 unionised workers and their families occupied the factory and demanded severance and vacation pay. They got it, too. The action drew national attention. In a sign of changed times, politicians, celebrities, and public figures turned up at the factory to declare support. Even Mr. Obama said he agreed with their demands. The media which, pre-meltdown, would have savaged the strike, were less hostile. “Prior to the economic crisis,” says analyst and columnist Carl Bloice who writes in the Black Commentator, “the police might have gone into the factory and evicted the workers as trespassers.” Post-meltdown, it was a different story. Bloice says the U.S. has not seen such a labour action in decades. Impressively, ordinary citizens went up with food hampers to help out the strikers. Could we be witnessing the start of more militant labour action in the U.S. after decades? And could we be seeing greater sympathy in the country for such actions after decades, as job losses mount?
Things are not as bad as they seem for the U.S. economy. They are worse.
On average, the United States has seen the loss of nearly 14,000 jobs each day since September 1. In 90 days from that date, close to 1.3 million Americans lost their jobs. After weeks of headline-grabbing events on Wall Street, these developments tend to recede into the background. Current estimates suggest that over half a million Americans lost their jobs in November alone. Something not seen in a single month since December 1974.
Things are not as bad as they seem for the U.S. economy. They are worse. As the data flow in, even estimates for earlier months have been revised sharply upwards. The September job loss figure was recorded as 159,000 two months ago. The Bureau of Labour Statistics now says the figure is 403,000. The first figure for October was 240,000 jobs lost. Now it is 320,000. The unemployment rate for teenagers, at 20.4 per cent, is three times the claimed national rate of 6.7 per cent. (This does not include those who have given up looking for work in despair. Nor does it count those working far fewer hours than they need or would like to.) A measure that includes such factors would raise the unemployment rate to 12.5 per cent. Yet, even with this flawed measure, the rate is at its highest in 15 years. There were 10.3 million jobless people in November and that was 3.1 million more workers unemployed than just a year ago. Worse, massive layoffs continue. Even the IT sector has lost thousands of jobs.
There are other icebergs ahead. This is winter, when at least two major sectors — agriculture and construction — do not hire much. Come spring, and there will be different benchmarks to test jobless figures against. There could also be a new round of layoffs (in Retail, for instance) starting January after the last two major holidays — Christmas and New Year — get over. Things might improve if the new administration has massive programmes running by spring that help millions return to work. Circumstances might force this administration to make choices that could in America be denounced as “Leftist.” Not impossible — but on current evidence, tough. Huge job stimulus programmes, even if brought in, would take time to work through. If Barack Obama’s plan to create 3 million jobs over the next two years works, it would still barely recover those that vanished over the previous two.
The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to between 0 and 0.25 per cent. (Leading one wit to declare that “the Fed is now the only institution truly attempting Islamic Banking.”) It believes the positive results of this will be seen in time. However, this will not solve the credit crunch — the problem of banks fearful or unwilling to lend to those who currently need it. The mortgage and other crises show no major signs of a let-up. Even if all the measures of the Bush and the incoming Obama administration work, it won’t be a return to business as usual. For tens of millions of people, life might never be the same again.
The housing mortgage crisis still burns. Six million people could lose their homes over the next two years. And the credit card crisis, already setting in, could strike sharply in a few months. That hit would encompass far more people than housing would, even if the amounts involved (and impact on the financial markets) are smaller. As Business Week puts it: “Making matters worse, the subprime threat is also greater in credit-card land. Risky borrowers with low credit scores account for roughly 30% of outstanding credit-card debt, compared with 11% of mortgage debt.” This is a country where almost everybody uses credit cards (often several of them).
If job losses continue to mount at their present pace, the card catastrophe will accelerate. Those out of work will not be able to meet their payments. They could also find it hard to purchase essentials and would likely fall deeper into debt. This was a sector already headed for crisis for quite some time. In some estimates, U.S. credit card debt grew from $211 billion in 2002 to $915 billion by the end of 2007. When this house of cards falls, it will spur further the home mortgage mess and the recession already under way. There are those making their housing payments off their credit cards — at huge interest.
Meanwhile, the emphasis right through has been on bailing out the financial giants. (An Institute for Policy Studies report notes that the U.S. and European governments are set to spend 40 times more to rescue financial firms than to fight climate and poverty crises in the developing world.) And yet, daily, new scandals emerge from Wall Street. Both from the banks and other types of operations. The billions paid out as bonuses to executives have not been reversed even when the ‘profits’ for which these bonuses were ‘rewards’ have proved illusory. Merrill Lynch, as the New York Times points out, handed out $5 billion to $6 billion in bonuses in 2006. “But Merrill’s record earnings in 2006 — $7.5 billion — turned out to be a mirage.”
It is only now that the obscene compensation for CEOs and top executives is a matter of — limited — debate. As for the hundreds of billions of dollars given to the banks in the bailout, there is no evidence of this money being used to ease the credit and mortgage crises at the level of the public. Not even a requirement that they make details of their use of the money public — though it is public money they make use of.
Meanwhile, the latest Wall Street scandal snowballing is that of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. Madoff, a shining beacon of Wall Street enterprise and philanthropy, ran what has been described as “the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.” His own estimate of the fraud is in the region of $50 billion (more than three times India’s farm loan waiver). Huge charities, trusts and individuals, including billionaires, have lost massively in this rip-off. And there’s more to come. Yet again the question how such gigantic rackets thrived in Wall Street without the massive financial media ever noticing leaps up. The Madoff scam is only one among many things unravelling.
However, there is far more passion generated over the obnoxious Governor of Illinois who tried to sell the Senate seat that Mr. Obama vacated — for personal benefit. Governor Blagojevich’s action is neither new to Chicago, nor huge. It is a petty deal by a petty person, reeking of low corruption in high places. The energy it generates, though, is like focussing on the local pick-pocket when grand larceny proceeds next door. Maybe there is a need to hold businessmen to the same standards as elected representatives. Especially those dealing with untold sums of public money?
In this bleak landscape came a surprise at a factory in Chicago. “You got bailed out. We got sold out.” So read the banner at the sit-in strike of the workers of the Republic Windows and Doors factory. Having been robbed of their jobs in a stealthy shutdown, over 200 unionised workers and their families occupied the factory and demanded severance and vacation pay. They got it, too. The action drew national attention. In a sign of changed times, politicians, celebrities, and public figures turned up at the factory to declare support. Even Mr. Obama said he agreed with their demands. The media which, pre-meltdown, would have savaged the strike, were less hostile. “Prior to the economic crisis,” says analyst and columnist Carl Bloice who writes in the Black Commentator, “the police might have gone into the factory and evicted the workers as trespassers.” Post-meltdown, it was a different story. Bloice says the U.S. has not seen such a labour action in decades. Impressively, ordinary citizens went up with food hampers to help out the strikers. Could we be witnessing the start of more militant labour action in the U.S. after decades? And could we be seeing greater sympathy in the country for such actions after decades, as job losses mount?
Entertainment - The Pinteresque pause for truth
Harold Pinter, the British playwright, poet, screenwriter, and Nobel laureate who died on Thursday at the age of 78 after a long battle with cancer, was one of the most remarkable and influential voices of his generation. In a great body of work that included more than 30 plays, numerous essays, poetry as well as stage and screen direction, he captured with an unerring and often terrifying instinct the uncertainties and ambiguities of life in the post-modern era. Dominatin g English theatre from the 1950s, he infused a distinct political sensibility into a theatre scene that had, until then, been largely steeped in gentility. Beginning with plays like The Room, The Birthday Party, and The Caretaker, in which Mr. Pinter strongly signalled his engagement with oppression, the prospect of violence, and the struggle for power in a range of situations and locations, he developed an urgent political voice that made him one of the most outspoken critics of fascism and repression in recent times. Whether it was his early registration as a conscientious objector, his support to the anti-apartheid movement, his criticism of Turkey’s suppression of the Kurds, or his strong opposition to the Iraq war (for which he famously lashed out at Messrs Bush and Blair), he believed in the “compulsive” search for truth through the art of his drama. In his Nobel address in 2005, he pointed out that “as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.”
Mr. Pinter explored other forms of power, including domestic power, and the unspecified menace that remains hidden beneath the often glittering surface of the lives of ordinary people. Many of his later plays like Betrayal and Moonlight, and his last play, Celebration, reflected the constant ambivalence of life, of memory, and of human relationships. He believed that “below the word spoken is the thing known and unspoken.” The famous ‘pause’ he injected into his playwriting became part of a genre of drama that came to be known as ‘Pinteresque.’ Apart from writing plays, essays, and poetry, he collaborated with directors on screenplays for films, and even directed the plays of others. Although known as a somewhat ‘prickly’ personality, Mr. Pinter was famous for his friendships, his love for poetry, cricket, and bridge. His biographer Michael Billington has said that “like all truly first-rate writers, he mapped out his own country with its own distinctive topography.” It is a terrain that is instantly recognisable and profoundly human.
Mr. Pinter explored other forms of power, including domestic power, and the unspecified menace that remains hidden beneath the often glittering surface of the lives of ordinary people. Many of his later plays like Betrayal and Moonlight, and his last play, Celebration, reflected the constant ambivalence of life, of memory, and of human relationships. He believed that “below the word spoken is the thing known and unspoken.” The famous ‘pause’ he injected into his playwriting became part of a genre of drama that came to be known as ‘Pinteresque.’ Apart from writing plays, essays, and poetry, he collaborated with directors on screenplays for films, and even directed the plays of others. Although known as a somewhat ‘prickly’ personality, Mr. Pinter was famous for his friendships, his love for poetry, cricket, and bridge. His biographer Michael Billington has said that “like all truly first-rate writers, he mapped out his own country with its own distinctive topography.” It is a terrain that is instantly recognisable and profoundly human.
Entertainment - The year AR Rahman scored big for emperors and slumdogs
Lalitha Suhasini
Earlier this month, I found myself roaming the streets of Dimapur, a nondescript, dusty city in Nagaland whose youth is fanatical about all forms of metal—white, death, thrash, speed; the heavier the riffs, the better. Posters of an upcoming White Lion concert were plastered all over town but there was no sign of Bollywood. Hell, the place didn’t even have a movie hall. I bumped into a mobile download store at every corner—you could even download tones at the local paan store. So it was surreal when I saw a kid blast the Yuvvraaj number Tu Meri Dost Hai off his mobile
Every year, there’s an anthem that endorses A.R. Rahman’s talent. This year there were several, including the one our young man in Dimapur downloaded. Sixteen years into his career as a composer, 2008 turned out to be a watershed with the largest number of Bollywood releases till date for Rahman. He also launched KM Music Conservatory (KMMC) to train students in Western and Indian classical music soon after he launched his label KM Musiq. The fee is hefty but the composer has made sure there are grants and subsidized packages for deserving students. Rahman even engaged KMMC faculty in film soundtracks this year. So, Kavita Baliga, who teaches vocals, did the operatic parts in Guzarish from Ghajini and V.R. Sekar with Elidh Martin, who teach the cello, are featured in the soundtrack of Yuvvraaj. I’m sure students will show up on soundtrack credits soon.
I remember Rahman sounding like an expectant dad as 2007 wound to a close—he was happy to announce that he had a slew of releases lined up for the new year. Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na had been held up over for a little more than a year due to production snags; Jodhaa Akbar, which was under production, had been pushed from 2007 to 2008; a Subhash Ghai project was yet to be titled (Yuvvraaj); and there was Ghajini. Dilli 6 made it to his list as well but it is still under production and is now slated to be a 2009 release. Ada: A Way of Life and Slumdog Millionaire were the two big surprises.
WithAda, Rahman, the geek that he is, opened himself up to a tech innovation: He allowed virtually anybody to remix two numbers (Gulfisha and Gumsum) off the film’s score via Nokia’s XpressMusic website. It was another first for Rahman, another leap into the future. Gulfisha, sung by Sonu Nigam, made a lot of noise but soon made way for the bigger hits in Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial debut.
Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na was an album cut for mass hysteria. Rashid Ali, who played the guitar in a jazz quartet at pubs in London, turned into a phenomenon with Kabhi Kabhi Aditi as did Benny Dayal, who sang the sassy Pappu Can’t Dance Saala. This year reconfirmed that Rahman is a terrific headhunter. His formula is simple: He needs to hear magic when the singers go behind the mike. Exactly the way an actor transforms a scene dynamically when he steps into the frame. It doesn’t matter if the guy has lost a talent hunt (Naresh Iyer) or is a music teacher in Suriname with no claim to fame (Madhushree).
Rahman’s range as a vocalist expanded with each film too. If he surpassed himself with his tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Guru’s Tere Bina in 2007, there was Khwaja Mere Khwaja from Jodhaa Akbar which made the qawwali accessible again.
And he kept innovating. Who would have imagined that he would direct the Chennai String Orchestra to magnificently pull off Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Prelude in Yuvvraaj? The script allowed for lusty Western classical departures; sometimes film-makers such as Ghai and Mani Ratnam (I can’t wait for Raavan where Rahman and Ratnam reunite—it’s as thrilling as Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson every single time) are known to tweak their films around Rahman’s music. O.P. Nayyar and Naushad commanded such respect in the 1950s and 1960s but few composers have thereafter.
Rahman has been accused several times of repackaging and re-recording his older tunes for a new audience. Even in doing so he’s managed to increase his fan base. Surely, few in the north would have picked up the soundtrack for Alaipayuthey but many must have enjoyed the soundtrack of Saathiya, the Hindi remake, as much or even more. Surprisingly, he hasn’t taken a single track off the hit Tamil OST for the Hindi version of Ghajini. Guzarish and Behka from the Aamir Khan-starrer are catchy melodies with Rahman teaming up again with Rang De Basanti collaborator Prasoon Joshi to sweep the charts.
Slumdog Millionaire was a quick, quiet release. Rahman wrapped up the project in an astounding two months for Danny Boyle, collaborating with M.I.A.—the UK-based Sri Lankan wild child. Like Rahman, M.I.A. broke into the mainstream with her inimitable vocal style and razor rhythms. She spent her early years in Chennai and returned to record parts of her smash-hit second album, Kala, in Chennai, inevitably landing up at Rahman’s AM Studios to fine-tune it. She told me last year how she, like the rest of the world, had been blown away by Rahman and hated Gwen Stefani for grabbing her idea of redoing a Rahman hit. Stefani, she says, used the rhythm section of Ottagatte Kattiko, a Tamil hit from the 1990s flick Gentleman, in her debut Sweet Escape. Slumdog was M.I.A.’s cash-in time. Not only did the soundtrack include Paper Planes, the knockout number from Kala, M.I.A. also recorded O Saya with her idol. The track is a megajam with dark tribal beats and Rahman’s chant-style vocals playing over M.I.A’s gritty rap. And Rahman rewrote music history again when he completely redid Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai as Ringa Ringa. So it isn’t surprising that the soundtrack has snagged a Golden Globe nomination.
As the world fell apart around us, Rahman raised his voice against terror with Jiya Se Jiya, a robust number that draws from Rajasthani and Punjabi folk with percussionists from across the globe, including Sivamani, in his brand new solo album, Connections. The video that shows free huggers walking around various parts of the country is as emotionally- charged yet simple. Oh, and he also did the rousing theme song for the new Champions League T20 series with some power chords and Jamaican influences thrown in. Looking back at all that’s happened this year, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Rahman is one individual at work. But every single victory of his is somehow personal for all of us. The Slumdog OST has two tracks in the Oscar longlist for Best Original Song. Can ARR win? You know the answer.
Lalitha Suhasini is a willing listener if you’re playing something original or have an original excuse to do covers. She was formerly an assistant editor with Rolling Stone India.
Earlier this month, I found myself roaming the streets of Dimapur, a nondescript, dusty city in Nagaland whose youth is fanatical about all forms of metal—white, death, thrash, speed; the heavier the riffs, the better. Posters of an upcoming White Lion concert were plastered all over town but there was no sign of Bollywood. Hell, the place didn’t even have a movie hall. I bumped into a mobile download store at every corner—you could even download tones at the local paan store. So it was surreal when I saw a kid blast the Yuvvraaj number Tu Meri Dost Hai off his mobile
Every year, there’s an anthem that endorses A.R. Rahman’s talent. This year there were several, including the one our young man in Dimapur downloaded. Sixteen years into his career as a composer, 2008 turned out to be a watershed with the largest number of Bollywood releases till date for Rahman. He also launched KM Music Conservatory (KMMC) to train students in Western and Indian classical music soon after he launched his label KM Musiq. The fee is hefty but the composer has made sure there are grants and subsidized packages for deserving students. Rahman even engaged KMMC faculty in film soundtracks this year. So, Kavita Baliga, who teaches vocals, did the operatic parts in Guzarish from Ghajini and V.R. Sekar with Elidh Martin, who teach the cello, are featured in the soundtrack of Yuvvraaj. I’m sure students will show up on soundtrack credits soon.
I remember Rahman sounding like an expectant dad as 2007 wound to a close—he was happy to announce that he had a slew of releases lined up for the new year. Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na had been held up over for a little more than a year due to production snags; Jodhaa Akbar, which was under production, had been pushed from 2007 to 2008; a Subhash Ghai project was yet to be titled (Yuvvraaj); and there was Ghajini. Dilli 6 made it to his list as well but it is still under production and is now slated to be a 2009 release. Ada: A Way of Life and Slumdog Millionaire were the two big surprises.
WithAda, Rahman, the geek that he is, opened himself up to a tech innovation: He allowed virtually anybody to remix two numbers (Gulfisha and Gumsum) off the film’s score via Nokia’s XpressMusic website. It was another first for Rahman, another leap into the future. Gulfisha, sung by Sonu Nigam, made a lot of noise but soon made way for the bigger hits in Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial debut.
Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na was an album cut for mass hysteria. Rashid Ali, who played the guitar in a jazz quartet at pubs in London, turned into a phenomenon with Kabhi Kabhi Aditi as did Benny Dayal, who sang the sassy Pappu Can’t Dance Saala. This year reconfirmed that Rahman is a terrific headhunter. His formula is simple: He needs to hear magic when the singers go behind the mike. Exactly the way an actor transforms a scene dynamically when he steps into the frame. It doesn’t matter if the guy has lost a talent hunt (Naresh Iyer) or is a music teacher in Suriname with no claim to fame (Madhushree).
Rahman’s range as a vocalist expanded with each film too. If he surpassed himself with his tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Guru’s Tere Bina in 2007, there was Khwaja Mere Khwaja from Jodhaa Akbar which made the qawwali accessible again.
And he kept innovating. Who would have imagined that he would direct the Chennai String Orchestra to magnificently pull off Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Prelude in Yuvvraaj? The script allowed for lusty Western classical departures; sometimes film-makers such as Ghai and Mani Ratnam (I can’t wait for Raavan where Rahman and Ratnam reunite—it’s as thrilling as Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson every single time) are known to tweak their films around Rahman’s music. O.P. Nayyar and Naushad commanded such respect in the 1950s and 1960s but few composers have thereafter.
Rahman has been accused several times of repackaging and re-recording his older tunes for a new audience. Even in doing so he’s managed to increase his fan base. Surely, few in the north would have picked up the soundtrack for Alaipayuthey but many must have enjoyed the soundtrack of Saathiya, the Hindi remake, as much or even more. Surprisingly, he hasn’t taken a single track off the hit Tamil OST for the Hindi version of Ghajini. Guzarish and Behka from the Aamir Khan-starrer are catchy melodies with Rahman teaming up again with Rang De Basanti collaborator Prasoon Joshi to sweep the charts.
Slumdog Millionaire was a quick, quiet release. Rahman wrapped up the project in an astounding two months for Danny Boyle, collaborating with M.I.A.—the UK-based Sri Lankan wild child. Like Rahman, M.I.A. broke into the mainstream with her inimitable vocal style and razor rhythms. She spent her early years in Chennai and returned to record parts of her smash-hit second album, Kala, in Chennai, inevitably landing up at Rahman’s AM Studios to fine-tune it. She told me last year how she, like the rest of the world, had been blown away by Rahman and hated Gwen Stefani for grabbing her idea of redoing a Rahman hit. Stefani, she says, used the rhythm section of Ottagatte Kattiko, a Tamil hit from the 1990s flick Gentleman, in her debut Sweet Escape. Slumdog was M.I.A.’s cash-in time. Not only did the soundtrack include Paper Planes, the knockout number from Kala, M.I.A. also recorded O Saya with her idol. The track is a megajam with dark tribal beats and Rahman’s chant-style vocals playing over M.I.A’s gritty rap. And Rahman rewrote music history again when he completely redid Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai as Ringa Ringa. So it isn’t surprising that the soundtrack has snagged a Golden Globe nomination.
As the world fell apart around us, Rahman raised his voice against terror with Jiya Se Jiya, a robust number that draws from Rajasthani and Punjabi folk with percussionists from across the globe, including Sivamani, in his brand new solo album, Connections. The video that shows free huggers walking around various parts of the country is as emotionally- charged yet simple. Oh, and he also did the rousing theme song for the new Champions League T20 series with some power chords and Jamaican influences thrown in. Looking back at all that’s happened this year, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Rahman is one individual at work. But every single victory of his is somehow personal for all of us. The Slumdog OST has two tracks in the Oscar longlist for Best Original Song. Can ARR win? You know the answer.
Lalitha Suhasini is a willing listener if you’re playing something original or have an original excuse to do covers. She was formerly an assistant editor with Rolling Stone India.
India - Interest subsidy for urban poor on home loans
Aarti Dhar
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday approved a scheme aimed at providing a five per cent interest subsidy for the urban poor for home loans up to Rs. 1 lakh.
The subsidy has been fixed keeping in mind the repayment capacity of this section, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists here.
The total subsidy, amounting to Rs. 1,100 crore, is expected to leverage an institutional finance of Rs. 3,870 crore.
The loan repayment period will be between 15 and 20 years.
3.10 lakh more units
The Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) is expected to result in creation of an additional stock of 3.10 lakh houses — 2.13 lakh units for the economically weaker section (EWS) and 0. 97 lakh units for low income group households over the next four years.
Nodal agencies
The National Housing Bank and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation will be the nodal agencies for disbursement and monitoring of the subsidy.
Banks, micro finance institutions and others will have the option of availing themselves of the resources.
In 2005-06, when national housing shortage was estimated at about 24.7 million units, the government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for providing affordable houses, under which 1.5 million houses are being built for the economically weaker section.
Slums upgraded
Under the programme, slums have also been upgraded and will be given basic municipal services. This would entail around Rs. 40,000 crore, half of which will be borne by the Centre.
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday approved a scheme aimed at providing a five per cent interest subsidy for the urban poor for home loans up to Rs. 1 lakh.
The subsidy has been fixed keeping in mind the repayment capacity of this section, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists here.
The total subsidy, amounting to Rs. 1,100 crore, is expected to leverage an institutional finance of Rs. 3,870 crore.
The loan repayment period will be between 15 and 20 years.
3.10 lakh more units
The Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) is expected to result in creation of an additional stock of 3.10 lakh houses — 2.13 lakh units for the economically weaker section (EWS) and 0. 97 lakh units for low income group households over the next four years.
Nodal agencies
The National Housing Bank and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation will be the nodal agencies for disbursement and monitoring of the subsidy.
Banks, micro finance institutions and others will have the option of availing themselves of the resources.
In 2005-06, when national housing shortage was estimated at about 24.7 million units, the government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for providing affordable houses, under which 1.5 million houses are being built for the economically weaker section.
Slums upgraded
Under the programme, slums have also been upgraded and will be given basic municipal services. This would entail around Rs. 40,000 crore, half of which will be borne by the Centre.
Lifestyle - Prisoners in South Africa embrace yoga
Andrew Walker
JOHANNESBURG: The prisoners at the Groenpunt Maximum Security prison in the Free State province are among the most violent in South Africa.
They have raped, murdered, smuggled drugs or abused children. Many are HIV-positive and can expect to die in jail.
Inside prison their anger boils over and violence is common.
But a new programme of yoga lessons is helping inmates to discover ways to calm themselves and take a more positive look at their lives, even if they never get out from behind bars.
From the deck of a rusty old boxing ring Ansuya Khoosal takes the prisoners through a series of yoga positions and breathing exercises.
“Breathe in... And let go,” she repeats.
The prisoners have their eyes shut, listening to her soothing voice. They appear at peace with themselves.
“I can’t see any smiles!” Ansuya says, and wide, honest grins appear on their faces.
They stand in their bright orange uniforms, flinging their arms up in a flurry of stretches.
Some inmates take it very seriously, others treat it like a bit of a lark, but it is clear that the lessons are popular.
It is the last day of a seven day programme of lessons, teaching the inmates basic yoga positions, as well as breathing exercises devised by yoga master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The organisation that provides the teaching, Art of Living, say they hope the inmates will take what they have learned and practice in their cells on their own.
The organisation cannot run classes every week, but they have identified enthusiastic inmates to carry on encouraging their cell-mates to continue.
JOHANNESBURG: The prisoners at the Groenpunt Maximum Security prison in the Free State province are among the most violent in South Africa.
They have raped, murdered, smuggled drugs or abused children. Many are HIV-positive and can expect to die in jail.
Inside prison their anger boils over and violence is common.
But a new programme of yoga lessons is helping inmates to discover ways to calm themselves and take a more positive look at their lives, even if they never get out from behind bars.
From the deck of a rusty old boxing ring Ansuya Khoosal takes the prisoners through a series of yoga positions and breathing exercises.
“Breathe in... And let go,” she repeats.
The prisoners have their eyes shut, listening to her soothing voice. They appear at peace with themselves.
“I can’t see any smiles!” Ansuya says, and wide, honest grins appear on their faces.
They stand in their bright orange uniforms, flinging their arms up in a flurry of stretches.
Some inmates take it very seriously, others treat it like a bit of a lark, but it is clear that the lessons are popular.
It is the last day of a seven day programme of lessons, teaching the inmates basic yoga positions, as well as breathing exercises devised by yoga master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The organisation that provides the teaching, Art of Living, say they hope the inmates will take what they have learned and practice in their cells on their own.
The organisation cannot run classes every week, but they have identified enthusiastic inmates to carry on encouraging their cell-mates to continue.
India - A message of peace;Pakistan theatre group performs
K.Santosh
Thrissur: Voices for peace and tolerance were heard loud and clear at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFK) when the 16-member Lahore-based Ajoka staged a play, ‘Bullah,’ here on Friday.
This is the first official tour of a troupe from across the border after the Mumbai terror attacks and assumes significance in the wake of New Delhi calling off the Indian cricket team’s tour to Pakistan.
An olive branch
The play seemed to offer an olive branch, echoing voices of sanity and making a strong pitch for a return to reason.
“The answer to bilateral problems lies in better people-to-people contact. How can two countries, with a shared history and culture several thousand years old, think of severing ties or prolonging conflict? Dialogue can solve problems,” said Madeeha Gauhar, director.
The tour has not been without problems. Two members, employees of the Pakistan government, could not reportedly secure no-objection certificates for visa requirements. Three members backed out owing to pressure from their relatives who feared that a journey to India was unsafe at this juncture. Three Indian artistes/technicians replaced them.
“For security reasons, many advised us against visiting India now. But we were confident that Indians would welcome us warmly. We could feel the warmth and support when we staged excerpts from the play at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on Tuesday. Ajoka is not new to India. It has performed extensively in India, calling for better relations between people in the subcontinent,” Ms. Gauhar said.
In the theatre festival, Pakistan shares space with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Iran. One cannot miss the flags of the countries aflutter at the venue, upholding the message of peace and cooperation.
Beacon of hope
The choice of ‘Bullah,’ which dealt with the life and times of Sufi poet-mystic Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) was apt. “Remove duality and do away with all disputes. The Hindu and the Muslim are none other than God,” he wrote.
He lived in an era when the sub-continent was torn by war, hatred and hopelessness. He witnessed civil and religious strife, and political chaos. His words were a beacon of hope in those troubled times.
“He was among the most liberal Muslims of his time. He did not see a conflict between his mystic beliefs and his devotion to music and dance,” said Ms. Gauhar.
The Pakistani artistes strove to convey that nothing mattered in life more than love, peace and brotherhood. If only life would imitate art.
Thrissur: Voices for peace and tolerance were heard loud and clear at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFK) when the 16-member Lahore-based Ajoka staged a play, ‘Bullah,’ here on Friday.
This is the first official tour of a troupe from across the border after the Mumbai terror attacks and assumes significance in the wake of New Delhi calling off the Indian cricket team’s tour to Pakistan.
An olive branch
The play seemed to offer an olive branch, echoing voices of sanity and making a strong pitch for a return to reason.
“The answer to bilateral problems lies in better people-to-people contact. How can two countries, with a shared history and culture several thousand years old, think of severing ties or prolonging conflict? Dialogue can solve problems,” said Madeeha Gauhar, director.
The tour has not been without problems. Two members, employees of the Pakistan government, could not reportedly secure no-objection certificates for visa requirements. Three members backed out owing to pressure from their relatives who feared that a journey to India was unsafe at this juncture. Three Indian artistes/technicians replaced them.
“For security reasons, many advised us against visiting India now. But we were confident that Indians would welcome us warmly. We could feel the warmth and support when we staged excerpts from the play at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on Tuesday. Ajoka is not new to India. It has performed extensively in India, calling for better relations between people in the subcontinent,” Ms. Gauhar said.
In the theatre festival, Pakistan shares space with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Iran. One cannot miss the flags of the countries aflutter at the venue, upholding the message of peace and cooperation.
Beacon of hope
The choice of ‘Bullah,’ which dealt with the life and times of Sufi poet-mystic Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) was apt. “Remove duality and do away with all disputes. The Hindu and the Muslim are none other than God,” he wrote.
He lived in an era when the sub-continent was torn by war, hatred and hopelessness. He witnessed civil and religious strife, and political chaos. His words were a beacon of hope in those troubled times.
“He was among the most liberal Muslims of his time. He did not see a conflict between his mystic beliefs and his devotion to music and dance,” said Ms. Gauhar.
The Pakistani artistes strove to convey that nothing mattered in life more than love, peace and brotherhood. If only life would imitate art.
Business - Kingfisher Airlines set to break even in December: Mallya
Ajay Sukumaran
Bangalore: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd expects to break even in December on an estimated revenue of Rs500 crore for the month, according to chairman Vijay Mallya.
“All going well, we should break even in December itself,” Mallya said after the annual general meeting of shareholders
Mallya also said Kingfisher’s plans to raise $400 million (about Rs1,916 crore) to fund operations were on track and that the company was in discussions with private equity investors.
“I think the worst is over and there’s no reason why private equity investors who had expressed interest when oil was at $100 a barrel shouldn’t be more interested when oil is $36 a barrel,” Mallya said.
Kingfisher, India’s second largest private sector carrier by passengers behind Jet Airways (India) Ltd, had reported a net loss of Rs641 crore for the six months to 30 September, following its merger with budget carrier Deccan Aviation Ltd.
Kingfisher, which had announced an operational alliance with Jet, plans to launch two flights connecting Mumbai to Hong Kong and Singapore in January, besides flights to Colombo, Male and Dubai from Bangalore.
“The fundamentals for the aviation industry are strong but the government has to recognize that the aviation industry is a very important part of India’s infrastructure,” Mallya said, a position long held by India’s private aviation companies looking for tax breaks and other concessions from the government amid a downturn in their business.
Airlines have been demanding that aviation fuel be given the so-called declared goods status that will enable it to be taxed at 4% across India, instead of an average of about 26% because of varying taxes in different states. But a committee of state finance ministers has opposed this demand.
“We can pass on pretty much majority of the savings and that would be good for the industry, make air travel even more affordable and stimulate an industry that has slowed down considerably,” claimed Mallya.
Kingfisher shares rose 0.87% to Rs34.80 n the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.
Bangalore: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd expects to break even in December on an estimated revenue of Rs500 crore for the month, according to chairman Vijay Mallya.
“All going well, we should break even in December itself,” Mallya said after the annual general meeting of shareholders
Mallya also said Kingfisher’s plans to raise $400 million (about Rs1,916 crore) to fund operations were on track and that the company was in discussions with private equity investors.
“I think the worst is over and there’s no reason why private equity investors who had expressed interest when oil was at $100 a barrel shouldn’t be more interested when oil is $36 a barrel,” Mallya said.
Kingfisher, India’s second largest private sector carrier by passengers behind Jet Airways (India) Ltd, had reported a net loss of Rs641 crore for the six months to 30 September, following its merger with budget carrier Deccan Aviation Ltd.
Kingfisher, which had announced an operational alliance with Jet, plans to launch two flights connecting Mumbai to Hong Kong and Singapore in January, besides flights to Colombo, Male and Dubai from Bangalore.
“The fundamentals for the aviation industry are strong but the government has to recognize that the aviation industry is a very important part of India’s infrastructure,” Mallya said, a position long held by India’s private aviation companies looking for tax breaks and other concessions from the government amid a downturn in their business.
Airlines have been demanding that aviation fuel be given the so-called declared goods status that will enable it to be taxed at 4% across India, instead of an average of about 26% because of varying taxes in different states. But a committee of state finance ministers has opposed this demand.
“We can pass on pretty much majority of the savings and that would be good for the industry, make air travel even more affordable and stimulate an industry that has slowed down considerably,” claimed Mallya.
Kingfisher shares rose 0.87% to Rs34.80 n the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.
Business - 10 Indian MFIs in global top 100 ranking
Anita Bhoir
Mumbai: Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) feature the most in a global list of the top 100 firms, as ranked by US-based Microfinance Information Exchange Inc. (MIX).
The annual MIX Global 100 Composite Ranking features 10 Indian microfinance institutions in the list topped by Indonesia’s MBK Ventura, which has at least 64,000 borrowers. India’s SKS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, with more than 1.6 million borrowers, has slipped from the top slot to second position.
Cashpor Micro Credit, Sarvodaya Nano Finance Ltd, Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF), Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd, Aadarsha Welfare Society and Centre for Rural Reconstruction through Social Action are the other Indian microfinance institutions in the list’s top 50.
The MIX list selected the top 100 institutions from a sample of 652 firms based on three key attributes: outreach, efficiency, and transparency. The performance of these institutions was measured for each area relative to other firms in the sample. “Leading the South Asian contingent, India was the only country with 10 or more MFIs in the ranking, seven of which scored in the top 50,” MIX said in the report. “Five other countries posted five or more MFIs, including Cambodia, Bosnia, Colombia, Ecuador and Morocco.”
Indian microfinance institutions in the top 100 averaged above 50% growth in borrowers over the previous year, the report shows. SKS Microfinance more than tripled the number of its borrowers during the year to cross the one million mark. “Top-level efficiency also boosted their ranking, as Indian MFIs in the composite ranking kept costs to less than a quarter of the average, at 1.5% of gross national income per capita, buoyed by low labour costs and high productivity,” MIX said.
“The interest rates in select South Asian economies are higher when compared with India. This reflects on the margins of Indian MFIs,” said M.R. Rao, chief operating officer, SKS Microfinance. “Interest rates charged in Sri Lanka are anywhere in the range of 33-36%, while in India we charge an interest rate of 24-25%.” But SKS has decided to go slow on acquiring new customers because of the credit crunch. “We have also decided to go slow on branch expansion considering the existing economic environment... Once the liquidity situation turns we will begin acquiring new customers,” said Rao.
India had 216 microfinance institutions with a loan portfolio of up to Rs5,898.2 crore as at end-March, according to the Bharat Microfinance report of Sa-Dhan, an association of development finance institutions.
Mumbai: Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) feature the most in a global list of the top 100 firms, as ranked by US-based Microfinance Information Exchange Inc. (MIX).
The annual MIX Global 100 Composite Ranking features 10 Indian microfinance institutions in the list topped by Indonesia’s MBK Ventura, which has at least 64,000 borrowers. India’s SKS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, with more than 1.6 million borrowers, has slipped from the top slot to second position.
Cashpor Micro Credit, Sarvodaya Nano Finance Ltd, Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF), Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd, Aadarsha Welfare Society and Centre for Rural Reconstruction through Social Action are the other Indian microfinance institutions in the list’s top 50.
The MIX list selected the top 100 institutions from a sample of 652 firms based on three key attributes: outreach, efficiency, and transparency. The performance of these institutions was measured for each area relative to other firms in the sample. “Leading the South Asian contingent, India was the only country with 10 or more MFIs in the ranking, seven of which scored in the top 50,” MIX said in the report. “Five other countries posted five or more MFIs, including Cambodia, Bosnia, Colombia, Ecuador and Morocco.”
Indian microfinance institutions in the top 100 averaged above 50% growth in borrowers over the previous year, the report shows. SKS Microfinance more than tripled the number of its borrowers during the year to cross the one million mark. “Top-level efficiency also boosted their ranking, as Indian MFIs in the composite ranking kept costs to less than a quarter of the average, at 1.5% of gross national income per capita, buoyed by low labour costs and high productivity,” MIX said.
“The interest rates in select South Asian economies are higher when compared with India. This reflects on the margins of Indian MFIs,” said M.R. Rao, chief operating officer, SKS Microfinance. “Interest rates charged in Sri Lanka are anywhere in the range of 33-36%, while in India we charge an interest rate of 24-25%.” But SKS has decided to go slow on acquiring new customers because of the credit crunch. “We have also decided to go slow on branch expansion considering the existing economic environment... Once the liquidity situation turns we will begin acquiring new customers,” said Rao.
India had 216 microfinance institutions with a loan portfolio of up to Rs5,898.2 crore as at end-March, according to the Bharat Microfinance report of Sa-Dhan, an association of development finance institutions.
India - 24 hour science channel
T.S. Subramanian
CHENNAI: A 24-hour television channel dedicated to science and technology and highlighting India’s scientific achievements will be on the air in two months.
W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, Research and Development, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said the channel would be a product of public-private sector partnership. Many departments of the Government of India had committed themselves to providing a certain number of episodes. They included the DRDO, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Space, the Department of Atomic Energy, and the Department of Biotechnology.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Institutes of Technology and premier engineering colleges would also contribute to the channel with their programmes. The DRDO had committed to giving 100 episodes.
“This is a good initiative because India’s achievements in various scientific endeavours will be propagated at the global level. The programmes will be in a simple language to enable even the lay man to understand them. The channel will disseminate information from the laboratory to the land,” said Dr. Selvamurthy, who heads the Life Sciences and Human Resource division in the DRDO.
Sashi Mehta of Signet Communications Private Limited had taken the initiative in forging the public-private sector partnership for the channel, he said. He described as “a milestone” the landing of Tejas, India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in the rarefied heights of Leh, Ladakh, on December 13.
Dr. Selvamurthy said: “It successfully completed different trials in the cold environment in the high altitude of Leh. The trials are important for operating the LCA in cold weather close to the border. The objective of the flight trials is to expose the onboard systems to extreme low temperatures.”
Two Tejas prototypes were involved in the trials. The aircraft remained in cold weather overnight with temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius and they were powered up the next day for operations.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) placed orders for 20 Tejas aircraft after their initial operation clearance, which was expected to be achieved in 2010. The LCA’s flight envelope, manoeuvrability, and safety would be tested first. If it passed these tests, the IAF would place orders for 20 more Tejas aircraft after their final operation clearance, the DRDO’s Chief Controller said.
CHENNAI: A 24-hour television channel dedicated to science and technology and highlighting India’s scientific achievements will be on the air in two months.
W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, Research and Development, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said the channel would be a product of public-private sector partnership. Many departments of the Government of India had committed themselves to providing a certain number of episodes. They included the DRDO, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Space, the Department of Atomic Energy, and the Department of Biotechnology.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Institutes of Technology and premier engineering colleges would also contribute to the channel with their programmes. The DRDO had committed to giving 100 episodes.
“This is a good initiative because India’s achievements in various scientific endeavours will be propagated at the global level. The programmes will be in a simple language to enable even the lay man to understand them. The channel will disseminate information from the laboratory to the land,” said Dr. Selvamurthy, who heads the Life Sciences and Human Resource division in the DRDO.
Sashi Mehta of Signet Communications Private Limited had taken the initiative in forging the public-private sector partnership for the channel, he said. He described as “a milestone” the landing of Tejas, India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in the rarefied heights of Leh, Ladakh, on December 13.
Dr. Selvamurthy said: “It successfully completed different trials in the cold environment in the high altitude of Leh. The trials are important for operating the LCA in cold weather close to the border. The objective of the flight trials is to expose the onboard systems to extreme low temperatures.”
Two Tejas prototypes were involved in the trials. The aircraft remained in cold weather overnight with temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius and they were powered up the next day for operations.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) placed orders for 20 Tejas aircraft after their initial operation clearance, which was expected to be achieved in 2010. The LCA’s flight envelope, manoeuvrability, and safety would be tested first. If it passed these tests, the IAF would place orders for 20 more Tejas aircraft after their final operation clearance, the DRDO’s Chief Controller said.
Lifestyle - Japan cyber cafe offers residential address to unemployed, homeless
Tokyo: In a country where a street address is key to getting a job, an Internet cafe near Tokyo is offering the unemployed and homeless more than just a virtual, email address.
In addition to the usual Internet services, comic books and unlimited beverages offered by most Japanese Internet cafes, Cyber @ Cafe offers its residents long-term lodging and an official registered address.
This simple service is vital for the 50 semi-permanent residents of the cafe, many of whom have taken refuge here after being laid off abruptly during the current recession.
Takemitsu Karitachi, a contract worker at a nearby factory, is one of the many people who have been sleeping at the cafe every night for the past two months since he lost his office job and his apartment.
Karitachi, who used to roam the streets and hopped between various Internet cafes for months, says he is now relieved to have found a more permanent home -- even if it’s a cubicle just slightly bigger than the back seat of a car.
“Before I came here, I would sit around on chairs in front of places like supermarkets and eat rice balls during the day. But when I really didn’t have any money or work, I had to sleep on park benches at night,” Karitachi said.
Like Karitachi, many of people who frequent cyber cafes are unemployed and homeless who are looking for shelter, but unlike the residents of Cyber @ Cafe, they can’t call these places home. “Human resources agencies used to hire contract workers like me without an official address, but that has changed,” Karitachi said. “Now you need an official address and a guarantor.”
Cyber @ Cafe has a microwave and shower and lodgers pay about $20 a day, much less than budget hotels. Japan’s jobless rate is still at an enviable—by Western standards—3.7%, but according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, about 30,000 contract workers will be laid off across the country between October 2008 and March 2009.
The economy is also in recession and analysts predict this slowdown may be perhaps the longest on record, as global demand for Japanese cars and technology dries up.
Since late October, 50 cubicles in the dimly lit Cyber @ Cafe have been packed with jobseekers, giving cafe owner Akihiro Sato a close-up look at the economic recession.
He said younger lodgers in their mid-to-late-twenties tend to stay for a couple of months before finding a home and a job, but older and poorer residents, with little chance of finding work, are almost permanent fixtures. “People who lost their jobs in this recession have absolutely no where to go so this cafe is their last resort,” Sato said.
“The government just announced that they’ll build some kind of housing for contract and temporary workers, but the process is too complicated. They need a place right now and we can offer that and that’s why there’s a great demand,” he said.
In addition to the usual Internet services, comic books and unlimited beverages offered by most Japanese Internet cafes, Cyber @ Cafe offers its residents long-term lodging and an official registered address.
This simple service is vital for the 50 semi-permanent residents of the cafe, many of whom have taken refuge here after being laid off abruptly during the current recession.
Takemitsu Karitachi, a contract worker at a nearby factory, is one of the many people who have been sleeping at the cafe every night for the past two months since he lost his office job and his apartment.
Karitachi, who used to roam the streets and hopped between various Internet cafes for months, says he is now relieved to have found a more permanent home -- even if it’s a cubicle just slightly bigger than the back seat of a car.
“Before I came here, I would sit around on chairs in front of places like supermarkets and eat rice balls during the day. But when I really didn’t have any money or work, I had to sleep on park benches at night,” Karitachi said.
Like Karitachi, many of people who frequent cyber cafes are unemployed and homeless who are looking for shelter, but unlike the residents of Cyber @ Cafe, they can’t call these places home. “Human resources agencies used to hire contract workers like me without an official address, but that has changed,” Karitachi said. “Now you need an official address and a guarantor.”
Cyber @ Cafe has a microwave and shower and lodgers pay about $20 a day, much less than budget hotels. Japan’s jobless rate is still at an enviable—by Western standards—3.7%, but according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, about 30,000 contract workers will be laid off across the country between October 2008 and March 2009.
The economy is also in recession and analysts predict this slowdown may be perhaps the longest on record, as global demand for Japanese cars and technology dries up.
Since late October, 50 cubicles in the dimly lit Cyber @ Cafe have been packed with jobseekers, giving cafe owner Akihiro Sato a close-up look at the economic recession.
He said younger lodgers in their mid-to-late-twenties tend to stay for a couple of months before finding a home and a job, but older and poorer residents, with little chance of finding work, are almost permanent fixtures. “People who lost their jobs in this recession have absolutely no where to go so this cafe is their last resort,” Sato said.
“The government just announced that they’ll build some kind of housing for contract and temporary workers, but the process is too complicated. They need a place right now and we can offer that and that’s why there’s a great demand,” he said.
Sport - Cricket;Team of the year
Peter Roebuck
Every festive season this column chooses its Test team of the year. Our side is chosen entirely on the basis of performances in 2008. Specialists will be chosen in every position. Of course figures cannot completely be isolated from their surroundings. To that end Tests involving Bangladesh have been removed.
Gautam Gambhir and Graeme Smith will open the innings. Gambhir scored three 100s and averaged 70 in eight Tests played against strong opponents. After scoring heavily in Sri Lanka he repeated the feat against Australia and England.
Smith (1519 runs at 72) takes the second spot ahead of Virender Sehwag (1462 at 56) because he produced two fourth innings hundreds that helped to secure stunning victories. His unbeaten 154 as his team chased 281 at Edgbaston was as impressive as Brian Lara’s epic in Barbados. Considering his responsibilities, Smith has had a wonderful year. Omitting Viru goes against the grain because he played several outstanding innings.
Hashim Amla (1112 at 52) bats at first wicket down. It has been a patchy year for first drops, with Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting faring about as well as the hedge funds. Alone amongst them Amla has surpassed himself, averaging over 50 in a notably demanding position. He is the first cricketer of Indian extraction to play for South Africa and his success ought to inspire a somewhat insular community.
Pietersen at No. 4
Kevin Pietersen (1015 at 50) takes the second wicket down position a fraction ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (1063 at 48). A week ago the Indian was in front but the England batsman rallied in the Mohali Test. Tendulkar’s match-winning hundred in Chennai was a corker but his rival was also captaining the side and took it back to India after the Mumbai outrage.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the cricketer of the year. In nine matches he collected 909 runs at an average of 101. Once settled he was harder to shift than ink. Enough said. Abraham de Villiers must bat at fourth drop. In 2008 he has tallied 1054 runs at 62 an innings. His hundred in Perth was a match-winning effort and his ability to work the ball into the gaps told of a maturity beyond his years.
Dhoni to captain
Despite the achievements of several rivals Mahendra Singh Dhoni will guard the stumps. He is also captain. After missing the tour of Sri Lanka, Dhoni led his team to victory over Australia and England, along the way displaying an ability to forge a fighting unit and to pursue ruthless strategies. Although his glovework was scratchy he scored important runs, averaging 35.
Ryan Sidebottom and Dale Steyn lead the attack. Despite his patchy form in Perth, the South African speedster has claimed 66 scalps at 21 apiece. At his best he sent down fast outswingers, a delivery calculated to perturb any batsman. Until injury struck, the Yorkshireman had taken 47 wickets at 20 each.
Johnson lone Aussie
Nine players and not an Australian in sight! Mitchell Johnson has saved the day. Although his wickets were not exactly cheap at 27 apiece, he took 61 and only Harbhajan Singh (63) was more rapacious.
Ishant Sharma was outstanding but his figures (38 at 31) were not quite good enough. Zaheer Khan’s 27 wickets cost 36 runs each. Neither had the opportunity to try their luck against the Aussies at the Gabba but that is the way it goes.
Ajantha Mendis is our spinner, narrowly ousting Murali (33 at 26). Mendis only played three Tests but took 26 Indian wickets at an average of 18. Afterwards the Indians said they could pick him alright but just could not play him!
(Statistics up to the end of the first day of the Boxing Day Test)
Every festive season this column chooses its Test team of the year. Our side is chosen entirely on the basis of performances in 2008. Specialists will be chosen in every position. Of course figures cannot completely be isolated from their surroundings. To that end Tests involving Bangladesh have been removed.
Gautam Gambhir and Graeme Smith will open the innings. Gambhir scored three 100s and averaged 70 in eight Tests played against strong opponents. After scoring heavily in Sri Lanka he repeated the feat against Australia and England.
Smith (1519 runs at 72) takes the second spot ahead of Virender Sehwag (1462 at 56) because he produced two fourth innings hundreds that helped to secure stunning victories. His unbeaten 154 as his team chased 281 at Edgbaston was as impressive as Brian Lara’s epic in Barbados. Considering his responsibilities, Smith has had a wonderful year. Omitting Viru goes against the grain because he played several outstanding innings.
Hashim Amla (1112 at 52) bats at first wicket down. It has been a patchy year for first drops, with Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting faring about as well as the hedge funds. Alone amongst them Amla has surpassed himself, averaging over 50 in a notably demanding position. He is the first cricketer of Indian extraction to play for South Africa and his success ought to inspire a somewhat insular community.
Pietersen at No. 4
Kevin Pietersen (1015 at 50) takes the second wicket down position a fraction ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (1063 at 48). A week ago the Indian was in front but the England batsman rallied in the Mohali Test. Tendulkar’s match-winning hundred in Chennai was a corker but his rival was also captaining the side and took it back to India after the Mumbai outrage.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the cricketer of the year. In nine matches he collected 909 runs at an average of 101. Once settled he was harder to shift than ink. Enough said. Abraham de Villiers must bat at fourth drop. In 2008 he has tallied 1054 runs at 62 an innings. His hundred in Perth was a match-winning effort and his ability to work the ball into the gaps told of a maturity beyond his years.
Dhoni to captain
Despite the achievements of several rivals Mahendra Singh Dhoni will guard the stumps. He is also captain. After missing the tour of Sri Lanka, Dhoni led his team to victory over Australia and England, along the way displaying an ability to forge a fighting unit and to pursue ruthless strategies. Although his glovework was scratchy he scored important runs, averaging 35.
Ryan Sidebottom and Dale Steyn lead the attack. Despite his patchy form in Perth, the South African speedster has claimed 66 scalps at 21 apiece. At his best he sent down fast outswingers, a delivery calculated to perturb any batsman. Until injury struck, the Yorkshireman had taken 47 wickets at 20 each.
Johnson lone Aussie
Nine players and not an Australian in sight! Mitchell Johnson has saved the day. Although his wickets were not exactly cheap at 27 apiece, he took 61 and only Harbhajan Singh (63) was more rapacious.
Ishant Sharma was outstanding but his figures (38 at 31) were not quite good enough. Zaheer Khan’s 27 wickets cost 36 runs each. Neither had the opportunity to try their luck against the Aussies at the Gabba but that is the way it goes.
Ajantha Mendis is our spinner, narrowly ousting Murali (33 at 26). Mendis only played three Tests but took 26 Indian wickets at an average of 18. Afterwards the Indians said they could pick him alright but just could not play him!
(Statistics up to the end of the first day of the Boxing Day Test)
Mktg - India;Neo Cricket bats for entertainment
Purvita Chatterjee
Mumbai, Dec. 26 Neo Cricket has decided to promote its channel on the entertainment platform in a bid to attract a new set of advertisers in addition to enhancing its subscription revenues.
Having garnered revenues to the tune of Rs 285 crore in the last quarter of this year, the cricket channel is banking on its DTH and cable subscription revenues to record significant growth by the time the channel’s fiscal year ends in March next year.
“Our cable subscription has already grown by 55 per cent while DTH subscription has recorded a 50 per cent growth in subscription,” says Mr Abhishek Verma, Vice-President (Marketing), Neo Sports Broadcast Ltd.
Positioning itself as sports-cum-entertainment channel, it has decided to tie up with cinema halls, especially multiplexes. “We are in the process of tying up with 2-3 cinema chains and there would be branding and regular interactive contests held at such venues,” said Mr Verma. Besides, the channel has decided to link itself to Bollywood in the near future. For instance, Neo Sports has decided to bring in in-film branding by associating itself with the soon-to-be-released Bollywood film Victory. It has currently also associated itself with the kids film, Jumbo.
Afro-Asian Cup
With not much international cricket happening in the beginning of 2009, the cricket channel would be waiting for the Afro-Asian Cup held later during the coming year to get a boost in its revenues.
“Even in the beginning of 2008, there was not much cricket. However, it was between October and December when revenues shot up with the Irani trophy and the Australia and England series. However, on an average, ad revenues have been growing at 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis,” says Mr Verma.
There was also a spurt in viewership during the recent producer’s strike when GEC channels’ ratings suffered. “Our ratings shot up during the strike with GRPs even higher than the IPL matches during the England-India series this year,” says Mr Verma.
Auto sector
While FMCG brands continued to be consistently advertised during the year, there are chances of two-wheelers and cars also making a comeback with their sectors reviving after the economic slowdown.
“In cricket, advertisers are looking for consistent returns. While there is expected be a slowdown in advertising in the coming year, categories like two-wheelers and cars may also start advertising again,” observes Mr Verma. eom
Mumbai, Dec. 26 Neo Cricket has decided to promote its channel on the entertainment platform in a bid to attract a new set of advertisers in addition to enhancing its subscription revenues.
Having garnered revenues to the tune of Rs 285 crore in the last quarter of this year, the cricket channel is banking on its DTH and cable subscription revenues to record significant growth by the time the channel’s fiscal year ends in March next year.
“Our cable subscription has already grown by 55 per cent while DTH subscription has recorded a 50 per cent growth in subscription,” says Mr Abhishek Verma, Vice-President (Marketing), Neo Sports Broadcast Ltd.
Positioning itself as sports-cum-entertainment channel, it has decided to tie up with cinema halls, especially multiplexes. “We are in the process of tying up with 2-3 cinema chains and there would be branding and regular interactive contests held at such venues,” said Mr Verma. Besides, the channel has decided to link itself to Bollywood in the near future. For instance, Neo Sports has decided to bring in in-film branding by associating itself with the soon-to-be-released Bollywood film Victory. It has currently also associated itself with the kids film, Jumbo.
Afro-Asian Cup
With not much international cricket happening in the beginning of 2009, the cricket channel would be waiting for the Afro-Asian Cup held later during the coming year to get a boost in its revenues.
“Even in the beginning of 2008, there was not much cricket. However, it was between October and December when revenues shot up with the Irani trophy and the Australia and England series. However, on an average, ad revenues have been growing at 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis,” says Mr Verma.
There was also a spurt in viewership during the recent producer’s strike when GEC channels’ ratings suffered. “Our ratings shot up during the strike with GRPs even higher than the IPL matches during the England-India series this year,” says Mr Verma.
Auto sector
While FMCG brands continued to be consistently advertised during the year, there are chances of two-wheelers and cars also making a comeback with their sectors reviving after the economic slowdown.
“In cricket, advertisers are looking for consistent returns. While there is expected be a slowdown in advertising in the coming year, categories like two-wheelers and cars may also start advertising again,” observes Mr Verma. eom
India - Come 2009, TV viewing to become costlier
New Delhi, Dec. 26 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has amended the Broadcasting and Cable Tariff Order to allow for inflation-linked adjustments in the rates for cable TV services.
Broadcasters have now been allowed a 7 per cent increase in rates and consumers will have to bear a part of this increase, come Janurary 2009.
In 2004, TRAI had frozen broadcasters’ rates, at the December 26, 2003 levels. Since then, a 4-per cent increase has been implemented. Last October, the regulator had also fixed ceilings for what a consumer could be charged depending on the city he lived in.
Cable TV viewing in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, or Surat will cost at least Rs 11 more. For up to 20 pay channels and 30 free-to-air channels, the operators can now ask for a maximum of Rs 171. The same will cost Rs 20 less in Asansol, Coimbatore or Puducherry, amongst others. Everywhere else, it will now cost a maximum of Rs 139.
At the other end, more than 45 pay and 30 free-to-air channels will cost consumers, in Bangalore for example, a maximum of Rs 271 a month. The ceiling for those in Asansol, for instance, will be Rs 235, and elsewhere Rs 214.
For Conditional Access System-mandated areas, individual channels will now cost a maximum of Rs 5.35 (excluding taxes) per month. The basic service of 30 free to air channels will cost Rs 82/ month, up from the current Rs 77.
STB rentals
Rentals and security deposits for set-top boxes will, however, be cheaper this coming year. Operators in CAS-mandated areas have been running two schemes, for which the regulator had fixed security deposits and monthly rentals according to the prevailing prices of STB.
Since the prices of boxes have dropped in the last two years, the TRAI wants this benefit to be passed on to consumers.
The security deposit of Rs 250 has been reduced to 200, and rentals to Rs 34 from Rs 45.
Under the second scheme, in which the deposit is Rs 999, consumers can now pay a security of Rs 750 and a monthly rental of Rs 22 instead of Rs 30.
The TRAI has reclassified cities and towns under X, Y and Z categories.
Broadcasters have now been allowed a 7 per cent increase in rates and consumers will have to bear a part of this increase, come Janurary 2009.
In 2004, TRAI had frozen broadcasters’ rates, at the December 26, 2003 levels. Since then, a 4-per cent increase has been implemented. Last October, the regulator had also fixed ceilings for what a consumer could be charged depending on the city he lived in.
Cable TV viewing in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, or Surat will cost at least Rs 11 more. For up to 20 pay channels and 30 free-to-air channels, the operators can now ask for a maximum of Rs 171. The same will cost Rs 20 less in Asansol, Coimbatore or Puducherry, amongst others. Everywhere else, it will now cost a maximum of Rs 139.
At the other end, more than 45 pay and 30 free-to-air channels will cost consumers, in Bangalore for example, a maximum of Rs 271 a month. The ceiling for those in Asansol, for instance, will be Rs 235, and elsewhere Rs 214.
For Conditional Access System-mandated areas, individual channels will now cost a maximum of Rs 5.35 (excluding taxes) per month. The basic service of 30 free to air channels will cost Rs 82/ month, up from the current Rs 77.
STB rentals
Rentals and security deposits for set-top boxes will, however, be cheaper this coming year. Operators in CAS-mandated areas have been running two schemes, for which the regulator had fixed security deposits and monthly rentals according to the prevailing prices of STB.
Since the prices of boxes have dropped in the last two years, the TRAI wants this benefit to be passed on to consumers.
The security deposit of Rs 250 has been reduced to 200, and rentals to Rs 34 from Rs 45.
Under the second scheme, in which the deposit is Rs 999, consumers can now pay a security of Rs 750 and a monthly rental of Rs 22 instead of Rs 30.
The TRAI has reclassified cities and towns under X, Y and Z categories.
Business - Railways to float entertainment tenders
MUMBAI: The Indian railway ministry has asked all its zonal offices to call for bids through tenders for providing entertainment services on its moving trains nationally. The ministry, according to a report in a national daily, says those pitching to get the contract will have to provide hardware, networking and communication to be able to telecast the programmes and entertainment on board the trains.
The ministry additionally says that it will permit the players to use existing railway infrastructure such as its communication network, its stations to install hardware in order to be able to telecast live or delayed programming to railway passengers.
Players successful in getting the contract will be allowed to sell commercial airtime between the programmes to amortize their costs. Additionally, they could also offer also value-added services like telephony, Internet access, satellite radio and taxi and hotel booking to passengers on moving trains, the railway minsitry has said.
The ministry additionally says that it will permit the players to use existing railway infrastructure such as its communication network, its stations to install hardware in order to be able to telecast live or delayed programming to railway passengers.
Players successful in getting the contract will be allowed to sell commercial airtime between the programmes to amortize their costs. Additionally, they could also offer also value-added services like telephony, Internet access, satellite radio and taxi and hotel booking to passengers on moving trains, the railway minsitry has said.
Entertainment - India;NDTV Good Times to premiere new chat show from 3 January
MUMBAI: NDTV Good Times, the lifestyle channel from the NDTV stable, is set to launch its new chat show, The First Ladies with Abu Sandeep, from 3 January.
Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the show will be aired every Saturday at 10 pm.
Designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla will host the show wherein a celebrity wife will appear for a particular episode to give an inside view of her private world, claims the channel.
The show will feature likes of Nita Ambani, Jaya Bachchan, Neerja Birla, Gauri Khan, Usha Mittal, Suzanne Roshan, Manyatta Dutt, Adhuna Akhtar, Anupama Chopra, Tanya Deol, Kiron Kher and HRH Padmini Devi.
NDTV Good Times channel head Shibani Sharma Khanna said, “Through The First Ladies with Abu Sandeep show the audience will get to see and hear what it's really like to be the wife of a super successful man. Anchors Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla will also manage to extract some of the most outspoken, never-been-made-before statements and confessions.”
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla added, “It is the first time we are hosting a television show and we wanted to be sure that it’s a well-laid out format and presentation. Not only are we anchoring it, but we have also designed the sets keeping the theme of the show in mind.”
The channel has roped in LG as presenting sponsor and L’Oreal as co-sponsor for the show.
Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the show will be aired every Saturday at 10 pm.
Designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla will host the show wherein a celebrity wife will appear for a particular episode to give an inside view of her private world, claims the channel.
The show will feature likes of Nita Ambani, Jaya Bachchan, Neerja Birla, Gauri Khan, Usha Mittal, Suzanne Roshan, Manyatta Dutt, Adhuna Akhtar, Anupama Chopra, Tanya Deol, Kiron Kher and HRH Padmini Devi.
NDTV Good Times channel head Shibani Sharma Khanna said, “Through The First Ladies with Abu Sandeep show the audience will get to see and hear what it's really like to be the wife of a super successful man. Anchors Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla will also manage to extract some of the most outspoken, never-been-made-before statements and confessions.”
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla added, “It is the first time we are hosting a television show and we wanted to be sure that it’s a well-laid out format and presentation. Not only are we anchoring it, but we have also designed the sets keeping the theme of the show in mind.”
The channel has roped in LG as presenting sponsor and L’Oreal as co-sponsor for the show.
Lifestyle - UK;Nearly £2bn wasted on unwanted X’mas gifts
LONDON: While most people are yet to get over Christmas fever, some have already started selling off their unwanted Christmas presents online.
According to auction site eBay, nearly £2 billion was wasted on Christmas presents this year in Britain. Owing to the economic slowdown, the website says, consumers have already started auctioning off the gifts that they do not want, in an attempt to raise some money.
If the same pattern repeats itself as last year, thousands of jumpers, socks, saucepans, scarves, and slippers will be sold in the next few days by ungrateful family members.
A study conducted by polling group YouGov revealed that £1.7 billion was spent on unwanted Christmas presents this year, equivalent to £36 per person in Britain.
The survey of eBay customers showed that one in 10 gifts the average Briton received this Christmas would be left unloved under the tree.
"Last year on the 27th of December Brits flocked to eBay to sell an estimated two million unwanted Christmas gifts," the Telegraph quoted Carey Maguire from eBay in the UK as saying.
"This year, with the current economic climate, it's little wonder people will look to make extra cash. As a nation we are sitting on £455 million worth of untapped income from unwanted gifts alone," she said.
Last year, 1,55,000 items were sold on eBay, with the most popular categories for Christmas shoppers being 'clothing, shoes, and accessories', followed by 'video games' and 'cars, parts, and accessories'
According to auction site eBay, nearly £2 billion was wasted on Christmas presents this year in Britain. Owing to the economic slowdown, the website says, consumers have already started auctioning off the gifts that they do not want, in an attempt to raise some money.
If the same pattern repeats itself as last year, thousands of jumpers, socks, saucepans, scarves, and slippers will be sold in the next few days by ungrateful family members.
A study conducted by polling group YouGov revealed that £1.7 billion was spent on unwanted Christmas presents this year, equivalent to £36 per person in Britain.
The survey of eBay customers showed that one in 10 gifts the average Briton received this Christmas would be left unloved under the tree.
"Last year on the 27th of December Brits flocked to eBay to sell an estimated two million unwanted Christmas gifts," the Telegraph quoted Carey Maguire from eBay in the UK as saying.
"This year, with the current economic climate, it's little wonder people will look to make extra cash. As a nation we are sitting on £455 million worth of untapped income from unwanted gifts alone," she said.
Last year, 1,55,000 items were sold on eBay, with the most popular categories for Christmas shoppers being 'clothing, shoes, and accessories', followed by 'video games' and 'cars, parts, and accessories'
Entertainment - Lara Dutta - 70 ft underwater-bikini-toughie ?
Prithwish Ganguly
Lara Dutta believes that no other Hindi film actress could have done the underwater action stunts that she has done in her forthcoming film Blue, which stars Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt in the lead.
“I don’t think there is any actress in our industry who could have done what I went through and did in Blue," Lara told DNA. "The underwater stuff I have done was both physically exhausting and very mentally challenging. I wanted to teach myself swimming at any cost and I have learnt it finally through this film. We have done some great stuff 70 feet below. But there is a great deal of satisfaction after going through all that. The film is looking super-amazing. It is going to up the ante of how some of the stunts in Bollywood should be done.”
For those who are interested, Lara can be seeing in bikinis in the movie.
Lara revealed that Akshay Kumar offered her the animation film Jumbo during one such action sequence in Phuket, Thailand. “We were in the middle of something very serious which needed all our attention and Akshay chose that moment to offer me Jumbo. I was like, are you serious? And he was!"
Lara had never been part of an animation film, "but I had loved watching them. Jumbo has some of the elements that Lion King had.”
Lara is also part of Shah Rukh Khan’s Billoo Barber and though reports suggest that she does not have much of a screen presence in the film, Lara says she chose the film because of its content.
“Billoo Barber happened out of the blue. Shah Rukh narrated the film to me and he didn’t promise me much. He was very honest. He said it is a good film and he would be very happy if I were a part of it. I also felt it was a great film and I signed it. I believed in the story more than thinking how much screen time I would be getting.
"Actors are selfish, but when something so good comes your way, one should take it up. The film has great emotion and Shah Rukh, Irrfan Khan, and Priyadarshan (the director) have made the movie an amazing experience.”
Lara Dutta believes that no other Hindi film actress could have done the underwater action stunts that she has done in her forthcoming film Blue, which stars Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt in the lead.
“I don’t think there is any actress in our industry who could have done what I went through and did in Blue," Lara told DNA. "The underwater stuff I have done was both physically exhausting and very mentally challenging. I wanted to teach myself swimming at any cost and I have learnt it finally through this film. We have done some great stuff 70 feet below. But there is a great deal of satisfaction after going through all that. The film is looking super-amazing. It is going to up the ante of how some of the stunts in Bollywood should be done.”
For those who are interested, Lara can be seeing in bikinis in the movie.
Lara revealed that Akshay Kumar offered her the animation film Jumbo during one such action sequence in Phuket, Thailand. “We were in the middle of something very serious which needed all our attention and Akshay chose that moment to offer me Jumbo. I was like, are you serious? And he was!"
Lara had never been part of an animation film, "but I had loved watching them. Jumbo has some of the elements that Lion King had.”
Lara is also part of Shah Rukh Khan’s Billoo Barber and though reports suggest that she does not have much of a screen presence in the film, Lara says she chose the film because of its content.
“Billoo Barber happened out of the blue. Shah Rukh narrated the film to me and he didn’t promise me much. He was very honest. He said it is a good film and he would be very happy if I were a part of it. I also felt it was a great film and I signed it. I believed in the story more than thinking how much screen time I would be getting.
"Actors are selfish, but when something so good comes your way, one should take it up. The film has great emotion and Shah Rukh, Irrfan Khan, and Priyadarshan (the director) have made the movie an amazing experience.”
World - Taliban in Pak threaten to kill girls attending schools
ISLAMABAD: On the pattern they followed in Afghanistan, Taliban militants in Pakistan's restive north-western Swat valley have banned girls from attending schools, warning that any violators would face death.
The move comes in the wake of a terror campaign by Taliban targeting girls' schools in the region with more than 100 such schools being blown up or torched.
"You have untill January 15 to stop sending girls to schools after which we will blow up the schools," Shah Dauran, a deputy of Maulana Fazlullah, the Taliban commander in Swat, held out the ultimatum on the militants' clandestine run FM radio channel.
Girls can no longer be enrolled by government or private educational institutions, he dictated. Dauran threatened to blow up all schools that violated the ban and said schools providing education to girls would be forced to close. Any person violating the ban will face harsh action, he said.
Prior to issuing this dictum, Taliban in several towns and villages of Swat had either barred girls from attending schools or directed teachers to ensure that they came to
schools in burqas.
Reports said dozens of schools have either been destroyed or closed through out Swat valley, where Pakistani forces are supposedly undertaking an operation against the
militants.
Not content with barring girls going to schools, the militants have also launched efforts to "Islamise" the curriculum of schools and have begun targeting state-run schools as part of their campaign.
So effective was the Taliban dictum that the NWFP government had to launch an advertisement campaign in newspapers in June-July asking militants to stop blowing up
schools. But it had little or no impact, neither did the efforts of residents of Swat, who had tried to oppose the militant campaign against girls' schools.
Taliban commanders like Fazlullah have said that female education is "un-Islamic". The militants have also targeted shops selling music and movies, barber shops and cyber cafes.
Fazlullah has been leading a violent campaign for the imposition of Shariat or Islamic law in Swat. After his followers established a parallel administration in some 60 villages in the region, security forces launched a crackdown in October last year.
According to official figures, Swat has 1580 schools registered, with most of them labelled as Pakistan's top schools.
The move comes in the wake of a terror campaign by Taliban targeting girls' schools in the region with more than 100 such schools being blown up or torched.
"You have untill January 15 to stop sending girls to schools after which we will blow up the schools," Shah Dauran, a deputy of Maulana Fazlullah, the Taliban commander in Swat, held out the ultimatum on the militants' clandestine run FM radio channel.
Girls can no longer be enrolled by government or private educational institutions, he dictated. Dauran threatened to blow up all schools that violated the ban and said schools providing education to girls would be forced to close. Any person violating the ban will face harsh action, he said.
Prior to issuing this dictum, Taliban in several towns and villages of Swat had either barred girls from attending schools or directed teachers to ensure that they came to
schools in burqas.
Reports said dozens of schools have either been destroyed or closed through out Swat valley, where Pakistani forces are supposedly undertaking an operation against the
militants.
Not content with barring girls going to schools, the militants have also launched efforts to "Islamise" the curriculum of schools and have begun targeting state-run schools as part of their campaign.
So effective was the Taliban dictum that the NWFP government had to launch an advertisement campaign in newspapers in June-July asking militants to stop blowing up
schools. But it had little or no impact, neither did the efforts of residents of Swat, who had tried to oppose the militant campaign against girls' schools.
Taliban commanders like Fazlullah have said that female education is "un-Islamic". The militants have also targeted shops selling music and movies, barber shops and cyber cafes.
Fazlullah has been leading a violent campaign for the imposition of Shariat or Islamic law in Swat. After his followers established a parallel administration in some 60 villages in the region, security forces launched a crackdown in October last year.
According to official figures, Swat has 1580 schools registered, with most of them labelled as Pakistan's top schools.
World - CIA warns of nuclear war in subcontinent
Amir Mir
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned the Bush administration of a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
The turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan could spill over into Jammu & Kashmir, prompting Indian leaders to take aggressive and retaliatory action, according to the CIA.
In assessing the security situation in the region, a CIA report observed: "Continued turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan will spill over into Kashmir and other areas of the subcontinent, prompting Indian leaders to take more aggressive pre-emptive and retaliatory actions.
"India's conventional military advantage over Pakistan will widen as a result of New Delhi's superior economic position… Changing military capabilities will be prominent among the factors that determine the risk of war."
The report, titled Global Trends 2015, which is now available with Pakistan's interior affairs ministry, further observed: "India most likely will expand the size of its nuclear-capable force. Islamabad has publicly claimed that the number of nuclear weapons/missiles it deploys will be independent of the size of India's arsenal. But a noticeable increase in the size of the Indian arsenal will prompt Pakistan to further increase the size of its arsenal."
On Pakistan's economic woes, the CIA said: "Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of political and economic mismanagement. Nascent democratic reforms will produce little change in the face of opposition from an entrenched political elite and Islamic parties."
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned the Bush administration of a possible nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
The turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan could spill over into Jammu & Kashmir, prompting Indian leaders to take aggressive and retaliatory action, according to the CIA.
In assessing the security situation in the region, a CIA report observed: "Continued turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan will spill over into Kashmir and other areas of the subcontinent, prompting Indian leaders to take more aggressive pre-emptive and retaliatory actions.
"India's conventional military advantage over Pakistan will widen as a result of New Delhi's superior economic position… Changing military capabilities will be prominent among the factors that determine the risk of war."
The report, titled Global Trends 2015, which is now available with Pakistan's interior affairs ministry, further observed: "India most likely will expand the size of its nuclear-capable force. Islamabad has publicly claimed that the number of nuclear weapons/missiles it deploys will be independent of the size of India's arsenal. But a noticeable increase in the size of the Indian arsenal will prompt Pakistan to further increase the size of its arsenal."
On Pakistan's economic woes, the CIA said: "Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of political and economic mismanagement. Nascent democratic reforms will produce little change in the face of opposition from an entrenched political elite and Islamic parties."
Mktg - Dish TV plans to introduce advertising options
Sumantha Rathore
Dish TV, the direct to home (DTH) wing of Zee Network, is in the initial phase of discussions to exploit the advertising potential of its platform. Dish TV is eyeing a new stream of revenue and plans to make use of various services and slots for advertising in order to reach out to potential customers.
Talking to afaqs!, Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, says, “Our subscriber base has reached a critical mass. At this stage, we are seeing this as an important revenue stream. Our viewership is around 25 million, which is higher than that of many other players, including print, television and portals. With number authentication now happening through industry bodies, this space is getting a lot of attention from the advertising community.”
Though Dish TV has not made any pitches for the service, it is planning to exploit sales opportunities at various levels.
For example, advertisements can be flashed on its exclusive proprietary channels, including the six movie-on-demand channels and the default landing interactive channel, 999. Branding opportunities on the interactive services such as News Active, Sports Active, Games Active, Bhakti Active, Astro Active and many other services are in the pipeline. In addition, there are branding opportunities on its electronic programme guide, and interactive advertising.
Dish TV already has an exclusive service for ICICI Bank and its products and services, called ICICI Active.
Kapoor says, “Dish TV, with a close to 50 per cent market share, is in a good position to create benchmarks and open up business in this vertical. It's an uncluttered medium where the possibility of your product getting lost is zero.”
He adds, “All the advertising can be supplemented with subscriber interactivity in terms of focused SMSes and email campaigns to our subscribers. We have just identified this space and a lot of work has to be done on it.”
Dish TV recently bagged the non-exclusive rights for the Hindi film, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, for a period of four weeks. It has also got the rights for the Hindi film, Oh My God, as well as the rights for several other new releases in the next three months.
Kapoor says that he hopes that apart from presenting sponsorships, a combination of spots and branding across the movie-on-demand channels, interactive channels and active services can be bundled and sold to various brands.
He says that in the last few months, Dish TV has been approached by various advertisers, including FMCG, consumer electronics and automobile players, who are keen to explore advertising options on this platform. Dish TV wants to bring national players on board for this advertising opportunity.
For the record, Dish TV offers a content bouquet of 225 channels and services, and is ramping up its capacity to offer 400 channels. It also provides live television on Kingfisher Airlines flights, and cars, buses, yachts, ships and railways
Dish TV, the direct to home (DTH) wing of Zee Network, is in the initial phase of discussions to exploit the advertising potential of its platform. Dish TV is eyeing a new stream of revenue and plans to make use of various services and slots for advertising in order to reach out to potential customers.
Talking to afaqs!, Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, says, “Our subscriber base has reached a critical mass. At this stage, we are seeing this as an important revenue stream. Our viewership is around 25 million, which is higher than that of many other players, including print, television and portals. With number authentication now happening through industry bodies, this space is getting a lot of attention from the advertising community.”
Though Dish TV has not made any pitches for the service, it is planning to exploit sales opportunities at various levels.
For example, advertisements can be flashed on its exclusive proprietary channels, including the six movie-on-demand channels and the default landing interactive channel, 999. Branding opportunities on the interactive services such as News Active, Sports Active, Games Active, Bhakti Active, Astro Active and many other services are in the pipeline. In addition, there are branding opportunities on its electronic programme guide, and interactive advertising.
Dish TV already has an exclusive service for ICICI Bank and its products and services, called ICICI Active.
Kapoor says, “Dish TV, with a close to 50 per cent market share, is in a good position to create benchmarks and open up business in this vertical. It's an uncluttered medium where the possibility of your product getting lost is zero.”
He adds, “All the advertising can be supplemented with subscriber interactivity in terms of focused SMSes and email campaigns to our subscribers. We have just identified this space and a lot of work has to be done on it.”
Dish TV recently bagged the non-exclusive rights for the Hindi film, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, for a period of four weeks. It has also got the rights for the Hindi film, Oh My God, as well as the rights for several other new releases in the next three months.
Kapoor says that he hopes that apart from presenting sponsorships, a combination of spots and branding across the movie-on-demand channels, interactive channels and active services can be bundled and sold to various brands.
He says that in the last few months, Dish TV has been approached by various advertisers, including FMCG, consumer electronics and automobile players, who are keen to explore advertising options on this platform. Dish TV wants to bring national players on board for this advertising opportunity.
For the record, Dish TV offers a content bouquet of 225 channels and services, and is ramping up its capacity to offer 400 channels. It also provides live television on Kingfisher Airlines flights, and cars, buses, yachts, ships and railways
Mktg - Star World gets a new look
Sumantha Rathore
STAR World has donned a new, global look. In a bid to change its brand identity, the channel has gone for a worldwide launch of its new look, with an on-air campaign called Reface. After debuting in other parts of the world, the campaign was rolled out in India last week.
As part of the campaign, the channel unveiled its new logo, graphics and promo spots. Ink Project in Australia was commissioned for the design concept and shoot, and the footage was then passed on to STAR’s design and animation team in Hong Kong, which handled all the post-production and special effects work. The new look was revealed on November 4 in Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
Talking to afaqs! about the new identity of the channel, Prem Kamath, senior vice-president, marketing and communication, STAR India, says, "The new STAR World logo gives a modern and energetic look to the channel, matching its new, exclusive programming. Our STAR icon is well recognised in Asia and we wanted to make it an inherent part of 'World', thereby claiming ownership of 'World'."
The new logo sports a bold look, with emphasis on the word, ‘World’. It looks different from the logos of the other channels in the STAR bouquet. However, according to Kamath, there was no conscious decision to make the new logo look different; it was adopted because it matches the current programming on STAR World.
The Indian campaign for STAR World is similar to that in other countries, with some local flavour added in all the four regions of Asia. "While maintaining the same look and feel in terms of graphics and special effects, different versions with non-clichéd local characteristics symbolise the localisation of STAR World's four different feeds. This way, viewers will get the distinctive flavours without the stereotypes," explains Kamath.
The channel has also launched two new shows, 90210 and the new season of Heroes, in its primetime band
Mktg - Idea Cellular seeks public opinion through Bythepeople.in
Kapil Ohri
After releasing its television commercial showing a politician asking the public for its opinion before finalising a development project, Idea Cellular has gone ahead and started gathering public opinion in real life.
The mobile operator has unveiled a microsite, called Bythepeople.in, which is offering a platform for people to raise their voice on any public issue. Visitors to the website may, after leaving their contact details, write down their opinion in 10 words and submit it.
The microsite is also running a poll asking visitors to decide if participative decision making is the way forward for Indian democracy. Currently, more than 96 per cent individuals have voted for a participative decision making democratic process, while less than 4 per cent have voted against it.
Speaking to afaqs!, Pradeep Srivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, says, “This is just the beginning, or Phase 1, of our online campaign. The idea is to sensitise people about the participative decision making democratic process and communicate that it is possible to take the opinion of the people. We also want to show that politicians can be more evolved in the sense that they actually involve people in the democratic process.”
Srivastava adds, “Later on, we may use the opinions generated through the website and send it to the relevant government authorities, depending on the issue raised.” He indicated that Phase 2 of the campaign would take the participative decision making idea further. However, he was not ready to divulge any more information about their plans.
The mobile company has also kickstarted a two week contest on December 22 on IBNLive.com. Called Duniya Se Bol, the contest offers a platform to IBNLive.com users to submit their opinion on any public issue.
Idea Cellular has started promoting the website through online banner ads. The site has been developed by the interactive agency Tribal DDB and Lintas Media Group in association with Pinstorm Technologies is handling the online and mobile marketing for Idea on Yahoo.com, Rediff.com and other websites.
After releasing its television commercial showing a politician asking the public for its opinion before finalising a development project, Idea Cellular has gone ahead and started gathering public opinion in real life.
The mobile operator has unveiled a microsite, called Bythepeople.in, which is offering a platform for people to raise their voice on any public issue. Visitors to the website may, after leaving their contact details, write down their opinion in 10 words and submit it.
The microsite is also running a poll asking visitors to decide if participative decision making is the way forward for Indian democracy. Currently, more than 96 per cent individuals have voted for a participative decision making democratic process, while less than 4 per cent have voted against it.
Speaking to afaqs!, Pradeep Srivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, says, “This is just the beginning, or Phase 1, of our online campaign. The idea is to sensitise people about the participative decision making democratic process and communicate that it is possible to take the opinion of the people. We also want to show that politicians can be more evolved in the sense that they actually involve people in the democratic process.”
Srivastava adds, “Later on, we may use the opinions generated through the website and send it to the relevant government authorities, depending on the issue raised.” He indicated that Phase 2 of the campaign would take the participative decision making idea further. However, he was not ready to divulge any more information about their plans.
The mobile company has also kickstarted a two week contest on December 22 on IBNLive.com. Called Duniya Se Bol, the contest offers a platform to IBNLive.com users to submit their opinion on any public issue.
Idea Cellular has started promoting the website through online banner ads. The site has been developed by the interactive agency Tribal DDB and Lintas Media Group in association with Pinstorm Technologies is handling the online and mobile marketing for Idea on Yahoo.com, Rediff.com and other websites.
Business - Wal-Mart to start selling iPhones on Sunday
Jessica Wohl
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Friday it will start selling Apple Inc's iPhone on Sunday, but the popular cell phones that can surf the web will not be priced as low as some anticipated.
Wal-Mart plans to sell the black 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G model, which also holds about 2,000 songs, for $197. The 16-gigabyte model, in black or white, will be priced at $297. All of the phones require a new two-year service agreement from AT&T Inc or a qualified upgrade, Wal-Mart said.
The move gives Apple the chance to reach millions of Wal-Mart shoppers who may not be as familiar with the company's products.
Wal-Mart typically appeals to a lower-income group of shoppers than those who buy Apple's Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones, which are typically more expensive that other PCs and music players. But the world's largest retailer has also lured new customers seeking low prices in a recession.
Wal-Mart used discounts to draw in millions of cash-strapped shoppers during the holiday season. It was among the first to advertise its deals this fall, including hot electronics such as flat-screen televisions.
Numerous websites had previously speculated that Apple would offer a 4-gigabyte model of the iPhone for $99 at Wal-Mart stores. But the phones being sold at Wal-Mart are the same ones already on the market, for about $2 below the prices offered at other locations.
AT&T, the exclusive U.S. wireless service provider for iPhone, currently sells the cheapest version for $199 for a model with 8 gigabytes of storage, and $299 for the 16-gigabyte version. AT&T declined to comment.
KEEPING THE TRAFFIC
Wal-Mart was one of few U.S. retailers whose sales fared well in the weeks after U.S. Thanksgiving and it is trying to keep shoppers coming back to its stores after Christmas. It ran a commercial on Friday morning showing a mother taking her son to Wal-Mart to spend the gift card he got for the holiday.
While the commercial did not refer to iPhones, it did show the pair heading into the electronics section of a Wal-Mart store.
Wal-Mart's move may put pressure on Best Buy Co Inc, the largest consumer electronics retailer. Until now, Best Buy had been the only retailer besides Apple's own stores and AT&T stores selling the iPhone.
Best Buy currently the 8-gigabyte iPhone on sale for $189.99 and the 16-gigabyte version for $289.99, each priced $10 less than their usual price at Best Buy.
Wal-Mart also said its stores could match local competitors' advertised prices during a promotional period.
The phones will be available in nearly 2,500 stores beginning Sunday, December 28.
Apple posted a stronger-than-expected 26 percent rise in fiscal fourth-quarter profit in October, spurred by strong sales of the faster, next-generation iPhones. Apple sold 6.89 million iPhones during the quarter, which ended on September 27.
Shares of Apple rose 81 cents to $85.85 in morning trading, while Wal-Mart rose 2 cents to $55.46. Best Buy was flat at $26.70.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Derek Caney)
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Friday it will start selling Apple Inc's iPhone on Sunday, but the popular cell phones that can surf the web will not be priced as low as some anticipated.
Wal-Mart plans to sell the black 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G model, which also holds about 2,000 songs, for $197. The 16-gigabyte model, in black or white, will be priced at $297. All of the phones require a new two-year service agreement from AT&T Inc or a qualified upgrade, Wal-Mart said.
The move gives Apple the chance to reach millions of Wal-Mart shoppers who may not be as familiar with the company's products.
Wal-Mart typically appeals to a lower-income group of shoppers than those who buy Apple's Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones, which are typically more expensive that other PCs and music players. But the world's largest retailer has also lured new customers seeking low prices in a recession.
Wal-Mart used discounts to draw in millions of cash-strapped shoppers during the holiday season. It was among the first to advertise its deals this fall, including hot electronics such as flat-screen televisions.
Numerous websites had previously speculated that Apple would offer a 4-gigabyte model of the iPhone for $99 at Wal-Mart stores. But the phones being sold at Wal-Mart are the same ones already on the market, for about $2 below the prices offered at other locations.
AT&T, the exclusive U.S. wireless service provider for iPhone, currently sells the cheapest version for $199 for a model with 8 gigabytes of storage, and $299 for the 16-gigabyte version. AT&T declined to comment.
KEEPING THE TRAFFIC
Wal-Mart was one of few U.S. retailers whose sales fared well in the weeks after U.S. Thanksgiving and it is trying to keep shoppers coming back to its stores after Christmas. It ran a commercial on Friday morning showing a mother taking her son to Wal-Mart to spend the gift card he got for the holiday.
While the commercial did not refer to iPhones, it did show the pair heading into the electronics section of a Wal-Mart store.
Wal-Mart's move may put pressure on Best Buy Co Inc, the largest consumer electronics retailer. Until now, Best Buy had been the only retailer besides Apple's own stores and AT&T stores selling the iPhone.
Best Buy currently the 8-gigabyte iPhone on sale for $189.99 and the 16-gigabyte version for $289.99, each priced $10 less than their usual price at Best Buy.
Wal-Mart also said its stores could match local competitors' advertised prices during a promotional period.
The phones will be available in nearly 2,500 stores beginning Sunday, December 28.
Apple posted a stronger-than-expected 26 percent rise in fiscal fourth-quarter profit in October, spurred by strong sales of the faster, next-generation iPhones. Apple sold 6.89 million iPhones during the quarter, which ended on September 27.
Shares of Apple rose 81 cents to $85.85 in morning trading, while Wal-Mart rose 2 cents to $55.46. Best Buy was flat at $26.70.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Derek Caney)
Business - Retailers' holiday sales plummet 4 percent
Illaina Jonas
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Retailers' sales fell as much as 4 percent during the holiday season, as the weak economy and bad weather created one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times, according to data released on Thursday by SpendingPulse.
The figures, from the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors, show the 2008 holiday shopping season was the weakest in decades, as U.S. consumers cut spending as they confront a yearlong recession, mounting job losses and tighter credit.
"It's probably one of the most challenging holiday seasons we've ever had in modern times," said Michael McNamara, vice president of Research and Analysis at MasterCard Advisors.
"We had a very difficult economic environment. Weather patterns were not favorable toward the end of season, and that resulted in one of the most challenging economic seasons we've seen in decades."
The figures exclude auto and gas sales but include grocery, restaurant and specialty food sales. Although SpendingPulse did not exempt the food prices, McNamara said the decline would have been steeper without them.
"There's a lot of food that provide a buffer for the total retail sales numbers," he said.
SpendingPulse tracks sales activity in the MasterCard Inc payments network and couples that with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and checks. It has been tracking holiday spending figures since 2002. Exact comparisons beyond that year are difficult because of changes in measurements.
The holiday shopping season typically runs from the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, which occurs on the fourth Thursday of November, until Christmas Eve. But this year Thanksgiving was a week later than last year.
To benchmark a comparison, SpendingPulse measured the season from November 1 through December 24. Sales fell 2 percent in November and 4 percent from December 1 through December 24, according to SpendingPulse.
The holiday sales season can account for up to 40 percent of a retailer's annual revenue.
Sales at specialty apparel retailers like Gap Inc and Abercrombie & Fitch Co fell 19.7 percent this year, SpendingPulse said. When factoring in department store results, sales fell about 20 percent, McNamara said.
Women's apparel sales fell 22.7 percent; men's clothing sales were off 14.3 percent, and footwear sales fell 13.5 percent, SpendingPulse said.
This year, the higher the price, the more consumers did without, SpendingPulse said. Sales at specialty electronics and appliance chains such as Best Buy Co Inc fell 26.7 percent, it said.
Luxury sales, which include sales at high-end department stores, leather goods boutiques, pricier jewelry stores and restaurants, fell 34.5 percent, SpendingPulse said. Excluding jewelry, sales fell 21.2 percent.
"There's a much different bonus environment, especially in New York and the financial services industry," McNamara said, of the traditional luxury good customer base.
"But also, the deteriorating employment figures across multiple industries across the country look like they're having a more significant impact at the higher end," he said.
Online sales benefited from the bad weather seen in the northern United States within the last two weeks of the season. E-commerce sales ended down 2.3 percent, but rose 1.8 percent in the final two weeks of the holiday season.
Nearly all retailers -- from department stores such as Macy's Inc and J.C. Penney Co Inc to specialty apparel chains like Aeropostale Inc and AnnTaylor Stores Corp -- offered aggressive discounts this holiday season to lure reticent shoppers.
SpendingPulse results do not include the post-Christmas spending activity, which has been growing with the popularity of gift cards that are typically redeemed after Christmas and post-holiday sales.
(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Retailers' sales fell as much as 4 percent during the holiday season, as the weak economy and bad weather created one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times, according to data released on Thursday by SpendingPulse.
The figures, from the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors, show the 2008 holiday shopping season was the weakest in decades, as U.S. consumers cut spending as they confront a yearlong recession, mounting job losses and tighter credit.
"It's probably one of the most challenging holiday seasons we've ever had in modern times," said Michael McNamara, vice president of Research and Analysis at MasterCard Advisors.
"We had a very difficult economic environment. Weather patterns were not favorable toward the end of season, and that resulted in one of the most challenging economic seasons we've seen in decades."
The figures exclude auto and gas sales but include grocery, restaurant and specialty food sales. Although SpendingPulse did not exempt the food prices, McNamara said the decline would have been steeper without them.
"There's a lot of food that provide a buffer for the total retail sales numbers," he said.
SpendingPulse tracks sales activity in the MasterCard Inc payments network and couples that with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and checks. It has been tracking holiday spending figures since 2002. Exact comparisons beyond that year are difficult because of changes in measurements.
The holiday shopping season typically runs from the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, which occurs on the fourth Thursday of November, until Christmas Eve. But this year Thanksgiving was a week later than last year.
To benchmark a comparison, SpendingPulse measured the season from November 1 through December 24. Sales fell 2 percent in November and 4 percent from December 1 through December 24, according to SpendingPulse.
The holiday sales season can account for up to 40 percent of a retailer's annual revenue.
Sales at specialty apparel retailers like Gap Inc and Abercrombie & Fitch Co fell 19.7 percent this year, SpendingPulse said. When factoring in department store results, sales fell about 20 percent, McNamara said.
Women's apparel sales fell 22.7 percent; men's clothing sales were off 14.3 percent, and footwear sales fell 13.5 percent, SpendingPulse said.
This year, the higher the price, the more consumers did without, SpendingPulse said. Sales at specialty electronics and appliance chains such as Best Buy Co Inc fell 26.7 percent, it said.
Luxury sales, which include sales at high-end department stores, leather goods boutiques, pricier jewelry stores and restaurants, fell 34.5 percent, SpendingPulse said. Excluding jewelry, sales fell 21.2 percent.
"There's a much different bonus environment, especially in New York and the financial services industry," McNamara said, of the traditional luxury good customer base.
"But also, the deteriorating employment figures across multiple industries across the country look like they're having a more significant impact at the higher end," he said.
Online sales benefited from the bad weather seen in the northern United States within the last two weeks of the season. E-commerce sales ended down 2.3 percent, but rose 1.8 percent in the final two weeks of the holiday season.
Nearly all retailers -- from department stores such as Macy's Inc and J.C. Penney Co Inc to specialty apparel chains like Aeropostale Inc and AnnTaylor Stores Corp -- offered aggressive discounts this holiday season to lure reticent shoppers.
SpendingPulse results do not include the post-Christmas spending activity, which has been growing with the popularity of gift cards that are typically redeemed after Christmas and post-holiday sales.
(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas)
World - US;Hillary Clinton's Big Plans as Secretary of State
Kenneth T Walsh
Hillary Clinton doesn't think she will ever reach the Oval Office, so she sees her upcoming tenure as secretary of state as the high point of her political career and a way to complete her legacy, friends say. "Hillary has concluded that she is not going to be president," says a confidant who advised her husband, Bill, when he was in the White House. "She realizes that it's time for a new generation."
But she is committed to becoming one of the most effective and high-profile secretaries of state in history.
To that end, she is surrounding herself with experienced, aggressive Washington insiders such as James Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser under Bill Clinton, whom she has tapped as deputy secretary of state for policy. She is moving to expand the budget of the State Department and intends to get closely involved in global economic issues. And she wants to broaden State's power within the new administration of Barack Obama far beyond what it was under President Bush, when the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney often held sway, Democratic insiders say.
If confirmed by the Senate as expected, Clinton will cap a national career that started with being first lady and included her years as a senator from New York and her groundbreaking but unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for president this year.
"Hillary is an important symbol all over the world," says a friend and supporter, and she will use her prestige to promote Obama's agenda of cooperation and aggressive diplomacy.
Hillary Clinton doesn't think she will ever reach the Oval Office, so she sees her upcoming tenure as secretary of state as the high point of her political career and a way to complete her legacy, friends say. "Hillary has concluded that she is not going to be president," says a confidant who advised her husband, Bill, when he was in the White House. "She realizes that it's time for a new generation."
But she is committed to becoming one of the most effective and high-profile secretaries of state in history.
To that end, she is surrounding herself with experienced, aggressive Washington insiders such as James Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser under Bill Clinton, whom she has tapped as deputy secretary of state for policy. She is moving to expand the budget of the State Department and intends to get closely involved in global economic issues. And she wants to broaden State's power within the new administration of Barack Obama far beyond what it was under President Bush, when the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney often held sway, Democratic insiders say.
If confirmed by the Senate as expected, Clinton will cap a national career that started with being first lady and included her years as a senator from New York and her groundbreaking but unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for president this year.
"Hillary is an important symbol all over the world," says a friend and supporter, and she will use her prestige to promote Obama's agenda of cooperation and aggressive diplomacy.
Lifestyle - Christmas for troops in Afghanistan: turkey patties, grape juice and calls home
Nancy A Youssef
DELARAM, Afghanistan-There was little hint of Christmas day when the sun rose over this barren military base.
The Marines had their missions lined up: to protect trucks carrying wheat seeds to farmers from a Taliban attack; to link up with the Afghan police to track a Taliban leader believed to be hiding the nearby mountains; and to continue building new facilities to provide creature comforts on this base, part of U.S. military push into new parts of Afghanistan .
But as the day wore on, platoon leaders tacked on a new mission - to make sure every Marine had the chance to call home.
"It's important for the morale of my boys," explained Lt. Phil Gilreath , 23, of Kingwood, Tex ,, a platoon commander.
Marines are used to being away from home on Christmas. About 40 percent of those stationed here have been to Iraq or Afghanistan before or have missed the holiday due to training.
The Marines, the 3rd battalion 8th Marine Regiment based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. , are stationed in Farah province, one of Afghanistan's most difficult regions, an area where Taliban forces not only fight but also sell opium poppy to finance their operations.
In the days leading up to Christmas, some Marines put up small Christmas trees or lined their cold tents with holiday lights. Others spent their evenings watching Christmas movies on their laptops. Some stared at care packages, waiting until Thursday to open them.
In the chow tent, someone lined the electrical cords powering the fluorescent lights with candy canes. During Christmas breakfast, the New York Giants were playing the Carolina Panthers on one of the few televisions on base. One by one, troops walked in and wished the others a Merry Christmas. One quipped: "Honestly, it was nice to not go Christmas shopping this year."
By midmorning, Gilreath lined up his troops in front of a group of Humvees for the first patrol of the day. As his men put on their gear, one Marine asked everyone out loud: "In a Christmas story, what was Ralphie's little brother's name?" It stumps everyone. "Come on, he is the funniest part of the movie," the soldier insisted.
No one could answer. So another simply announced Feliz Navidad to everyone.
Gilreath, who is on his first deployment, then walked his troops through the day's missions. "Then we'll call it a day. Merry Christmas," he told them. As they drove off of base and toward one of the province's few paved roads, Lance Cpl Matt Keefe , 21, of Chesterfield, Mass. , said this was his third straight Christmas away from home. The first time he was in training, the second he was deployed in Africa and this year he is nearly two months into his rotation in Afghanistan .
"I can't wait to have an actual Christmas," Keefe said.
About an hour in, a Humvee broke down, a common problem here as armored vehicles outfitted for Iraq's flatter conditions encounter Afghanistan's rougher terrain. Transmission fluid leaked from the chassis, and eventually the drive shaft fell off. The troops hooked the vehicle to the back of another and headed back to the base. They scrapped the original mission.
Instead, they headed to the center of Delaram to meet residents and quietly gather intelligence. As Gilreath's troops handed out candy from the thousands of care packages they received for Christmas, intelligence officers spotted a man they suspected knew about Taliban activity. But he refused to help.
Gilreath also needed to buy credit for his local cell phone, which he uses to talk to his counterparts in the Afghan National police. He used the occasion to talk to the shop owner about what is happening in the city.
The squad got back in time for an early Christmas dinner, consisting of a turkey patty, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pie. They toasted with Welch's sparking grape juice, each announcing in turn how long he had left in the Marines.
Later, Navy Chaplain Steven Unger, 50, of Springdale, Arkansas led about 15 Marines in a church service in the base conference room. They read Psalm 96 and sang Silent Night. For communion, Unger used bread and grape juice from the chow hall.
Around the base, soldiers and Marines alike called home, some hunched over and others pacing in front of large sandbags. They asked if the children got the presents, told their families they missed them and insisted they were safe and well.
Some, like Gilreath, have local cell phones. The rest must wait in line for two satellite phones on base to talk to their families, and most are limited to 15 minutes a week. The connections often fail. Regardless, by 8 p.m. 27 people had signed up to use a phone.
Gilreath used his own money to buy $40 in phone credit. As the sun set in Afghanistan and rose for Christmas morning in the United States , he walked off to call his wife and two-year-old daughter and wished them a Merry Christmas.
DELARAM, Afghanistan-There was little hint of Christmas day when the sun rose over this barren military base.
The Marines had their missions lined up: to protect trucks carrying wheat seeds to farmers from a Taliban attack; to link up with the Afghan police to track a Taliban leader believed to be hiding the nearby mountains; and to continue building new facilities to provide creature comforts on this base, part of U.S. military push into new parts of Afghanistan .
But as the day wore on, platoon leaders tacked on a new mission - to make sure every Marine had the chance to call home.
"It's important for the morale of my boys," explained Lt. Phil Gilreath , 23, of Kingwood, Tex ,, a platoon commander.
Marines are used to being away from home on Christmas. About 40 percent of those stationed here have been to Iraq or Afghanistan before or have missed the holiday due to training.
The Marines, the 3rd battalion 8th Marine Regiment based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. , are stationed in Farah province, one of Afghanistan's most difficult regions, an area where Taliban forces not only fight but also sell opium poppy to finance their operations.
In the days leading up to Christmas, some Marines put up small Christmas trees or lined their cold tents with holiday lights. Others spent their evenings watching Christmas movies on their laptops. Some stared at care packages, waiting until Thursday to open them.
In the chow tent, someone lined the electrical cords powering the fluorescent lights with candy canes. During Christmas breakfast, the New York Giants were playing the Carolina Panthers on one of the few televisions on base. One by one, troops walked in and wished the others a Merry Christmas. One quipped: "Honestly, it was nice to not go Christmas shopping this year."
By midmorning, Gilreath lined up his troops in front of a group of Humvees for the first patrol of the day. As his men put on their gear, one Marine asked everyone out loud: "In a Christmas story, what was Ralphie's little brother's name?" It stumps everyone. "Come on, he is the funniest part of the movie," the soldier insisted.
No one could answer. So another simply announced Feliz Navidad to everyone.
Gilreath, who is on his first deployment, then walked his troops through the day's missions. "Then we'll call it a day. Merry Christmas," he told them. As they drove off of base and toward one of the province's few paved roads, Lance Cpl Matt Keefe , 21, of Chesterfield, Mass. , said this was his third straight Christmas away from home. The first time he was in training, the second he was deployed in Africa and this year he is nearly two months into his rotation in Afghanistan .
"I can't wait to have an actual Christmas," Keefe said.
About an hour in, a Humvee broke down, a common problem here as armored vehicles outfitted for Iraq's flatter conditions encounter Afghanistan's rougher terrain. Transmission fluid leaked from the chassis, and eventually the drive shaft fell off. The troops hooked the vehicle to the back of another and headed back to the base. They scrapped the original mission.
Instead, they headed to the center of Delaram to meet residents and quietly gather intelligence. As Gilreath's troops handed out candy from the thousands of care packages they received for Christmas, intelligence officers spotted a man they suspected knew about Taliban activity. But he refused to help.
Gilreath also needed to buy credit for his local cell phone, which he uses to talk to his counterparts in the Afghan National police. He used the occasion to talk to the shop owner about what is happening in the city.
The squad got back in time for an early Christmas dinner, consisting of a turkey patty, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pie. They toasted with Welch's sparking grape juice, each announcing in turn how long he had left in the Marines.
Later, Navy Chaplain Steven Unger, 50, of Springdale, Arkansas led about 15 Marines in a church service in the base conference room. They read Psalm 96 and sang Silent Night. For communion, Unger used bread and grape juice from the chow hall.
Around the base, soldiers and Marines alike called home, some hunched over and others pacing in front of large sandbags. They asked if the children got the presents, told their families they missed them and insisted they were safe and well.
Some, like Gilreath, have local cell phones. The rest must wait in line for two satellite phones on base to talk to their families, and most are limited to 15 minutes a week. The connections often fail. Regardless, by 8 p.m. 27 people had signed up to use a phone.
Gilreath used his own money to buy $40 in phone credit. As the sun set in Afghanistan and rose for Christmas morning in the United States , he walked off to call his wife and two-year-old daughter and wished them a Merry Christmas.
Lifestyle - What's the Best Way to Curb Forced Marriages?
Deena Guzder
When Humayra Abedin left the U.K. on Aug. 2 with a round-trip ticket to Bangladesh after hearing that her mother was sick, she had no idea the "illness" was a ruse to lure her home to marry a suitor of her parents' choice. But on Dec. 17, Abedin, a 32-year-old doctor who has lived in Britain for the past six years, confirmed in a statement that she had been held captive for four months in her native country and coerced into a marriage by her mother and father. "I was forced to marry a person of my parents' choice," it read. "I entered the marriage ceremony under duress. I did not consent to the marriage."
Earlier in December, after being alerted to her situation, the British High Court had issued an injunction to Abedin's family in Bangladesh to allow her to return to the U.K. under Britain's Forced Marriage Act of 2007. It was the first time the law - which went into effect on Nov. 25 of this year and gives courts the power to protect forced-marriage victims and dole out sentences to their perpetrators - was invoked on behalf of someone who is not a British national. And while the court order had no legal bearing in Bangladesh, a sympathetic judge, Justice Syed Mohmed Hossain, mentioned the injunction at the hearing in Dhaka in which Abedin sought to have her marriage voided. After ruling that she was free to go, Hossain noted: "Children are not the slaves of their parents. They must have their own freedoms." He ordered Abedin's parents to return her passport, driver's license and credit card.
Although the landmark repatriation was immediately trumpeted as a victory for Britain's new law, human-rights activists - and even the British government - have been quick to point out that her case is just one in a grossly underreported global problem. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a marriage is considered forced if there is any duress, whether physical or mental, to marry. Most countries do not have a specific ban on forced marriages and instead prosecute the practice under laws forbidding kidnapping or sexual, physical or mental abuse. "Forced marriage affects men and women from all over the world and across many cultural groups," says Dr. Mohammad Talib, professor of contemporary South Asian studies at Oxford. "Historically, forced marriages also occurred among members of the British aristocracy."
Nobody knows exactly how many people are forced into marriages because, as scholars like Talib note, most affected women are afraid to seek help and ostracize themselves from their communities. But the U.K.'s Forced Marriage Unit, administered through the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), handled more than 1,300 cases during the first three quarters of 2008 alone, an increase of 79% over last year. With some victims as young as 13, most cases involved women, though experts estimate 15% of cases worldwide may involve men marrying as a result of family pressure. "We're definitely getting more calls than normal," says FCO spokesman Nick Branch. Branch says most of the unit's cases this year involved families from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Not everyone, however, agrees on what the right course of action is to curb a problem that grows more complicated as families become increasingly international. Some human-rights groups say the Forced Marriage Act may inadvertently discourage women from seeking help. Sumanta Roy, acting director of Imkaan, a nonprofit organization in the U.K. run by Asian refugees that advocates for women and children facing domestic violence, does not think most women who are in forced marriages would seek legal remedy unless they were sure they had access to housing, job training and other social services first. "We're concerned that this law may deter some women from coming forward since you're asking them to completely isolate themselves from their family and community in a very public way," says Roy. She has been pushing instead for a national education campaign against forced marriages for both immigrant children and their parents. "Parents are juggling their identity and trying to retain some of their history, so we need to educate people."
Abedin's public reaction to her verdict confirms what human-rights groups say is another challenge of controlling forced marriage through legal mechanisms: the victims rarely want to use the law to punish their parents. "I'm relieved that I'm free. I'm happy," Abedin told reporters on Dec. 14 after being released in Dhaka. "But I don't have any bad feelings towards my parents." Speaking outside court, Abedin insisted that she does not want her parents to be prosecuted, as she still loves them.
Deputy Director Amtal Rana of Kiran-Asian Women's Aid, a nonprofit that received over 100 calls last year regarding forced marriages, says Abedin's is not an uncommon reaction. "Children often don't want to have action taken against their parents but just want to get out of the situation," says Rana. Reports suggest that Abedin's strict Muslim parents disapproved of her Hindu boyfriend in Britain and wanted her to marry a man of their choosing. "Parents are doing the same thing that happened to them and their parents and their grandparents, so they don't think they are doing anything wrong," says Rana.
How, then, do harmful traditions like forced marriage fall? Legislation is most effective when coupled with an education campaign that addresses the everyday obstacles immigrants encounter in their adopted homelands, says Oxford's Talib. "A person's emotional, social and economic dependence sometimes accounts for them becoming an easy prey to forced marriages." Immigrants struggling to retain their cultural identity in their adopted homelands need reassurance that rejecting these norms will not leave them destitute community outcasts. Otherwise, says Talib, cases like Abedin's are sure to be the exception and not the rule. "Without mustering personal strength of initiative and independence, it is difficult to imagine anyone turning to the Forced Marriage Act for redress."
When Humayra Abedin left the U.K. on Aug. 2 with a round-trip ticket to Bangladesh after hearing that her mother was sick, she had no idea the "illness" was a ruse to lure her home to marry a suitor of her parents' choice. But on Dec. 17, Abedin, a 32-year-old doctor who has lived in Britain for the past six years, confirmed in a statement that she had been held captive for four months in her native country and coerced into a marriage by her mother and father. "I was forced to marry a person of my parents' choice," it read. "I entered the marriage ceremony under duress. I did not consent to the marriage."
Earlier in December, after being alerted to her situation, the British High Court had issued an injunction to Abedin's family in Bangladesh to allow her to return to the U.K. under Britain's Forced Marriage Act of 2007. It was the first time the law - which went into effect on Nov. 25 of this year and gives courts the power to protect forced-marriage victims and dole out sentences to their perpetrators - was invoked on behalf of someone who is not a British national. And while the court order had no legal bearing in Bangladesh, a sympathetic judge, Justice Syed Mohmed Hossain, mentioned the injunction at the hearing in Dhaka in which Abedin sought to have her marriage voided. After ruling that she was free to go, Hossain noted: "Children are not the slaves of their parents. They must have their own freedoms." He ordered Abedin's parents to return her passport, driver's license and credit card.
Although the landmark repatriation was immediately trumpeted as a victory for Britain's new law, human-rights activists - and even the British government - have been quick to point out that her case is just one in a grossly underreported global problem. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a marriage is considered forced if there is any duress, whether physical or mental, to marry. Most countries do not have a specific ban on forced marriages and instead prosecute the practice under laws forbidding kidnapping or sexual, physical or mental abuse. "Forced marriage affects men and women from all over the world and across many cultural groups," says Dr. Mohammad Talib, professor of contemporary South Asian studies at Oxford. "Historically, forced marriages also occurred among members of the British aristocracy."
Nobody knows exactly how many people are forced into marriages because, as scholars like Talib note, most affected women are afraid to seek help and ostracize themselves from their communities. But the U.K.'s Forced Marriage Unit, administered through the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), handled more than 1,300 cases during the first three quarters of 2008 alone, an increase of 79% over last year. With some victims as young as 13, most cases involved women, though experts estimate 15% of cases worldwide may involve men marrying as a result of family pressure. "We're definitely getting more calls than normal," says FCO spokesman Nick Branch. Branch says most of the unit's cases this year involved families from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Not everyone, however, agrees on what the right course of action is to curb a problem that grows more complicated as families become increasingly international. Some human-rights groups say the Forced Marriage Act may inadvertently discourage women from seeking help. Sumanta Roy, acting director of Imkaan, a nonprofit organization in the U.K. run by Asian refugees that advocates for women and children facing domestic violence, does not think most women who are in forced marriages would seek legal remedy unless they were sure they had access to housing, job training and other social services first. "We're concerned that this law may deter some women from coming forward since you're asking them to completely isolate themselves from their family and community in a very public way," says Roy. She has been pushing instead for a national education campaign against forced marriages for both immigrant children and their parents. "Parents are juggling their identity and trying to retain some of their history, so we need to educate people."
Abedin's public reaction to her verdict confirms what human-rights groups say is another challenge of controlling forced marriage through legal mechanisms: the victims rarely want to use the law to punish their parents. "I'm relieved that I'm free. I'm happy," Abedin told reporters on Dec. 14 after being released in Dhaka. "But I don't have any bad feelings towards my parents." Speaking outside court, Abedin insisted that she does not want her parents to be prosecuted, as she still loves them.
Deputy Director Amtal Rana of Kiran-Asian Women's Aid, a nonprofit that received over 100 calls last year regarding forced marriages, says Abedin's is not an uncommon reaction. "Children often don't want to have action taken against their parents but just want to get out of the situation," says Rana. Reports suggest that Abedin's strict Muslim parents disapproved of her Hindu boyfriend in Britain and wanted her to marry a man of their choosing. "Parents are doing the same thing that happened to them and their parents and their grandparents, so they don't think they are doing anything wrong," says Rana.
How, then, do harmful traditions like forced marriage fall? Legislation is most effective when coupled with an education campaign that addresses the everyday obstacles immigrants encounter in their adopted homelands, says Oxford's Talib. "A person's emotional, social and economic dependence sometimes accounts for them becoming an easy prey to forced marriages." Immigrants struggling to retain their cultural identity in their adopted homelands need reassurance that rejecting these norms will not leave them destitute community outcasts. Otherwise, says Talib, cases like Abedin's are sure to be the exception and not the rule. "Without mustering personal strength of initiative and independence, it is difficult to imagine anyone turning to the Forced Marriage Act for redress."
Business - Amazon bucks trend, posts record holiday sales
NEW YORK (AFP) – Internet retail giant Amazon.com reported record holiday sales on Friday, a rare good performance in one of the most dismal holiday shopping seasons in years.
The Seattle, Washington-based online store did not provide a breakdown of sales figures but said online orders reached record levels during the holiday shopping season for the 14th year in a row.
It said in a statement that more than 6.3 million items were ordered worldwide and 5.6 million units shipped on its peak day, December 15.
Amazon said it shipped items to more than 210 countries between November 14 and December 24 and more than 99 percent of its orders arrived in time for the holidays.
Amazon said best-selling holiday items this year included the Samsung 52-inch HDTV, the Apple iPod, the Acer netbook computer and Nintendo Wii.
According to a MasterCard survey published Friday, retail sales dropped by up to eight percent during the traditional November-December shopping period this year even after retailers slashed prices to woo bargain hunters.
The holiday season is seen as make-or-break for many retailers and key to the struggling US economy, which relies on consumer spending for 70 percent of activity.
The Seattle, Washington-based online store did not provide a breakdown of sales figures but said online orders reached record levels during the holiday shopping season for the 14th year in a row.
It said in a statement that more than 6.3 million items were ordered worldwide and 5.6 million units shipped on its peak day, December 15.
Amazon said it shipped items to more than 210 countries between November 14 and December 24 and more than 99 percent of its orders arrived in time for the holidays.
Amazon said best-selling holiday items this year included the Samsung 52-inch HDTV, the Apple iPod, the Acer netbook computer and Nintendo Wii.
According to a MasterCard survey published Friday, retail sales dropped by up to eight percent during the traditional November-December shopping period this year even after retailers slashed prices to woo bargain hunters.
The holiday season is seen as make-or-break for many retailers and key to the struggling US economy, which relies on consumer spending for 70 percent of activity.
Business - China to offer incentives to scrap old cars: state media
BEIJING (AFP) – China plans to offer incentives for car owners to scrap their old models in favour of new ones, in a bid to lift the auto industry as it enters a period of crisis, according to state media.
The measure is part of a new package being prepared in Beijing aimed at avoiding a US-style collapse of the local auto sector, the Xinhua news agency reported.
"Details of the plan will be announced very soon," said an unnamed official with the commerce ministry. He did not give any details.
The official was speaking shortly after dismal figures were released showing that Chinese auto sales fell 14.6 percent in November from a year earlier.
Other measures that China may adopt to bolster auto sales include cuts in the 10-percent vehicle purchase tax and easier access to car loans, according to Xinhua.
The health of the auto industry is crucial for the overall well-being of the Chinese economy as economists have argued more than 150 industries depend on it, including the steel and petrochemical sectors.
"The auto industry's current difficulties are what concern me the most," Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as saying in a recent trip to the southwestern city of Chongqing, a car manufacturing key area of China.
China's economy is under growing pressure due to the global crisis, with overall growth in the third quarter at nine percent, the lowest in over five years.
The World Bank has forecast that growth in the Chinese economy will slow to 7.5 percent in 2009, a level not seen for 19 years.
The measure is part of a new package being prepared in Beijing aimed at avoiding a US-style collapse of the local auto sector, the Xinhua news agency reported.
"Details of the plan will be announced very soon," said an unnamed official with the commerce ministry. He did not give any details.
The official was speaking shortly after dismal figures were released showing that Chinese auto sales fell 14.6 percent in November from a year earlier.
Other measures that China may adopt to bolster auto sales include cuts in the 10-percent vehicle purchase tax and easier access to car loans, according to Xinhua.
The health of the auto industry is crucial for the overall well-being of the Chinese economy as economists have argued more than 150 industries depend on it, including the steel and petrochemical sectors.
"The auto industry's current difficulties are what concern me the most," Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted as saying in a recent trip to the southwestern city of Chongqing, a car manufacturing key area of China.
China's economy is under growing pressure due to the global crisis, with overall growth in the third quarter at nine percent, the lowest in over five years.
The World Bank has forecast that growth in the Chinese economy will slow to 7.5 percent in 2009, a level not seen for 19 years.
HR - Give Employees a 24-hour Mental Holiday
Liz Ryan
The stress in many a workplace is almost palpable these days. That's understandable. Managers are under pressure to deliver results, team members are worried about job security, and everyone has one eye trained on the news. Pushed to deliver breakthrough solutions and game-changing ideas, employees are in a bind.
Maybe it's time to give workers a mental bailout. Managers who note the pressure-cooker conditions and their effect on productivity can ease the strain and create intellectual and emotional breathing room for their employees by declaring a Production Bankruptcy Day.
What's that? It's a day when no "real work" gets done. Every deadline is pushed back by 24 hours. No meetings are scheduled. E-mails are allowed to go unanswered, phones to ring, BlackBerrys to chirp.
Employees still show up, but they use their time to dig out, reorganize, and de-clutter their workstations and their minds. They also gather to brainstorm, to talk about everything and nothing, and generally restart the rat-race clock with a deep breath and some fruitful (and normally impossible) thinking.
Offer prizes for the most unusual item uncovered in the group cleaning (e.g., an old floppy disk or a dog bone), most industrial-size garbage cans filled by an employee, or the most colorful filing system. Bring whimsical, inexpensive prizes and have fun awarding them throughout the day.
Tell workers it's O.K. to do things the old-fashioned way that day. Encourage them to write notes, make phone calls, and think about reducing the electronic information overload when they get back to "normal." This is a good time for people to rethink their habits and start new ones. That could mean fewer e-mails and more phone calls, fewer recipients on e-mail lists, and walking down the hall to resolve an issue instead of hitting "reply" to the 500th e-mail of the morning.
Is your team in need of a bailout? Are you prepared to declare Production Bankruptcy Day to get the mental juices flowing and give burnt-out workers a break and a battery charge? Click here for ideas to make your no-production day as productive as possible.
The stress in many a workplace is almost palpable these days. That's understandable. Managers are under pressure to deliver results, team members are worried about job security, and everyone has one eye trained on the news. Pushed to deliver breakthrough solutions and game-changing ideas, employees are in a bind.
Maybe it's time to give workers a mental bailout. Managers who note the pressure-cooker conditions and their effect on productivity can ease the strain and create intellectual and emotional breathing room for their employees by declaring a Production Bankruptcy Day.
What's that? It's a day when no "real work" gets done. Every deadline is pushed back by 24 hours. No meetings are scheduled. E-mails are allowed to go unanswered, phones to ring, BlackBerrys to chirp.
Employees still show up, but they use their time to dig out, reorganize, and de-clutter their workstations and their minds. They also gather to brainstorm, to talk about everything and nothing, and generally restart the rat-race clock with a deep breath and some fruitful (and normally impossible) thinking.
Offer prizes for the most unusual item uncovered in the group cleaning (e.g., an old floppy disk or a dog bone), most industrial-size garbage cans filled by an employee, or the most colorful filing system. Bring whimsical, inexpensive prizes and have fun awarding them throughout the day.
Tell workers it's O.K. to do things the old-fashioned way that day. Encourage them to write notes, make phone calls, and think about reducing the electronic information overload when they get back to "normal." This is a good time for people to rethink their habits and start new ones. That could mean fewer e-mails and more phone calls, fewer recipients on e-mail lists, and walking down the hall to resolve an issue instead of hitting "reply" to the 500th e-mail of the morning.
Is your team in need of a bailout? Are you prepared to declare Production Bankruptcy Day to get the mental juices flowing and give burnt-out workers a break and a battery charge? Click here for ideas to make your no-production day as productive as possible.
Entertainment - 'Marley' stirs it up with record $14.75 mil Xmas
LOS ANGELES – Twentieth Century Fox says "Marley & Me" has set a Christmas Day record with $14.75 million at the box office.
That breaks the previous mark of $10.2 million, set by "Ali" in 2001, according to Media By Numbers LLC.
And "Marley & Me" may not be alone: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Bedtime Stories" were also expected to move past the previous Christmas Day mark, according to some studio estimates.
Even "Valkyrie" had a strong Yuletide opening with more than $8 million, those numbers show.
That breaks the previous mark of $10.2 million, set by "Ali" in 2001, according to Media By Numbers LLC.
And "Marley & Me" may not be alone: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Bedtime Stories" were also expected to move past the previous Christmas Day mark, according to some studio estimates.
Even "Valkyrie" had a strong Yuletide opening with more than $8 million, those numbers show.
Health - Slow Starvation of Brain Triggers Alzheimer's
A slow starvation of the brain over time is one of the major triggers of the biochemistry that causes some forms of Alzheimer's, according to a new study that is helping to crack the mystery of the disease's origins.
An estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's in their lifetime, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The disease usually begins after age 60, and risk rises with age. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer's and other dementias is about $148 billion a year.
Robert Vassar of Northwestern University, the study's lead author, found that when the brain doesn't get enough of the simple sugar called glucose - as might occur when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow in arteries to the brain - a process is launched that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer's.
Working with human and mice brains, Vassar discovered that a key brain protein is altered when the brain's supply of energy drops. The altered protein, called eIF2alpha, increases the production of an enzyme that, in turn, flips a switch to produce the sticky protein clumps.
"This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," Vassar said.
The best ways to improve blood flow to the brain and thereby reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's is to reduce cholesterol intake, manage high blood pressure and exercise, especially entering mid-life.
"If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet," Vassar said. For people who already have symptoms, vasodilators, which increase blood flow, may help the delivery of oxygen and glucose to the brain, he added. The study is published in the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Neuron.
No candy bars
When it comes to prevention of Alzheimer's, eating candy bars is not the solution to improving the flow of blood glucose to the brain, Vassar told LiveScience.
A decreasing blood flow to the brain happens over time, as we age, and that slowly starves the brain of glucose. This could be a general aging phenomenon, or it could be that some individuals are particularly prone to it, Vassar said. Also, decreased blood flow is associated with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and hypertension, or high blood pressure.
"We need to improve our cardiovascular health, not eat more sugar," Vassar said. "What is coming out in terms of the epidemiological studies is that exercise during mid-life is one of the best prevention strategies for Alzheimer's disease, so people should stay active physically, and they should watch their diets and reduce cholesterol intake, because cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis, and that is true for the heart and the rest of the body as well as for the brain."
Vassar said it also is possible that drugs could be designed to block the elF2alpha protein that begins the formation of the protein clumps, known as amyloid plaques.
Earlier Alzheimer's findings
Ten years ago, Vassar discovered the enzyme, BACE1, that was responsible for making the sticky, fiber-like clumps of protein that form outside neurons and disrupt their ability to send messages.
But the cause of the high levels of the protein in people with the disease has been unknown. Vassar's new study now shows that energy deprivation in the brain might be the trigger starting the process that forms plaques in Alzheimer's.
Vassar said his work suggests that Alzheimer's disease may result from a less severe type of energy deprivation than occurs in a stroke. Rather than dying, the brain cells react by increasing BACE1, which may be a protective response in the short term, but harmful in the long term.
"A stroke is a blockage that prevents blood flow and produces cell death in an acute, dramatic event," Vassar said. "What we are talking about here is a slow, insidious process over many years where people have a low level of cardiovascular disease or atherosclerosis in the brain. It's so mild, they don't even notice it, but it has an effect over time because it's producing a chronic reduction in the blood flow."
Vassar said when people reach a certain age, some may get increased levels of the enzymes that cause a build-up of the plaques. "Then they start falling off the cliff," he said.
An estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's in their lifetime, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The disease usually begins after age 60, and risk rises with age. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer's and other dementias is about $148 billion a year.
Robert Vassar of Northwestern University, the study's lead author, found that when the brain doesn't get enough of the simple sugar called glucose - as might occur when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow in arteries to the brain - a process is launched that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer's.
Working with human and mice brains, Vassar discovered that a key brain protein is altered when the brain's supply of energy drops. The altered protein, called eIF2alpha, increases the production of an enzyme that, in turn, flips a switch to produce the sticky protein clumps.
"This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," Vassar said.
The best ways to improve blood flow to the brain and thereby reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's is to reduce cholesterol intake, manage high blood pressure and exercise, especially entering mid-life.
"If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet," Vassar said. For people who already have symptoms, vasodilators, which increase blood flow, may help the delivery of oxygen and glucose to the brain, he added. The study is published in the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Neuron.
No candy bars
When it comes to prevention of Alzheimer's, eating candy bars is not the solution to improving the flow of blood glucose to the brain, Vassar told LiveScience.
A decreasing blood flow to the brain happens over time, as we age, and that slowly starves the brain of glucose. This could be a general aging phenomenon, or it could be that some individuals are particularly prone to it, Vassar said. Also, decreased blood flow is associated with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and hypertension, or high blood pressure.
"We need to improve our cardiovascular health, not eat more sugar," Vassar said. "What is coming out in terms of the epidemiological studies is that exercise during mid-life is one of the best prevention strategies for Alzheimer's disease, so people should stay active physically, and they should watch their diets and reduce cholesterol intake, because cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis, and that is true for the heart and the rest of the body as well as for the brain."
Vassar said it also is possible that drugs could be designed to block the elF2alpha protein that begins the formation of the protein clumps, known as amyloid plaques.
Earlier Alzheimer's findings
Ten years ago, Vassar discovered the enzyme, BACE1, that was responsible for making the sticky, fiber-like clumps of protein that form outside neurons and disrupt their ability to send messages.
But the cause of the high levels of the protein in people with the disease has been unknown. Vassar's new study now shows that energy deprivation in the brain might be the trigger starting the process that forms plaques in Alzheimer's.
Vassar said his work suggests that Alzheimer's disease may result from a less severe type of energy deprivation than occurs in a stroke. Rather than dying, the brain cells react by increasing BACE1, which may be a protective response in the short term, but harmful in the long term.
"A stroke is a blockage that prevents blood flow and produces cell death in an acute, dramatic event," Vassar said. "What we are talking about here is a slow, insidious process over many years where people have a low level of cardiovascular disease or atherosclerosis in the brain. It's so mild, they don't even notice it, but it has an effect over time because it's producing a chronic reduction in the blood flow."
Vassar said when people reach a certain age, some may get increased levels of the enzymes that cause a build-up of the plaques. "Then they start falling off the cliff," he said.
Science - Why outlook for 2009 is sunny
Meredith F Small
It's been a hard year, a scary year, but we'll all be OK, won't we?
Of course we will. In the face of a sliding economy, lost jobs, vanishing retirement and checkbooks in the red, everyone just keeps on going. In fact, we keep on smiling.
Are we idiots deceiving ourselves? Or are humans a naturally hopeful species?
Evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers of Rutgers University feels that humans are constantly deceiving themselves, but that self-deception is a good thing.
According to Trivers, all creatures have the ability to deceive others, and they have to. For example, insects change color to camouflage themselves against a background so that birds won't swoop down and eat them; fish sport odd appendages to bait their prey; mother birds act like cripples and lure predators away from the nest; chimpanzees cover their submissive grins to hide the fact that they are scared and avoid a beating from higher ups.
Deception is, in fact, a strong selective force. Richard Byrne and Nadia Corp of the University of Saint Andrews, in Scotland, have discovered that there is a relationship between the ability to be deceptive and brain size; lemurs, monkeys and apes that socially manipulate others by being deceptive have larger neocortexes, the part of the brain associated with perception and conscious thought. That relationship makes sense because it takes a really smart primate to know all the members of her troop and know which ones to leave alone and which ones to hustle. More important, a talent for deceiving others would probably translate into staying alive and passing on more genes.
Trivers claims that it's an easy leap from deceiving others to deceiving oneself. And that talent would be just as important in an evolutionary sense.
We lie to get ahead and justify our behavior so as not to feel paralyzed by guilt. Men cheat on their wives and claim they had no idea what they were doing, and believe their own explanation. Women forget the pain of labor and get pregnant again.
All day, every day, we deceive ourselves and it helps us stay alive, and sane. From Trivers' viewpoint, we are probably lying to ourselves right now about the economy so that we will carry on, because the other option, not carrying on, is not exactly good for passing on genes.
Or does our sunny disposition come from a happier place?
Evolutionary Psychiatrist Randolph Nesse of the University of Michigan is a great believer in hope as a evolutionary strategy.
According to Nesse, all emotions have an evolutionary basis, and for every negative emotion, there is a balancing positive one. Hope arrives on the coattails of despair, and without hope, we'd all be lost. Since everyone experiences bad stuff, and feels it deeply, our brains have adapted by also delivering hope. And without our inborn measure of hope, we fall into depression, where someone like psychiatrist Nesse has to remind us to be hopeful.
Nesse also claims that leaders of social groups have good reason to inspire hope; it's no coincidence that our incoming president's mantra was all about hope. Societies function well on hope, but they fall apart in despair, and we are all clinging to the hope that our new leadership will fix the economy and make everything right.
If Nesse is right, then hope is something that evolution has handed us to get through tough situations, and we aren't deceiving ourselves at all. We are simply looking on the bright side and searching for the silver linings, as we are designed to do.
No matter the evolutionary source, humans do seem to have a capacity for resilience. So go ahead, put on a happy face in 2009.
It's been a hard year, a scary year, but we'll all be OK, won't we?
Of course we will. In the face of a sliding economy, lost jobs, vanishing retirement and checkbooks in the red, everyone just keeps on going. In fact, we keep on smiling.
Are we idiots deceiving ourselves? Or are humans a naturally hopeful species?
Evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers of Rutgers University feels that humans are constantly deceiving themselves, but that self-deception is a good thing.
According to Trivers, all creatures have the ability to deceive others, and they have to. For example, insects change color to camouflage themselves against a background so that birds won't swoop down and eat them; fish sport odd appendages to bait their prey; mother birds act like cripples and lure predators away from the nest; chimpanzees cover their submissive grins to hide the fact that they are scared and avoid a beating from higher ups.
Deception is, in fact, a strong selective force. Richard Byrne and Nadia Corp of the University of Saint Andrews, in Scotland, have discovered that there is a relationship between the ability to be deceptive and brain size; lemurs, monkeys and apes that socially manipulate others by being deceptive have larger neocortexes, the part of the brain associated with perception and conscious thought. That relationship makes sense because it takes a really smart primate to know all the members of her troop and know which ones to leave alone and which ones to hustle. More important, a talent for deceiving others would probably translate into staying alive and passing on more genes.
Trivers claims that it's an easy leap from deceiving others to deceiving oneself. And that talent would be just as important in an evolutionary sense.
We lie to get ahead and justify our behavior so as not to feel paralyzed by guilt. Men cheat on their wives and claim they had no idea what they were doing, and believe their own explanation. Women forget the pain of labor and get pregnant again.
All day, every day, we deceive ourselves and it helps us stay alive, and sane. From Trivers' viewpoint, we are probably lying to ourselves right now about the economy so that we will carry on, because the other option, not carrying on, is not exactly good for passing on genes.
Or does our sunny disposition come from a happier place?
Evolutionary Psychiatrist Randolph Nesse of the University of Michigan is a great believer in hope as a evolutionary strategy.
According to Nesse, all emotions have an evolutionary basis, and for every negative emotion, there is a balancing positive one. Hope arrives on the coattails of despair, and without hope, we'd all be lost. Since everyone experiences bad stuff, and feels it deeply, our brains have adapted by also delivering hope. And without our inborn measure of hope, we fall into depression, where someone like psychiatrist Nesse has to remind us to be hopeful.
Nesse also claims that leaders of social groups have good reason to inspire hope; it's no coincidence that our incoming president's mantra was all about hope. Societies function well on hope, but they fall apart in despair, and we are all clinging to the hope that our new leadership will fix the economy and make everything right.
If Nesse is right, then hope is something that evolution has handed us to get through tough situations, and we aren't deceiving ourselves at all. We are simply looking on the bright side and searching for the silver linings, as we are designed to do.
No matter the evolutionary source, humans do seem to have a capacity for resilience. So go ahead, put on a happy face in 2009.
Tech - E-shopping site to open in China for Japan goods
TOKYO - A new Internet shopping mall is opening in China next month that will take payments in the widely used China UnionPay Co. cards for Japanese products, company officials said Friday.
The electronic shopping site "Buy-J.com" will sell gadgets, clothing and cosmetics from about 100 Japanese companies, aiming 4 billion yen ($44 million) in sales in the first year, said Ryuichi Kobayashi, spokesman for Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., a credit card company that tied up with China UnionPay.
It would be the first of its kind that allows settlements with the Chinese cards, hoping to cash in on the growing interest in Japanese electronics goods, fashion and food among Chinese consumers, he said.
Some 1.8 billion UnionPay cards — which include both credit and debit cards — have been issued in China, far more plentiful than credit cards like Visa.
The number of Chinese who use the Internet is estimated at some 250 million.
Among those considering opening shop at Buy-J.com are electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera Co., drugstore chain Matsumoto Kiyoshi Co., children's clothing maker Narumiya International Co. and mail-order company Cecile Co., Kobayashi said.
Chinese will be able to buy the products through the Net and pay with their cards to have the products shipped to them, said Shota Ko of SBI VeriTrans Co., a Tokyo-based e-commerce company, which will run the site.
The electronic shopping site "Buy-J.com" will sell gadgets, clothing and cosmetics from about 100 Japanese companies, aiming 4 billion yen ($44 million) in sales in the first year, said Ryuichi Kobayashi, spokesman for Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., a credit card company that tied up with China UnionPay.
It would be the first of its kind that allows settlements with the Chinese cards, hoping to cash in on the growing interest in Japanese electronics goods, fashion and food among Chinese consumers, he said.
Some 1.8 billion UnionPay cards — which include both credit and debit cards — have been issued in China, far more plentiful than credit cards like Visa.
The number of Chinese who use the Internet is estimated at some 250 million.
Among those considering opening shop at Buy-J.com are electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera Co., drugstore chain Matsumoto Kiyoshi Co., children's clothing maker Narumiya International Co. and mail-order company Cecile Co., Kobayashi said.
Chinese will be able to buy the products through the Net and pay with their cards to have the products shipped to them, said Shota Ko of SBI VeriTrans Co., a Tokyo-based e-commerce company, which will run the site.
World - Uproar in Australia over plan to block Web sites
SYDNEY, Australia - A proposed Internet filter dubbed the "Great Aussie Firewall" is promising to make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries.
Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web sites prohibited by the government — mostly child pornography, excessive violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.
Hundreds protested in state capitals earlier this month.
"This is obviously censorship," said Justin Pearson Smith, 29, organizer of protests in Melbourne and an officer of one of a dozen Facebook groups against the filter.
The list of prohibited sites, which the government isn't making public, is arbitrary and not subject to legal scrutiny, Smith said, leaving it to the government or lawmakers to pursue their own online agendas.
"I think the money would be better spent in investing in law enforcement and targeting producers of child porn," he said.
Internet providers say a filter could slow browsing speeds, and many question whether it would achieve its intended goals. Illegal material such as child pornography is often traded on peer-to-peer networks or chats, which would not be covered by the filter.
"People don't openly post child porn, the same way you can't walk into a store in Sydney and buy a machine gun," said Geordie Guy, spokesman for Electronic Frontiers Australia, an Internet advocacy organization. "A filter of this nature only blocks material on public Web sites. But illicit material ... is traded on the black market, through secret channels."
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy proposed the filter earlier this year, following up on a promise of the year-old Labor Party government to make the Internet cleaner and safer.
"This is not an argument about free speech," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We have laws about the sort of material that is acceptable across all mediums and the Internet is no different. Currently, some material is banned and we are simply seeking to use technology to ensure those bans are working."
Jim Wallace, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, welcomed the proposed filter as "an important safeguard for families worried about their children inadvertently coming across this material on the Net."
Conroy's office said a peer-to-peer filter could be considered. Most of today's filters are unable to do that, though companies are developing the technology.
The plan, which would have to be approved by Parliament, has two tiers. A mandatory filter would block sites on an existing blacklist determined by the Australian Communications Media Authority. An optional filter would block adult content.
The latter could use keywords to determine which sites to block, a technology that critics say is problematic.
"Filtering technology is not capable of realizing that when we say breasts we're talking about breast cancer, or when we type in sex we may be looking for sexual education," Guy said. "The filter will accidentally block things it's not meant to block."
A laboratory test of six filters for the Australian Communications Media Authority found they missed 3 percent to 12 percent of material they should have barred and wrongly blocked access to 1 percent to 8 percent of Web sites. The most accurate filters slowed browsing speeds up to 86 percent.
The government has invited Internet providers to participate in a live test expected to be completed by the end of June.
The country's largest Internet provider, Telstra BigPond, has declined, but others will take part. Provider iiNet signed on to prove the filter won't work. Managing director Michael Malone said he would collect data to show the government "how stupid it is."
The government has allocated 45 million Australian dollars ($30.7 million) for the filter, the largest part of a four-year, AU$128.5 million ($89 million) cybersafety plan, which also includes funding for investigating online child abuse, education and research.
One of the world's largest child-advocacy groups questions such an allocation of money.
"The filter may not be able to in fact protect children from the core elements of the Internet that they are actually experiencing danger in," said Holly Doel-Mackaway, an adviser with Save the Children. "The filter should be one small part of an overall comprehensive program to educate children and families about using the Internet."
Australia's proposal is less severe than controls in Egypt and Iran, where bloggers have been imprisoned; in North Korea, where there is virtually no Internet access; or in China, which has a pervasive filtering system.
Internet providers in the West have blocked content at times. In early December, several British providers blocked a Wikipedia entry about heavy metal band Scorpion. The entry included its 1976 "Virgin Killer" album cover, which has an image of a naked underage girl. The Internet Watch Foundation warned providers the image might be illegal.
Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom have filters, but they are voluntary.
In the United States, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for service providers to block child-pornography sites, but a federal court struck down the law because the filters also blocked legitimate sites.
In Australia, a political party named the Australian Sex Party was launched last month in large part to fight the filter, which it believes could block legal pornography, sex education, abortion information and off-color language.
But ethics professor Clive Hamilton, in a column on the popular Australian Web site Crikey.com, scoffed at what he called "Net libertarians," who believe freedom of speech is more important than limiting what children can access online.
"The Internet has dramatically changed what children can see," said the professor at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, noting that "a few extra clicks of a mouse" could open sites with photos or videos of extreme or violent sex. "Opponents of ISP filters simply refuse to acknowledge or trivialize the extent of the social problem."
Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web sites prohibited by the government — mostly child pornography, excessive violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.
Hundreds protested in state capitals earlier this month.
"This is obviously censorship," said Justin Pearson Smith, 29, organizer of protests in Melbourne and an officer of one of a dozen Facebook groups against the filter.
The list of prohibited sites, which the government isn't making public, is arbitrary and not subject to legal scrutiny, Smith said, leaving it to the government or lawmakers to pursue their own online agendas.
"I think the money would be better spent in investing in law enforcement and targeting producers of child porn," he said.
Internet providers say a filter could slow browsing speeds, and many question whether it would achieve its intended goals. Illegal material such as child pornography is often traded on peer-to-peer networks or chats, which would not be covered by the filter.
"People don't openly post child porn, the same way you can't walk into a store in Sydney and buy a machine gun," said Geordie Guy, spokesman for Electronic Frontiers Australia, an Internet advocacy organization. "A filter of this nature only blocks material on public Web sites. But illicit material ... is traded on the black market, through secret channels."
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy proposed the filter earlier this year, following up on a promise of the year-old Labor Party government to make the Internet cleaner and safer.
"This is not an argument about free speech," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We have laws about the sort of material that is acceptable across all mediums and the Internet is no different. Currently, some material is banned and we are simply seeking to use technology to ensure those bans are working."
Jim Wallace, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, welcomed the proposed filter as "an important safeguard for families worried about their children inadvertently coming across this material on the Net."
Conroy's office said a peer-to-peer filter could be considered. Most of today's filters are unable to do that, though companies are developing the technology.
The plan, which would have to be approved by Parliament, has two tiers. A mandatory filter would block sites on an existing blacklist determined by the Australian Communications Media Authority. An optional filter would block adult content.
The latter could use keywords to determine which sites to block, a technology that critics say is problematic.
"Filtering technology is not capable of realizing that when we say breasts we're talking about breast cancer, or when we type in sex we may be looking for sexual education," Guy said. "The filter will accidentally block things it's not meant to block."
A laboratory test of six filters for the Australian Communications Media Authority found they missed 3 percent to 12 percent of material they should have barred and wrongly blocked access to 1 percent to 8 percent of Web sites. The most accurate filters slowed browsing speeds up to 86 percent.
The government has invited Internet providers to participate in a live test expected to be completed by the end of June.
The country's largest Internet provider, Telstra BigPond, has declined, but others will take part. Provider iiNet signed on to prove the filter won't work. Managing director Michael Malone said he would collect data to show the government "how stupid it is."
The government has allocated 45 million Australian dollars ($30.7 million) for the filter, the largest part of a four-year, AU$128.5 million ($89 million) cybersafety plan, which also includes funding for investigating online child abuse, education and research.
One of the world's largest child-advocacy groups questions such an allocation of money.
"The filter may not be able to in fact protect children from the core elements of the Internet that they are actually experiencing danger in," said Holly Doel-Mackaway, an adviser with Save the Children. "The filter should be one small part of an overall comprehensive program to educate children and families about using the Internet."
Australia's proposal is less severe than controls in Egypt and Iran, where bloggers have been imprisoned; in North Korea, where there is virtually no Internet access; or in China, which has a pervasive filtering system.
Internet providers in the West have blocked content at times. In early December, several British providers blocked a Wikipedia entry about heavy metal band Scorpion. The entry included its 1976 "Virgin Killer" album cover, which has an image of a naked underage girl. The Internet Watch Foundation warned providers the image might be illegal.
Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom have filters, but they are voluntary.
In the United States, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for service providers to block child-pornography sites, but a federal court struck down the law because the filters also blocked legitimate sites.
In Australia, a political party named the Australian Sex Party was launched last month in large part to fight the filter, which it believes could block legal pornography, sex education, abortion information and off-color language.
But ethics professor Clive Hamilton, in a column on the popular Australian Web site Crikey.com, scoffed at what he called "Net libertarians," who believe freedom of speech is more important than limiting what children can access online.
"The Internet has dramatically changed what children can see," said the professor at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, noting that "a few extra clicks of a mouse" could open sites with photos or videos of extreme or violent sex. "Opponents of ISP filters simply refuse to acknowledge or trivialize the extent of the social problem."
Mktg - Imagine: Lennon in TV ad 28 years after his death
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imagine, John Lennon makes a television commercial for charity -- 28 years after his death.
Through the use of digital technology, the former Beatle urges people across the United States to support a campaign by "One Laptop per Child" to deliver tough, solar-powered XO laptop computers to the world's poorest children.
"Imagine every child no matter where in the world they were could access a universe of knowledge. They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want," a voice and video image of Lennon has been created to say.
"I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way. You can give a child a laptop and more than imagine, you can change the world," says the musician in a play on one his best known songs -- 1971's "Imagine."
Lennon was shot and killed as he and his wife, Yoko Ono, arrived at their Manhattan apartment building on December 8, 1980.
Ono approved the "One Laptop per Child" commercial, which was launched on Thursday and will be shown on donated broadcast and cable time. It can also be seen at www.youtube.com/olpc.
The "One Laptop per Child" Foundation, created in 2005, is a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and started producing the XO laptop late last year at a manufacturing cost per machine of less than $200.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Sandra Maler)
Through the use of digital technology, the former Beatle urges people across the United States to support a campaign by "One Laptop per Child" to deliver tough, solar-powered XO laptop computers to the world's poorest children.
"Imagine every child no matter where in the world they were could access a universe of knowledge. They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want," a voice and video image of Lennon has been created to say.
"I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way. You can give a child a laptop and more than imagine, you can change the world," says the musician in a play on one his best known songs -- 1971's "Imagine."
Lennon was shot and killed as he and his wife, Yoko Ono, arrived at their Manhattan apartment building on December 8, 1980.
Ono approved the "One Laptop per Child" commercial, which was launched on Thursday and will be shown on donated broadcast and cable time. It can also be seen at www.youtube.com/olpc.
The "One Laptop per Child" Foundation, created in 2005, is a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and started producing the XO laptop late last year at a manufacturing cost per machine of less than $200.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Sandra Maler)
Tech - Apple files 'swipe-gesture' patent application
While children were nestled all snug in their beds, Apple apparently had visions of improved touch-screens in its innovative head.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed a patent application from Apple, dated Christmas Day, for a swipe-gesture system to be used on touch-screen keyboards. It would allow for a user to "perform certain functions using swipes across the key area rather than tapping particular keys," according to the patent application, authored by Wayne Westerman.
For example, the application explains that leftward, rightward, upward and downward swipes might be assigned to inserting a space, backspacing, shifting, or inserting a carriage return.
MacRumors, which was first to point out the patent application, notes that Apple sees swipe gestures being used on top of the iPhone's on-screen keyboard to provide users with quick access to common keys. Ars Technica's Infinite Loop, which like MacRumors explains the patent in more detail, likens the technology to a "Palm Graffiti-like interpretation layer to the standard iPhone keyboard."
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed a patent application from Apple, dated Christmas Day, for a swipe-gesture system to be used on touch-screen keyboards. It would allow for a user to "perform certain functions using swipes across the key area rather than tapping particular keys," according to the patent application, authored by Wayne Westerman.
For example, the application explains that leftward, rightward, upward and downward swipes might be assigned to inserting a space, backspacing, shifting, or inserting a carriage return.
MacRumors, which was first to point out the patent application, notes that Apple sees swipe gestures being used on top of the iPhone's on-screen keyboard to provide users with quick access to common keys. Ars Technica's Infinite Loop, which like MacRumors explains the patent in more detail, likens the technology to a "Palm Graffiti-like interpretation layer to the standard iPhone keyboard."
Tech - LG Flips Display Modes; Saves 75% More Power
LG Display has announced the development of a 14.1-inch LCD panel for notebooks that can quickly switch from reflective to transmissive mode depending on the ambient lighting.
It makes use of the "Backlight Data Signal Switching Technology" which uses reflection plates on backlight panels. According to LG, this is the first LCD panel that's able to switch quickly from reflective mode in an environment with bright ambient light and transmissive mode when ambient lighting is dim such as indoors or during nighttime.
You need to toggle between modes yourself by pushing on a button, but it's all worth what little effort you put into to as using the transmissive mode can cut off 75 percent of the usual consumption by LCD panels of the same size.
Aside from the obvious savings in electric consumption, LG's LCD panel also provides 9:1 contrast ratio under bright sunlight when conventional LCD panels show 2:1 to 3:1 contrast ratio. LG's new sunlight-illuminated 14.1-inch LCD display for notebooks will be showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show 2009.
It makes use of the "Backlight Data Signal Switching Technology" which uses reflection plates on backlight panels. According to LG, this is the first LCD panel that's able to switch quickly from reflective mode in an environment with bright ambient light and transmissive mode when ambient lighting is dim such as indoors or during nighttime.
You need to toggle between modes yourself by pushing on a button, but it's all worth what little effort you put into to as using the transmissive mode can cut off 75 percent of the usual consumption by LCD panels of the same size.
Aside from the obvious savings in electric consumption, LG's LCD panel also provides 9:1 contrast ratio under bright sunlight when conventional LCD panels show 2:1 to 3:1 contrast ratio. LG's new sunlight-illuminated 14.1-inch LCD display for notebooks will be showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show 2009.
Entertainment - "Valkyrie" challenges fans to rethink Tom Cruise
Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It was an improbable plot hatched during World War Two and to match it on movie screens, Hollywood offered perhaps the most unlikely casting of a hero at the holidays -- Tom Cruise playing a German army officer.
Cruise, of course, enjoys All-American looks that helped send him to movie stardom playing heroic young men such as Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 1986 movie, "Top Gun." As of late, he's been on a mea culpa tour to explain his odd behavior in recent years and to regain his good-guy image with fans.
The improbable plot was a plan by German officers to kill Adolf Hitler by placing a bomb near him at a top secret meeting, and the resulting movie about that attempt is "Valkyrie," starring Cruise as Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg who was at the center of the assassination attempt.
"Stauffenberg was unique, handsome, and Tom had a lot of the same attributes, besides the physical looks of the character," "Valkyrie" director Bryan Singer told Reuters.
"I look for similarities in the actor and the person and in that world -- you take all (Tom's) baggage away -- and you've got a good casting choice," he said.
But it didn't always seem that way to Hollywood watchers, and like most movies, "Valkyrie" did not make it from script to screen without some bumps along the way.
Its release, initially set for summer 2008 was moved several times before landing on December 25, leading industry watchers to wonder if problems with the film caused the delay.
The crew had difficulty getting permission to film at historical sites in Germany where Singer and Cruise wanted to shoot, although they eventually prevailed. And the film's big budget was cited by some industry insiders as one reason for the exit of Cruise's long-time business partner Paula Wagner from her job as chief executive of United Artists in August.
Yet, the biggest threat may have always been casting Cruise as a German army officer who fought for Hitler.
When pictures comparing the likeness of a Stauffenberg to Cruise began making their way around the Web in 2007, concerns arose that Cruise's squeaky clean public image would be further tarnished by playing a Nazi.
Cruise already had suffered publicity setbacks with his couch jumping incident on "Oprah" and verbal sparring with Matt Lauer of "Today." In fact, to polish his still tarnished image, Cruise was back on "Today" earlier this month admitting he "came across as arrogant" with Lauer.
But Singer, a self-described history buff, looks differently at the film and at Cruise as von Stauffenberg.
He sees the movie as a thriller, a genre Cruise mastered in the blockbuster "Mission: Impossible" flicks. Singer also views Stauffenberg as a true hero who tried to kill one of the 20th Century's most notorious villains.
"In the context of an assassination thriller ... Tom Cruise was a natural for this character," Singer said.
Audiences apparently agree. With mixed reviews and against stiff competition that included family films "Marley & Me" and "Bedtime Stories," as well as Oscar hopeful "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Valkyrie" held its own at box offices.
Early reports had the film taking in an estimated $8.5 million in ticket sales on Christmas Day, although its studio backer United Artists -- owned by Cruise, Wagner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- had not issued official numbers.
"Considering the subject matter and level of competition, 'Valkyrie' did just fine," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media by Numbers.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It was an improbable plot hatched during World War Two and to match it on movie screens, Hollywood offered perhaps the most unlikely casting of a hero at the holidays -- Tom Cruise playing a German army officer.
Cruise, of course, enjoys All-American looks that helped send him to movie stardom playing heroic young men such as Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 1986 movie, "Top Gun." As of late, he's been on a mea culpa tour to explain his odd behavior in recent years and to regain his good-guy image with fans.
The improbable plot was a plan by German officers to kill Adolf Hitler by placing a bomb near him at a top secret meeting, and the resulting movie about that attempt is "Valkyrie," starring Cruise as Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg who was at the center of the assassination attempt.
"Stauffenberg was unique, handsome, and Tom had a lot of the same attributes, besides the physical looks of the character," "Valkyrie" director Bryan Singer told Reuters.
"I look for similarities in the actor and the person and in that world -- you take all (Tom's) baggage away -- and you've got a good casting choice," he said.
But it didn't always seem that way to Hollywood watchers, and like most movies, "Valkyrie" did not make it from script to screen without some bumps along the way.
Its release, initially set for summer 2008 was moved several times before landing on December 25, leading industry watchers to wonder if problems with the film caused the delay.
The crew had difficulty getting permission to film at historical sites in Germany where Singer and Cruise wanted to shoot, although they eventually prevailed. And the film's big budget was cited by some industry insiders as one reason for the exit of Cruise's long-time business partner Paula Wagner from her job as chief executive of United Artists in August.
Yet, the biggest threat may have always been casting Cruise as a German army officer who fought for Hitler.
When pictures comparing the likeness of a Stauffenberg to Cruise began making their way around the Web in 2007, concerns arose that Cruise's squeaky clean public image would be further tarnished by playing a Nazi.
Cruise already had suffered publicity setbacks with his couch jumping incident on "Oprah" and verbal sparring with Matt Lauer of "Today." In fact, to polish his still tarnished image, Cruise was back on "Today" earlier this month admitting he "came across as arrogant" with Lauer.
But Singer, a self-described history buff, looks differently at the film and at Cruise as von Stauffenberg.
He sees the movie as a thriller, a genre Cruise mastered in the blockbuster "Mission: Impossible" flicks. Singer also views Stauffenberg as a true hero who tried to kill one of the 20th Century's most notorious villains.
"In the context of an assassination thriller ... Tom Cruise was a natural for this character," Singer said.
Audiences apparently agree. With mixed reviews and against stiff competition that included family films "Marley & Me" and "Bedtime Stories," as well as Oscar hopeful "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Valkyrie" held its own at box offices.
Early reports had the film taking in an estimated $8.5 million in ticket sales on Christmas Day, although its studio backer United Artists -- owned by Cruise, Wagner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- had not issued official numbers.
"Considering the subject matter and level of competition, 'Valkyrie' did just fine," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media by Numbers.
Entertainment - Taylor Swift logs 3rd week atop U.S. album chart
Jonathan Cohen
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Country star Taylor Swift began a third non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the U.S. pop album chart Wednesday, trumping big debuts from Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx, which opened at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Swift's "Fearless" sold 330,000 copies during the week ended December 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Cole's "A Different Me" followed with 322,000 copies, a career-best sales week for the R&B singer. Her 2007 album, "Just Like You," also debuted at No. 2 but with 281,000 units.
Foxx's "Intuition" shifted 265,000 copies. His last album, "Unpredictable," bowed exactly two years ago, starting at No. 2 with 598,000 before rising to No. 1 the following week with 200,000.
The next four albums were each down two places on the Billboard 200: Britney Spears' "Circus" at No. 4 with 196,000 copies, Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" at No. 5 with 195,000, Nickelback's "Dark Horse" at No. 6 with 194,000, and the soundtrack to "Twilight" at No. 7 with 156,000.
Fall Out Boy's "Folie a Deux" debuted at No. 8 with 150,000. The album, which was originally scheduled for a November 4 release, is the follow-up to 2007's "Infinity on High," which debuted at No. 1 with 260,000.
AC/DC's "Black Ice" slipped one to No. 9 with 143,000 copies, taking its total to more than 1.8 million since September. The multi-artist compilation "Now 29" dropped three to No. 10 with 139,000.
Anthony Hamilton returned to the chart with "The Point of It All" at No. 12 with 133,000. His last new studio effort, "Ain't Nobody Worryin'," debuted and peaked at No. 19 in December 2005 with 112,000.
Other new entries included Rapper Plies' "Da Realist," begins at No. 14, and the All-American Rejects' "When The World Comes Down" at No. 15.
Teenage rapper Soulja Boy's "ISouljaBoyTellEm" debuted at a disappointing No. 43 with 46,000; his 2007 debut, "SouljaBoyTellEm.com," began at No. 4 with 117,000, on the strength of the No. 1 Hot 100 hit "Crank That."
At 17.16 million units, album sales this week were up 33% over last week but down 33% from the same week in 2007, when 25.57 million albums were sold.
Reuters/Billboard
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Country star Taylor Swift began a third non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the U.S. pop album chart Wednesday, trumping big debuts from Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx, which opened at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Swift's "Fearless" sold 330,000 copies during the week ended December 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Cole's "A Different Me" followed with 322,000 copies, a career-best sales week for the R&B singer. Her 2007 album, "Just Like You," also debuted at No. 2 but with 281,000 units.
Foxx's "Intuition" shifted 265,000 copies. His last album, "Unpredictable," bowed exactly two years ago, starting at No. 2 with 598,000 before rising to No. 1 the following week with 200,000.
The next four albums were each down two places on the Billboard 200: Britney Spears' "Circus" at No. 4 with 196,000 copies, Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" at No. 5 with 195,000, Nickelback's "Dark Horse" at No. 6 with 194,000, and the soundtrack to "Twilight" at No. 7 with 156,000.
Fall Out Boy's "Folie a Deux" debuted at No. 8 with 150,000. The album, which was originally scheduled for a November 4 release, is the follow-up to 2007's "Infinity on High," which debuted at No. 1 with 260,000.
AC/DC's "Black Ice" slipped one to No. 9 with 143,000 copies, taking its total to more than 1.8 million since September. The multi-artist compilation "Now 29" dropped three to No. 10 with 139,000.
Anthony Hamilton returned to the chart with "The Point of It All" at No. 12 with 133,000. His last new studio effort, "Ain't Nobody Worryin'," debuted and peaked at No. 19 in December 2005 with 112,000.
Other new entries included Rapper Plies' "Da Realist," begins at No. 14, and the All-American Rejects' "When The World Comes Down" at No. 15.
Teenage rapper Soulja Boy's "ISouljaBoyTellEm" debuted at a disappointing No. 43 with 46,000; his 2007 debut, "SouljaBoyTellEm.com," began at No. 4 with 117,000, on the strength of the No. 1 Hot 100 hit "Crank That."
At 17.16 million units, album sales this week were up 33% over last week but down 33% from the same week in 2007, when 25.57 million albums were sold.
Reuters/Billboard
Entertainment - Smashed Kurt Cobain guitar sold for $100,000
SEATTLE (AP) A smashed guitar from the late grunge rocker Kurt Cobain has been sold to an unidentified private collector for $100,000. Helen Hall, a broker in England, says it's the second-highest known price for an item of Cobain memorabilia.
The seller was punk rocker Sluggo of The Grannies and Hullabaloo. The sale was confirmed Tuesday by Jacob McMurray, senior curator at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, where the taped-up Fender Mustang guitar in sunburst finish was displayed for a time.
"It's a really cool-looking guitar because it's smashed and held together with duct tape and Kurt Cobain wrote on it," McMurray said. Sluggo said he traded a working guitar for the smashed one during the first U.S. tour of Cobain's band, Nirvana.
McMurray said Nirvana, living hand-to-mouth, was on a tour in New Jersey when Cobain smashed the guitar on stage and went looking for one to play at his next gig. The swap was made while Cobain was staying at the apartment of Sluggo, who goes only by that name, and Sluggo's girlfriend, McMurray said.
He said he hoped the buyer would allow the instrument to return to Seattle for a Cobain exhibit he is preparing for 2010. "There's not a huge amount of broken Nirvana guitars out there," McMurray said, adding that most amount to "little slivers and fragments.
" A news release from Hall said the highest price paid for a piece of Cobain memorabilia was $131,000 at a 2006 auction for his Mosrite Gospel Mark IV guitar.
The seller was punk rocker Sluggo of The Grannies and Hullabaloo. The sale was confirmed Tuesday by Jacob McMurray, senior curator at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, where the taped-up Fender Mustang guitar in sunburst finish was displayed for a time.
"It's a really cool-looking guitar because it's smashed and held together with duct tape and Kurt Cobain wrote on it," McMurray said. Sluggo said he traded a working guitar for the smashed one during the first U.S. tour of Cobain's band, Nirvana.
McMurray said Nirvana, living hand-to-mouth, was on a tour in New Jersey when Cobain smashed the guitar on stage and went looking for one to play at his next gig. The swap was made while Cobain was staying at the apartment of Sluggo, who goes only by that name, and Sluggo's girlfriend, McMurray said.
He said he hoped the buyer would allow the instrument to return to Seattle for a Cobain exhibit he is preparing for 2010. "There's not a huge amount of broken Nirvana guitars out there," McMurray said, adding that most amount to "little slivers and fragments.
" A news release from Hall said the highest price paid for a piece of Cobain memorabilia was $131,000 at a 2006 auction for his Mosrite Gospel Mark IV guitar.
Entertainment - Jen An & Courtney Cox together on Xmas eve
Actress Jennifer Aniston celebrated her Christmas this year with old friend and former 'Friends' co-star Courteney Cox and her family.
"Jen and Courteney chatted non-stop," a source told 'People's' magazine "Jen was also very sweet to Coco and the two giggled together."
However, Aniston's boyfriend John Mayer did not accompany her to the party.
Dressed in black the 39-year-old actress joined Cox, her husband David Arquette and their four-year-old daughter and a few other friends for their annual Christmas Eve dinner at Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills.
"Jen usually gets steak, but she asked for fish instead and she ended up getting the sole and vegetables," the source said.
"Jen also had some white wine with her fish, while the rest of the table enjoyed steak. Courtney and David were also in a great mood and they acted very sweet to each other."
Aniston's latest film 'Marley and Me' released on Christmas day.
"Jen and Courteney chatted non-stop," a source told 'People's' magazine "Jen was also very sweet to Coco and the two giggled together."
However, Aniston's boyfriend John Mayer did not accompany her to the party.
Dressed in black the 39-year-old actress joined Cox, her husband David Arquette and their four-year-old daughter and a few other friends for their annual Christmas Eve dinner at Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills.
"Jen usually gets steak, but she asked for fish instead and she ended up getting the sole and vegetables," the source said.
"Jen also had some white wine with her fish, while the rest of the table enjoyed steak. Courtney and David were also in a great mood and they acted very sweet to each other."
Aniston's latest film 'Marley and Me' released on Christmas day.
Entertainment - George Michael gifts fans free X-Mas song download
London, Dec 26 (IANS) Pop star George Michael gave all his fans a free download of his new single as a Christmas gift.
His first Christmas single since the 1984 'Wham!' hit 'Last Christmas', the song 'I Dreamed of Christmas' was available for download on Michael's website www.georgemichael.com, reports mirror.co.uk.
The new release was originally promised by the singer on stage on the last night of his Final Two sell-out concerts at London's Earls Court in August, which were billed as his 'last arena shows in the UK'.
It was written and produced by the star and co-written with David Austin.
Michael has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and his 1987 solo album 'Faith' is one of his best sellers of all time.
His first Christmas single since the 1984 'Wham!' hit 'Last Christmas', the song 'I Dreamed of Christmas' was available for download on Michael's website www.georgemichael.com, reports mirror.co.uk.
The new release was originally promised by the singer on stage on the last night of his Final Two sell-out concerts at London's Earls Court in August, which were billed as his 'last arena shows in the UK'.
It was written and produced by the star and co-written with David Austin.
Michael has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and his 1987 solo album 'Faith' is one of his best sellers of all time.
Entertainment - Aniston's nude shot for GQ was photoshopped
New York, Dec 26 (IANS) Former 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston has revealed that her next-to-perfect looks in just a white and red necktie on the cover of GQ magazine was courtesy the Photoshop software.
'It's Photoshopped,' she said.
The actress, whose film 'Marley & Me' opened Thursday in theatres, said the original concept of the GQ spread was to show her in various stages of undress, reports accesshollywood.com.
'There is a story behind (the nudity). This had a whole concept. You know, this was going to be different stages of undress…I was supposed to be wearing the man's shirt, they were supposed to get undressed. Somehow, I don't know what happened,' she said.
'It's Photoshopped,' she said.
The actress, whose film 'Marley & Me' opened Thursday in theatres, said the original concept of the GQ spread was to show her in various stages of undress, reports accesshollywood.com.
'There is a story behind (the nudity). This had a whole concept. You know, this was going to be different stages of undress…I was supposed to be wearing the man's shirt, they were supposed to get undressed. Somehow, I don't know what happened,' she said.
Lifestyle - No breakfast, earlier sex: Japan study
There are many theories on the links between food and sex, but Japanese researchers have came up with a new finding - young people who skip breakfast tend to lose their virginity earlier.
In a study of 3,000 people, those who did not regularly eat breakfast when in their early teens said they lost their virginity at an average age of 17.5, versus an overall average of age 19 for all Japanese.
For those who had a morning meal when they were younger, the average age of having the first sexual experience was 19.4.
The study, backed by Japan's health ministry, was aimed at finding ways to curb unwanted pregnancies. It concluded that a stable home life discouraged early sex.
"Those unhappy with their parents - such as for not preparing breakfast - may tend to find a way to release their frustration by having sex," said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association who led the research.
"If children don't feel comfortable in their family environment, they tend to go out," he said.
Additionally, young people who start having sex early tend to miss breakfast because they return home late, he said.
Japan has one of the world's lowest birthrates as more young people put off starting families, finding them a burden on their careers or lifestyles.
The survey also found that nearly 40 per cent of married couples had not had sex in more than a month.
Respondents said they were too tired because of work or found sex to be a pain, according to the study.
In a study of 3,000 people, those who did not regularly eat breakfast when in their early teens said they lost their virginity at an average age of 17.5, versus an overall average of age 19 for all Japanese.
For those who had a morning meal when they were younger, the average age of having the first sexual experience was 19.4.
The study, backed by Japan's health ministry, was aimed at finding ways to curb unwanted pregnancies. It concluded that a stable home life discouraged early sex.
"Those unhappy with their parents - such as for not preparing breakfast - may tend to find a way to release their frustration by having sex," said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association who led the research.
"If children don't feel comfortable in their family environment, they tend to go out," he said.
Additionally, young people who start having sex early tend to miss breakfast because they return home late, he said.
Japan has one of the world's lowest birthrates as more young people put off starting families, finding them a burden on their careers or lifestyles.
The survey also found that nearly 40 per cent of married couples had not had sex in more than a month.
Respondents said they were too tired because of work or found sex to be a pain, according to the study.
Sport - F1;Massa rejects call for Formula One teams to slash wages of drivers
London, Dec 26 (ANI): Ferrari's ace driver Felipe Massa has rejected calls for Formula One teams to slash the wages of their drivers to try to reduce costs.
The Ferrari driver is believed to earn around 8million pounds a year, while his Scuderia teammate Kimi Raikkonen is reputedly paid at least three times that sum, The Independent reported.
Ferrari's sporting director, Stefano Domenicali, recently floated the idea of teams reducing driver earnings to cut expenditure in a sport acutely affected by the global economic downturn and has already lost one of its prime movers with the withdrawal of Honda earlier this month.
However, Domenicali's views are not shared by Massa, who finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in this year's drivers' championship. "I'm not inclined to it," Massa said when quizzed about the plan at a Unicef press conference in Brazil.
"In a competitive sport like this, the driver plays a fundamental part, and the cost of the drivers are small compared to the total budget. The more people work to reduce costs, the better it is going to be for everybody."
Another idea is a standardised engine to cut top teams' costs, which in 2008 were on average around the 300million pounds mark.
The proposal was watered down recently when the major manufacturers agreed to run with restricted power units from 2010 rather than with engines from an independent supplier, a move welcomed by Massa.
"I do not find this idea interesting," Massa said of the standard engine formula. "A standard engine gets away from what F1 is all about. A Ferrari running with another engine - that is not a Ferrari." (ANI)
The Ferrari driver is believed to earn around 8million pounds a year, while his Scuderia teammate Kimi Raikkonen is reputedly paid at least three times that sum, The Independent reported.
Ferrari's sporting director, Stefano Domenicali, recently floated the idea of teams reducing driver earnings to cut expenditure in a sport acutely affected by the global economic downturn and has already lost one of its prime movers with the withdrawal of Honda earlier this month.
However, Domenicali's views are not shared by Massa, who finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in this year's drivers' championship. "I'm not inclined to it," Massa said when quizzed about the plan at a Unicef press conference in Brazil.
"In a competitive sport like this, the driver plays a fundamental part, and the cost of the drivers are small compared to the total budget. The more people work to reduce costs, the better it is going to be for everybody."
Another idea is a standardised engine to cut top teams' costs, which in 2008 were on average around the 300million pounds mark.
The proposal was watered down recently when the major manufacturers agreed to run with restricted power units from 2010 rather than with engines from an independent supplier, a move welcomed by Massa.
"I do not find this idea interesting," Massa said of the standard engine formula. "A standard engine gets away from what F1 is all about. A Ferrari running with another engine - that is not a Ferrari." (ANI)
India - Violence in Kashmir lowest in 20 years - police
Separatist violence in Indian Kashmir has fallen to its lowest level since an insurgency began nearly two decades ago, police said on Friday, but almost 1,000 Muslim guerrillas are still operating in the region.
Indian officials say violence between Indian troops and separatist militants started a steady decline in 2004 after India and Pakistan, who both claim the region in full but rule in part, started a slow-moving peace process.
In an offensive against Muslim militants in Jammu and Kashmir this year, Indian security forces killed 350 guerrillas, including 67 top-ranking commanders of different groups, Kashmir police director-general Kuldeep Khuda said.
The number of militant incidents fell by about 40 percent to 700 compared with last year, the lowest in the insurgency's history, Khuda said in a statement.
There are nearly 250 foreign militants among close to 1,000 guerrillas operating in Indian Kashmir, Khuda added.
These include members of the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi blames for last month's Mumbai attacks which killed 179 people.
India has imposed a "pause" in the dialogue with Pakistan since the strike by 10 Islamist gunmen on the financial hub.
Separatists called for a boycott of state elections in Kashmir, which ended this week, the third ballot since the insurgency began in 1989. The election was relatively trouble-free.
Officials say more than 47,000 people have been killed in nearly two decades of violence in Kashmir, which was hit by massive anti-India protests earlier this year. Separatists put the toll at 100,000.
Indian officials say violence between Indian troops and separatist militants started a steady decline in 2004 after India and Pakistan, who both claim the region in full but rule in part, started a slow-moving peace process.
In an offensive against Muslim militants in Jammu and Kashmir this year, Indian security forces killed 350 guerrillas, including 67 top-ranking commanders of different groups, Kashmir police director-general Kuldeep Khuda said.
The number of militant incidents fell by about 40 percent to 700 compared with last year, the lowest in the insurgency's history, Khuda said in a statement.
There are nearly 250 foreign militants among close to 1,000 guerrillas operating in Indian Kashmir, Khuda added.
These include members of the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi blames for last month's Mumbai attacks which killed 179 people.
India has imposed a "pause" in the dialogue with Pakistan since the strike by 10 Islamist gunmen on the financial hub.
Separatists called for a boycott of state elections in Kashmir, which ended this week, the third ballot since the insurgency began in 1989. The election was relatively trouble-free.
Officials say more than 47,000 people have been killed in nearly two decades of violence in Kashmir, which was hit by massive anti-India protests earlier this year. Separatists put the toll at 100,000.
Lifestyle - Japan prepares to usher in a New Year with a 'moo'
With Christmas over, Japan on Friday began preparing for its biggest celebration of the holiday season, the start of the New Year, with moos and squeaks as well as paws and hooves.
While most of Asia remains faithful to the Chinese lunar calendar to mark the Chinese New Year, Japan ushers it in according to the Western calendar, making New Year's Day the start of both 2009 and the Chinese New Year.
On December 31, Japan will bid farewell to the current Chinese Year of the Rat and welcome the Year of the Ox, or the Cow, as locals call it. Other Asian nations are due to mark the lunar new year toward the end of January.
In an annual event, animals representing the incoming and outgoing years took part in a handover ceremony at a local animal park while human guests took stock of the past year and expressed hopes for the next.
"I usually change the New Year decorations to match the animal but this is the first time I see it in the flesh," said 65-year-old Yorio Hitomi, a Tokyo resident.
The event at the Sunshine International Aquarium saw a calf filling in for the cow and a hamster - the park's only rodent resident - taking the place of the rat.
Using paws and hoofs, the animals signed over responsibility for the outgoing and incoming years.
"At the end of 2008, Japan and the world lost its lustre. I hope that with the new year and the new animal representing it, both Japan and the world will regain some of its prosperity," Tsunekiyo Miyajima, assistant manager for the Sunshine City corporation which owns the park, told Reuters.
According to the Chinese calendar, the Ox, or Cow, is an animal that brings prosperity through hard work. The outgoing Rat symbolizes wealth.
While most of Asia remains faithful to the Chinese lunar calendar to mark the Chinese New Year, Japan ushers it in according to the Western calendar, making New Year's Day the start of both 2009 and the Chinese New Year.
On December 31, Japan will bid farewell to the current Chinese Year of the Rat and welcome the Year of the Ox, or the Cow, as locals call it. Other Asian nations are due to mark the lunar new year toward the end of January.
In an annual event, animals representing the incoming and outgoing years took part in a handover ceremony at a local animal park while human guests took stock of the past year and expressed hopes for the next.
"I usually change the New Year decorations to match the animal but this is the first time I see it in the flesh," said 65-year-old Yorio Hitomi, a Tokyo resident.
The event at the Sunshine International Aquarium saw a calf filling in for the cow and a hamster - the park's only rodent resident - taking the place of the rat.
Using paws and hoofs, the animals signed over responsibility for the outgoing and incoming years.
"At the end of 2008, Japan and the world lost its lustre. I hope that with the new year and the new animal representing it, both Japan and the world will regain some of its prosperity," Tsunekiyo Miyajima, assistant manager for the Sunshine City corporation which owns the park, told Reuters.
According to the Chinese calendar, the Ox, or Cow, is an animal that brings prosperity through hard work. The outgoing Rat symbolizes wealth.
World - Indo-Russian ties set to ascend new heights
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's maiden visit to India appears to be a new signal by Moscow to give a fresh start to Indo-Russian bilateral ties, which in 2008 lost past bonhomie and sheen apparently due to India's growing closeness to the US.
In spite of the officials of the two nations putting up a brave face, trade figures make it clear that without a vibrant economic dimension and business-to-business contacts, the bilateral relations are leading nowhere.
It is not only that traditional Indo-Russian four-decade strong close relationship is threatened, but question marks looms even on the extremely close defence and security ties.
The lack in warmth in bilateral ties is being attributed to Moscow being wary to warming up of New Delhi to Washington after the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and Russian leaders being engrossed in their own internal power configurations.
A sudden windfall foreign exchange income from the Siberian oil fields triggered by the massive soaring of oil prices, also contributed to the crisis, as it made the Kremlin leaders look more westwards.
As Washington and New Delhi appeared to be moving closer, the Russian-US ties on the other hand deteriorated over their confrontation on Moscow's intervention in Georgia. US plans to deploy anti-missile shield in Poland and Czech Republic, which the Kremlin sees as a threat to its second strike capability.
It was against this bleak backdrop, Medvedev made his maiden India visit, which was the first by any world leader after the Mumbai carnage.
The Russian President came with an apparent resolve to infuse a new blood to the Indo-Russian relationship in a background of two countries having emerged as global players in the economic field.
The green signal for putting the bilateral relationship on more business-to-business interface and giving it an economic dimension has been pushed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Though Putin faced constitutional limitations after taking over as the Prime Minister, he emerged as powerful as Nikita Khrushchev was in the Soviet era combining the post of the ruling party leader and the cabinet chief.
Putin had revived the bilateral relations and lifted them to the level of strategic partnership in 2000. Many of his ideas, including investment of rupee debt in hi-tech projects, could be materialised only after he took over the premiership.
The year 2008 opened up new avenues and it now up to the two countries to materialise them by involving new actors like private business and entrepreneurs, who look beyond the buyer-seller relations and focus on capacity building through investments.
Though so far ONGC remains the sole Indian entity to have invested in Russia, there is a move by Medvedev and Putin to invite more Indian businessmen to invest in the country on the pattern of Tatas and Birlas and others going on company-buying spree in West Europe and China.
The defence cooperation still remains the pivot of Indo-Russian relationship, with New Delhi investing billions of dollars in joint projects to build futuristic fighter aircraft, warships, submarines and missiles.
But problems still remain as the Indian armed forces are peeved at the delay in delivery schedules of weapon systems and quality of spares of frontline Russian armaments used by the security force.
But now efforts are on both by Moscow and New Delhi to forge joint ventures to build new hi-tech weapons with almost 50-50 investment sharing.
The relationships will get a further boost as 'Year of India' is to be organised in Russia next year which is expected to impact on the Russian society, underlining a new and confident India.
In spite of the officials of the two nations putting up a brave face, trade figures make it clear that without a vibrant economic dimension and business-to-business contacts, the bilateral relations are leading nowhere.
It is not only that traditional Indo-Russian four-decade strong close relationship is threatened, but question marks looms even on the extremely close defence and security ties.
The lack in warmth in bilateral ties is being attributed to Moscow being wary to warming up of New Delhi to Washington after the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and Russian leaders being engrossed in their own internal power configurations.
A sudden windfall foreign exchange income from the Siberian oil fields triggered by the massive soaring of oil prices, also contributed to the crisis, as it made the Kremlin leaders look more westwards.
As Washington and New Delhi appeared to be moving closer, the Russian-US ties on the other hand deteriorated over their confrontation on Moscow's intervention in Georgia. US plans to deploy anti-missile shield in Poland and Czech Republic, which the Kremlin sees as a threat to its second strike capability.
It was against this bleak backdrop, Medvedev made his maiden India visit, which was the first by any world leader after the Mumbai carnage.
The Russian President came with an apparent resolve to infuse a new blood to the Indo-Russian relationship in a background of two countries having emerged as global players in the economic field.
The green signal for putting the bilateral relationship on more business-to-business interface and giving it an economic dimension has been pushed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Though Putin faced constitutional limitations after taking over as the Prime Minister, he emerged as powerful as Nikita Khrushchev was in the Soviet era combining the post of the ruling party leader and the cabinet chief.
Putin had revived the bilateral relations and lifted them to the level of strategic partnership in 2000. Many of his ideas, including investment of rupee debt in hi-tech projects, could be materialised only after he took over the premiership.
The year 2008 opened up new avenues and it now up to the two countries to materialise them by involving new actors like private business and entrepreneurs, who look beyond the buyer-seller relations and focus on capacity building through investments.
Though so far ONGC remains the sole Indian entity to have invested in Russia, there is a move by Medvedev and Putin to invite more Indian businessmen to invest in the country on the pattern of Tatas and Birlas and others going on company-buying spree in West Europe and China.
The defence cooperation still remains the pivot of Indo-Russian relationship, with New Delhi investing billions of dollars in joint projects to build futuristic fighter aircraft, warships, submarines and missiles.
But problems still remain as the Indian armed forces are peeved at the delay in delivery schedules of weapon systems and quality of spares of frontline Russian armaments used by the security force.
But now efforts are on both by Moscow and New Delhi to forge joint ventures to build new hi-tech weapons with almost 50-50 investment sharing.
The relationships will get a further boost as 'Year of India' is to be organised in Russia next year which is expected to impact on the Russian society, underlining a new and confident India.
Dec 26, 2008
Art - India;A Historic Tribute to Sangeet-Natak
Sadanand Menon
It is known as the ‘golden age’ of Indian theatre. Roughly a hundred-year period beginning in the early decades of the 19th century and stretching to a little beyond the early decades of the 20th century. In diverse regions like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal and Tamil Nadu, we saw the rise and spread of the phenomenon loosely referred to as the ‘Company Natak’ tradition, where an attempt was made to professionalise stage performances and earn a living through box-office collections.
It led to the development of distinct narrative and performative genres in India as well as conventions of visual representation that were to directly influence the course of modern art, musical rendition, theatrical devices and the structure of story-telling that was to be adopted by early Indian cinema.
In the early 19th century, as troupes of theatre performers began reaching Indian shores from England to entertain the British colonial settlements here with what could be described as ‘secular’ (non-religious) art, it inspired a new interest locally among the Indian connoisseurs. It was a period when the performing arts — dance, music and theatre — were languishing here, devoid of patronage and at the mercy of patriarchal indulgence. Performing arts attracted much moral censors from elite society and were considered to be synonymous with pimping and prostitution.
The annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival in Bangalore last month, focussed precisely on this genre of theatre. Its opening play ‘Nati Binodini’, interpreted from ‘Amaar Katha’ (‘My Story’), the autobiography of Binodini Devi, the leading Bengali stage actress of the 1880s, dealt critically with this social tension of the time. The adaptation by Amal Allana, explores the agony of the female actor over whose body the story of modern Indian theatre is constructed. It also foregrounds the struggle of Girish Ghosh, the legendary impresario of those years, who has to constantly fight to prevent his theatre being shut down under charges of it being a brothel.
In the 1850s, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, known as the ‘dancing prince’, produced ‘Indra Sabha’, a theatrical production, performed in his court, in which he himself sang and danced. Entrepreneurs in Bombay and Calcutta soon saw the business possibilities of theatre and formed ‘companies’ which were to soon become the primary agencies delivering ‘entertainment’ for the cantonments and new urban spreads. The popularity of the new plays prompted entrepreneurs to start ticketing the shows and earn box-office returns. More enterprising commercial troupes made their appearance soon, particularly the Parsee Theatre from Bombay.
All this led to the confecting of a formula, which came to be known as the ‘Company Natak’ brand of entertainment. Its chief components were riveting melodrama, jaw-crunching, heavy-worded dialogues, magical gimmicks with light, fire and water and, most of all, very high quality of music and singing. This form of three or even four hour long theatrical spectacle was to find a firm footing in Western and Southern India over the next hundred years.
This ‘sangeet-natak’ convention, with its visual grandeur and musical adventurism, provided the oxygen for an entire generation of musicians including Bal Gandharva, Sawai Gandharva, Gubbi Veeranna, Keshav Rao Bhonsale, Garud Sadashiv, Mallikarjun Mansur and Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.
It also inspired the newly popular practice of easel-mounted oil painting, like that of Ravi Varma who was to fashion an entirely new trajectory of visual narrative, on the one hand and also influenced the conventions of cinematic narration on the other as cinema began replacing theatre as the primary vehicle of mass entertainment in the 1930s and ’40s.
Of course, the ‘company’ artists also had to face the moral lash-back from pillars of orthodox society. In Bengal, no less than Rabindranath Tagore denounced it. In Marathi, playwrights like Mama Warerkar and M G Rangnekar responded by writing more ‘literate’ play-scripts. In Kannada, both Sriranga and Kailasam ridiculed the over-the-top content and poor stage-craft that the ‘company-natak’ had deteriorated to. In retrospect, however, it is clear that all these were reactions to the enormous contribution of this genre to the intellectual and aesthetic life of that period.
The Ranga Shankara Festival, curated by Girish Karnad, Surendranath and Arundhati Nag (the Festival Director), took the entire exercise to new levels of experience by not only inviting contemporary recreations of the ‘company natak’, but also actively helping to revive historic plays like ‘Jagajyothi Basaveshwara’ (in Kannada, by the 90-year-old Yenagi Balappa, who actually sings and acts in it). The biggest applause was reserved for the Marathi revival of a 1960s play by Purushottam Darvekar, ‘Katiyar Kaaljaat Ghusli’ (The Dagger Enters the Heart) on Hindu-Muslim identity and the Telugu spectacular ‘Maya Bazaar’ (by the seventy-year-old Surabhi Company, which comprises over 60 members of the cast belonging to the same family).
The Festival managed to frame the important issues in Indian theatre practice today, against the colourful backdrop of not-so-distant theatre history. The ripple-effects are bound to be seen soon
It is known as the ‘golden age’ of Indian theatre. Roughly a hundred-year period beginning in the early decades of the 19th century and stretching to a little beyond the early decades of the 20th century. In diverse regions like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal and Tamil Nadu, we saw the rise and spread of the phenomenon loosely referred to as the ‘Company Natak’ tradition, where an attempt was made to professionalise stage performances and earn a living through box-office collections.
It led to the development of distinct narrative and performative genres in India as well as conventions of visual representation that were to directly influence the course of modern art, musical rendition, theatrical devices and the structure of story-telling that was to be adopted by early Indian cinema.
In the early 19th century, as troupes of theatre performers began reaching Indian shores from England to entertain the British colonial settlements here with what could be described as ‘secular’ (non-religious) art, it inspired a new interest locally among the Indian connoisseurs. It was a period when the performing arts — dance, music and theatre — were languishing here, devoid of patronage and at the mercy of patriarchal indulgence. Performing arts attracted much moral censors from elite society and were considered to be synonymous with pimping and prostitution.
The annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival in Bangalore last month, focussed precisely on this genre of theatre. Its opening play ‘Nati Binodini’, interpreted from ‘Amaar Katha’ (‘My Story’), the autobiography of Binodini Devi, the leading Bengali stage actress of the 1880s, dealt critically with this social tension of the time. The adaptation by Amal Allana, explores the agony of the female actor over whose body the story of modern Indian theatre is constructed. It also foregrounds the struggle of Girish Ghosh, the legendary impresario of those years, who has to constantly fight to prevent his theatre being shut down under charges of it being a brothel.
In the 1850s, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, known as the ‘dancing prince’, produced ‘Indra Sabha’, a theatrical production, performed in his court, in which he himself sang and danced. Entrepreneurs in Bombay and Calcutta soon saw the business possibilities of theatre and formed ‘companies’ which were to soon become the primary agencies delivering ‘entertainment’ for the cantonments and new urban spreads. The popularity of the new plays prompted entrepreneurs to start ticketing the shows and earn box-office returns. More enterprising commercial troupes made their appearance soon, particularly the Parsee Theatre from Bombay.
All this led to the confecting of a formula, which came to be known as the ‘Company Natak’ brand of entertainment. Its chief components were riveting melodrama, jaw-crunching, heavy-worded dialogues, magical gimmicks with light, fire and water and, most of all, very high quality of music and singing. This form of three or even four hour long theatrical spectacle was to find a firm footing in Western and Southern India over the next hundred years.
This ‘sangeet-natak’ convention, with its visual grandeur and musical adventurism, provided the oxygen for an entire generation of musicians including Bal Gandharva, Sawai Gandharva, Gubbi Veeranna, Keshav Rao Bhonsale, Garud Sadashiv, Mallikarjun Mansur and Ahmed Jan Thirakwa.
It also inspired the newly popular practice of easel-mounted oil painting, like that of Ravi Varma who was to fashion an entirely new trajectory of visual narrative, on the one hand and also influenced the conventions of cinematic narration on the other as cinema began replacing theatre as the primary vehicle of mass entertainment in the 1930s and ’40s.
Of course, the ‘company’ artists also had to face the moral lash-back from pillars of orthodox society. In Bengal, no less than Rabindranath Tagore denounced it. In Marathi, playwrights like Mama Warerkar and M G Rangnekar responded by writing more ‘literate’ play-scripts. In Kannada, both Sriranga and Kailasam ridiculed the over-the-top content and poor stage-craft that the ‘company-natak’ had deteriorated to. In retrospect, however, it is clear that all these were reactions to the enormous contribution of this genre to the intellectual and aesthetic life of that period.
The Ranga Shankara Festival, curated by Girish Karnad, Surendranath and Arundhati Nag (the Festival Director), took the entire exercise to new levels of experience by not only inviting contemporary recreations of the ‘company natak’, but also actively helping to revive historic plays like ‘Jagajyothi Basaveshwara’ (in Kannada, by the 90-year-old Yenagi Balappa, who actually sings and acts in it). The biggest applause was reserved for the Marathi revival of a 1960s play by Purushottam Darvekar, ‘Katiyar Kaaljaat Ghusli’ (The Dagger Enters the Heart) on Hindu-Muslim identity and the Telugu spectacular ‘Maya Bazaar’ (by the seventy-year-old Surabhi Company, which comprises over 60 members of the cast belonging to the same family).
The Festival managed to frame the important issues in Indian theatre practice today, against the colourful backdrop of not-so-distant theatre history. The ripple-effects are bound to be seen soon
Sports - India;Faces of the future
Aabhas Sharma
Aabhas Sharma profiles some incredibly talented teens being touted as the future of Indian sports.
At 18, Saina Nehwal is one of the hottest prospects in the world of badminton. Cricket-obsessed India has finally discovered her — and others have stopped confusing her with Sania Mirza! She is relieved.
As a kid, Virdhawal Khade didn’t quite like to swim. At 17, he is a freestyle champ, who has already broken several world records.
Dipika Pallikal’s grandmother discouraged her from playing tennis, saying that staying out in the sun would spoil her complexion. Pallikal took up squash instead and has stuck to it despite film offers.
Kyra Shroff is being christened the “next big thing” in Indian tennis. She is still in high school and suffers from juvenile diabetes — a condition that she is equally determined to beat.
Nineteen-year-old Armaan Ebrahim is being talked about as the next Indian to make the cut in Formula One racing. It will be tricky terrain, he knows.
Don’t worry if you are not quite familiar with these incredible teenagers. But be sure to make your acquaintance now. They, after all, represent hope for our sporting future. Their names are being brandished around in the often inexplicable, but always competitive world of Indian sports.
Give them a year or more, it is being said, and you will find them becoming household names; perhaps even Indian icons, if they live up to their initial promise. Exit the old guard, the young stars are on the rise.
In a country where the sporting pie is devoured by just one sport, to say that it is difficult for a non-cricketing sportsperson to catch national attention is an understatement. Yet, post-Beijing, a beginning seems to have been made. Shooter Abhinav Bindra and boxer Vijender Kumar, for instance, are now names that even kids in playgrounds recognise.
A result of such recognition is also brand endorsements coming their way — no mean measure of success and pop appeal. Now, a more involved nation looks forward to both the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, in 2010, and the Olympics in London, in 2012. And it is here, on such global platforms — and others — that our future stars must shine bright.
Seventeen-year-old Virdhawal Khade already knows what it means to represent the country at the biggest of stages. Often described as a prodigy, Khade became the youngest Indian Olympian ever when he made it to the Beijing squad. But that wasn’t his first achievement: At 15, he became the fastest swimmer in the world in his category (freestyle swimming).
And at 16, he broke two world records. Even after coming back from Beijing, he set the pool on fire at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, where he set a world record by clocking 49.47 seconds in the 100-m freestyle category.
But achievements sit lightly on this over-six-feet tall and utterly confident class XI student. He’ll tell you, with a touch of a humility, that “just to be a part of the (Olympics) contingent was brilliant and the experience made me a better competitor.” Khade is careful of not taking his success for granted. “The start of my career has been good, in fact, beyond expectations. But, I know, I haven’t achieved anything yet,” he reiterates.
He now has his eyes set firmly on the Commonwealth Games. He trains for at least nine hours a day: three each in the morning and evening, the rest spent gyming. “My aim is to continue working hard, hopefully, the results will follow,” he says.
Interestingly, Khade hated swimming when his parents first enrolled him for lessons in Kolhapur, where the family stays. However, he not only continued but, with their encouragement, made it to the global stage. He admits to missing out on a more “normal” school-life, but hastens to add that “this is a path I chose for myself and I am happy to tread on it.”
So, what’s been the defining moment of his life? I ask. “None so far,” he says with a grin, “I’m still only 17!”
If scooping up records and wins means anything, the young champs have lived through several big moments already. Take someone like Saina Nehwal. The badminton star’s achievements today probably outdo those of any other sports- person in the country.
Yet, Nehwal recalls how the beginning of her career was full of challenges: She would get up early in the morning, travel more than 20 km every day to practice for two hours, before heading to school. It was a regimen she didn’t enjoy, she says candidly. Her parents too had to make sacrifices, especially her father,
Dr Harvir Singh, who would take her to practice sessions every day. “But it has been worth it,” says Dr Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, who also had to endure financial difficulties in those initial years but is now excited about his daughter’s progress.
Nehwal, in fact, comes across as extremely level-headed for an 18-year-old. She knows that she might not be the flavour when it comes to the so-called glam world of sports. She may not have endorsers queuing up either but prefers to remain out of spotlight.
“If I continue to perform on the international stage, it will be my biggest reward,” she says. Did comparisons with Sania Mirza ever bother her? No, she says, not at all. In fact, while Mirza’s career seems to have nosedived, Nehwal is wary of the pitfalls of early success and accompanying burn-out. She admits that everything in her life has happened far too quickly.
“But I have worked really hard for it and I am not at all satisfied with my achievements.” Her coach Gopichand, the former All England Open champion and a revered figure in Indian sports, reiterates, “She is one of the most talented players I have come across. She works extremely hard to maintain her consistency.”
It was in 2006, when the world sat up and took note of Nehwal’s performance. She had just won the Philippines Open and became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championship soon after. This year, she was named the Most Promising Player in the world by the Badminton World Federation — and continues to show a hunger for more accolades.
A typical day in her life consists of six-eight hours of training and working out in the gym. At 18, there are chances that she feels left-out of things people her age do. “Of course, there are times when you want to go out and do regular teenage stuff,” she says, “but then, there is no bigger high than winning something for the country.” Touche.
Dipika Pallikal burst on the scene by winning the Asian Junior Squash title at the age of 13 in 2005. Since then, she has been climbing higher mountains and has become the second woman, after Joshna Chinappa, to break into the world’s top 50.
She has won the German, Dutch, French and Scottish Opens at the junior level, and is aiming at the senior-level now: “I realise how much hard work lies ahead. But if I continue to work hard and stay injury-free, I am hopeful of doing even better,” she says.
Pallikal comes from what she calls a “hardcore sporting family”. Her mother represented India in cricket and her grandfather was a national-level basketball player. Squash happened quite by chance.
Pallikal started out playing tennis but her grandmother felt that playing in the sun wouldn’t be good for her complexion. “So I took up squash instead,” she laughs. And found her calling.
Ask her about any apprehensions she or her family may have had about a career in sport and the answer is a determined “never”. “Never did I think of doing anything else,” she says. A class XI student of Lady Andal School in Chennai, Pallikal was, in fact, even offered a Tamil movie when she was 15. Luckily she wanted to concentrate on just squash.
Then there is Kyra Shroff. It seems like a lifetime ago when Sania Mirza dazzled everyone with her forehand. Many now see her as the “last” genuine non-cricketing icon in India. At 15, Kyra Shroff, wants to take on that mantle. Coaches at the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy in Bangalore have been watching her closely ever since she first picked up the racket as a 10-year-old, knowing that they have something special on their hands.
Shroff’s talent couldn’t be stemmed even after she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was just 12. Today, she needs to take insulin doses four times a day, and, yet, feels determined to not let that affect either her spirit or her growth as a player. “It will not be easy. But in sports, nothing is easy,” she says, a little too philosophically for her age.
Shroff clearly loves challenges —even if that means serving out aces on court after getting shots in her arm. But then, her aim is to break into the world top 100 even before she gets eligible for a drivers’ licence back home. Her father, Firdaus Shroff, who himself played semi-professional cricket in England, feels that her medical condition does have an impact on her but that “she is so determined to succeed that it just keeps her going.”
Like Shroff another determined champion-in-the-making is Armaan Ebrahim, the second driver for Team India in A1 GP (along with Narain Karthikeyan). Like all his young but philosophical colleagues, Ebrahim agrees that each day is “an amazing learning experience”. That may be true for all of us but certainly for someone living on the edge constantly, thriving on the adrenalin rush.
Cars and speed have always enthralled Ebrahim and he says that he “always” knew that this was the only thing he wanted to do. He is aware of how limited opportunities are in the world of motorsports — not the least because his father too was a national rallying champion in the days when there was even less going for it. Yet, he says, “I am keen to grab them with both hands.” Ebrahim’s performances have landed him a contract as a driver in the Formula Two season in 2009.
Whether or not they go on to find wider recognition and fame (and money) in their chosen paths, all these youngsters are eager to put in their best. Do they feel let-down by the lack of recognition sometimes? “It doesn’t bother me too much,” Khade replies, “but to be honest, getting mobbed once in a while won’t be too bad.”
Whether or not that happens, one thing is sure that these young and extremely talented teens represent the future of Indian sports. While personal sacrifices have been made to enable them to live their grand dreams, there have been no regrets so far.
THE ACHIEVERS
SAINA NEHWAL
* First Indian to break into the world top 10
* Voted Most Promising Player (of the world) in 2008
* World junior champion
* Winner of the Chinese and Philippines Opens
VIRDHAWAL KHADE
* Record-holder in 50 m and
* 100 m freestyle categories
* Youngest Indian to qualify for the Olympics
* Dubbed the fastest in the world at the age of 15
KYRA SHROFF
* Ranked number 2 in India, u-18
* Silver medallist at the Youth Commonwealth Games
DIPIKA PALLIKAL
* Broke into the world’s top 50
* Junior French and Scottish Opens champion
* National junior champion
ARMAAN EBRAHIM
* A1 Team India driver
* First Asian to race in Formula 2
* National karting champion
Aabhas Sharma profiles some incredibly talented teens being touted as the future of Indian sports.
At 18, Saina Nehwal is one of the hottest prospects in the world of badminton. Cricket-obsessed India has finally discovered her — and others have stopped confusing her with Sania Mirza! She is relieved.
As a kid, Virdhawal Khade didn’t quite like to swim. At 17, he is a freestyle champ, who has already broken several world records.
Dipika Pallikal’s grandmother discouraged her from playing tennis, saying that staying out in the sun would spoil her complexion. Pallikal took up squash instead and has stuck to it despite film offers.
Kyra Shroff is being christened the “next big thing” in Indian tennis. She is still in high school and suffers from juvenile diabetes — a condition that she is equally determined to beat.
Nineteen-year-old Armaan Ebrahim is being talked about as the next Indian to make the cut in Formula One racing. It will be tricky terrain, he knows.
Don’t worry if you are not quite familiar with these incredible teenagers. But be sure to make your acquaintance now. They, after all, represent hope for our sporting future. Their names are being brandished around in the often inexplicable, but always competitive world of Indian sports.
Give them a year or more, it is being said, and you will find them becoming household names; perhaps even Indian icons, if they live up to their initial promise. Exit the old guard, the young stars are on the rise.
In a country where the sporting pie is devoured by just one sport, to say that it is difficult for a non-cricketing sportsperson to catch national attention is an understatement. Yet, post-Beijing, a beginning seems to have been made. Shooter Abhinav Bindra and boxer Vijender Kumar, for instance, are now names that even kids in playgrounds recognise.
A result of such recognition is also brand endorsements coming their way — no mean measure of success and pop appeal. Now, a more involved nation looks forward to both the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, in 2010, and the Olympics in London, in 2012. And it is here, on such global platforms — and others — that our future stars must shine bright.
Seventeen-year-old Virdhawal Khade already knows what it means to represent the country at the biggest of stages. Often described as a prodigy, Khade became the youngest Indian Olympian ever when he made it to the Beijing squad. But that wasn’t his first achievement: At 15, he became the fastest swimmer in the world in his category (freestyle swimming).
And at 16, he broke two world records. Even after coming back from Beijing, he set the pool on fire at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, where he set a world record by clocking 49.47 seconds in the 100-m freestyle category.
But achievements sit lightly on this over-six-feet tall and utterly confident class XI student. He’ll tell you, with a touch of a humility, that “just to be a part of the (Olympics) contingent was brilliant and the experience made me a better competitor.” Khade is careful of not taking his success for granted. “The start of my career has been good, in fact, beyond expectations. But, I know, I haven’t achieved anything yet,” he reiterates.
He now has his eyes set firmly on the Commonwealth Games. He trains for at least nine hours a day: three each in the morning and evening, the rest spent gyming. “My aim is to continue working hard, hopefully, the results will follow,” he says.
Interestingly, Khade hated swimming when his parents first enrolled him for lessons in Kolhapur, where the family stays. However, he not only continued but, with their encouragement, made it to the global stage. He admits to missing out on a more “normal” school-life, but hastens to add that “this is a path I chose for myself and I am happy to tread on it.”
So, what’s been the defining moment of his life? I ask. “None so far,” he says with a grin, “I’m still only 17!”
If scooping up records and wins means anything, the young champs have lived through several big moments already. Take someone like Saina Nehwal. The badminton star’s achievements today probably outdo those of any other sports- person in the country.
Yet, Nehwal recalls how the beginning of her career was full of challenges: She would get up early in the morning, travel more than 20 km every day to practice for two hours, before heading to school. It was a regimen she didn’t enjoy, she says candidly. Her parents too had to make sacrifices, especially her father,
Dr Harvir Singh, who would take her to practice sessions every day. “But it has been worth it,” says Dr Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad, who also had to endure financial difficulties in those initial years but is now excited about his daughter’s progress.
Nehwal, in fact, comes across as extremely level-headed for an 18-year-old. She knows that she might not be the flavour when it comes to the so-called glam world of sports. She may not have endorsers queuing up either but prefers to remain out of spotlight.
“If I continue to perform on the international stage, it will be my biggest reward,” she says. Did comparisons with Sania Mirza ever bother her? No, she says, not at all. In fact, while Mirza’s career seems to have nosedived, Nehwal is wary of the pitfalls of early success and accompanying burn-out. She admits that everything in her life has happened far too quickly.
“But I have worked really hard for it and I am not at all satisfied with my achievements.” Her coach Gopichand, the former All England Open champion and a revered figure in Indian sports, reiterates, “She is one of the most talented players I have come across. She works extremely hard to maintain her consistency.”
It was in 2006, when the world sat up and took note of Nehwal’s performance. She had just won the Philippines Open and became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championship soon after. This year, she was named the Most Promising Player in the world by the Badminton World Federation — and continues to show a hunger for more accolades.
A typical day in her life consists of six-eight hours of training and working out in the gym. At 18, there are chances that she feels left-out of things people her age do. “Of course, there are times when you want to go out and do regular teenage stuff,” she says, “but then, there is no bigger high than winning something for the country.” Touche.
Dipika Pallikal burst on the scene by winning the Asian Junior Squash title at the age of 13 in 2005. Since then, she has been climbing higher mountains and has become the second woman, after Joshna Chinappa, to break into the world’s top 50.
She has won the German, Dutch, French and Scottish Opens at the junior level, and is aiming at the senior-level now: “I realise how much hard work lies ahead. But if I continue to work hard and stay injury-free, I am hopeful of doing even better,” she says.
Pallikal comes from what she calls a “hardcore sporting family”. Her mother represented India in cricket and her grandfather was a national-level basketball player. Squash happened quite by chance.
Pallikal started out playing tennis but her grandmother felt that playing in the sun wouldn’t be good for her complexion. “So I took up squash instead,” she laughs. And found her calling.
Ask her about any apprehensions she or her family may have had about a career in sport and the answer is a determined “never”. “Never did I think of doing anything else,” she says. A class XI student of Lady Andal School in Chennai, Pallikal was, in fact, even offered a Tamil movie when she was 15. Luckily she wanted to concentrate on just squash.
Then there is Kyra Shroff. It seems like a lifetime ago when Sania Mirza dazzled everyone with her forehand. Many now see her as the “last” genuine non-cricketing icon in India. At 15, Kyra Shroff, wants to take on that mantle. Coaches at the Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy in Bangalore have been watching her closely ever since she first picked up the racket as a 10-year-old, knowing that they have something special on their hands.
Shroff’s talent couldn’t be stemmed even after she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was just 12. Today, she needs to take insulin doses four times a day, and, yet, feels determined to not let that affect either her spirit or her growth as a player. “It will not be easy. But in sports, nothing is easy,” she says, a little too philosophically for her age.
Shroff clearly loves challenges —even if that means serving out aces on court after getting shots in her arm. But then, her aim is to break into the world top 100 even before she gets eligible for a drivers’ licence back home. Her father, Firdaus Shroff, who himself played semi-professional cricket in England, feels that her medical condition does have an impact on her but that “she is so determined to succeed that it just keeps her going.”
Like Shroff another determined champion-in-the-making is Armaan Ebrahim, the second driver for Team India in A1 GP (along with Narain Karthikeyan). Like all his young but philosophical colleagues, Ebrahim agrees that each day is “an amazing learning experience”. That may be true for all of us but certainly for someone living on the edge constantly, thriving on the adrenalin rush.
Cars and speed have always enthralled Ebrahim and he says that he “always” knew that this was the only thing he wanted to do. He is aware of how limited opportunities are in the world of motorsports — not the least because his father too was a national rallying champion in the days when there was even less going for it. Yet, he says, “I am keen to grab them with both hands.” Ebrahim’s performances have landed him a contract as a driver in the Formula Two season in 2009.
Whether or not they go on to find wider recognition and fame (and money) in their chosen paths, all these youngsters are eager to put in their best. Do they feel let-down by the lack of recognition sometimes? “It doesn’t bother me too much,” Khade replies, “but to be honest, getting mobbed once in a while won’t be too bad.”
Whether or not that happens, one thing is sure that these young and extremely talented teens represent the future of Indian sports. While personal sacrifices have been made to enable them to live their grand dreams, there have been no regrets so far.
THE ACHIEVERS
SAINA NEHWAL
* First Indian to break into the world top 10
* Voted Most Promising Player (of the world) in 2008
* World junior champion
* Winner of the Chinese and Philippines Opens
VIRDHAWAL KHADE
* Record-holder in 50 m and
* 100 m freestyle categories
* Youngest Indian to qualify for the Olympics
* Dubbed the fastest in the world at the age of 15
KYRA SHROFF
* Ranked number 2 in India, u-18
* Silver medallist at the Youth Commonwealth Games
DIPIKA PALLIKAL
* Broke into the world’s top 50
* Junior French and Scottish Opens champion
* National junior champion
ARMAAN EBRAHIM
* A1 Team India driver
* First Asian to race in Formula 2
* National karting champion
Mktg - Recession kills brands
Mark Ritson
There was a fascinating moment of business drama last month in Washington, DC. Three of the most important chief executives on the planet met
leaders from the US Senate and House to plead for extra public funds. General Motors’ chief executive Rick Wagoner, Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli and Ford’s Alan Mulally testified at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing to ask for an additional $25bn handout to keep their brands alive.
It was always going to be a difficult day, but the tone was set early by Democratic representative Gary Ackerman, who told the executives there was “delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, DC and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands” .
Fellow Democrat Brad Sherman continued. “I’m going to ask the three executives here to raise their hand if they flew here commercial,” he said. The three chiefs blinked but made no gesture. “Second, I’m going ask you to raise your hand if you’re planning to sell your jet... and fly back commercial.” Again, there was no response. “Let the record show no hands went up,” concluded Sherman.
There are more than 20 non-stop flights from Detroit to DC with tickets starting at $200 for the two-hour trip. And yet these cash-strapped chiefs who came to communicate the dire straits their respective brands were in, opted to spend in the region of $20,000 each and use their private executive jets instead.
It was a strange moment, yet one typical of the public-private shenanigans taking place worldwide. Formerly proud capitalists are looking at 2009 with a mix of fear and desperation and turning in increasing numbers to government sources for help.
The problem is these huge private institutions have enjoyed periods of unparalleled success , which has created a disgracefully indulgent operating model that contradicts directly with the premise of being given public funds. There is a prime example taking place closer to home this week. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, whose net worth is about £30bn, is holding secret talks with the government to plead for a £1bn loan to help bail out the Ford and Land Rover brands.
Tata acquired the brands only nine months ago, but both now look very vulnerable to changes in the economy and environment. With credit sources tightening, banks are refusing to help out the ailing group. So Tata is asking for a two-year government loan to help keep it afloat.
Without it, both brands could disappear forever. There is a long ‘death list’ circulating among consultants and investors predicting which brands will not survive 2009. Great brands from automotive, newspapers and the high street feature prominently.
Yet reviewing the list is not as depressing as you might think. Brands are born, they grow and they also die. The past decade has seen an unparalleled combination of prosperity and stability and, as a result, marketers have grown comfortable with the idea that brands rarely, if ever, disappear.
But 2009 will be different: many great brands will fall, and so they should, because this is the way of the jungle. This is the game of capitalism and the rule by which it is played. You can have your milliondollar bonuses and private jets, if you can make money. But if you fail, you must face the consequences , and without the help of the taxpayer. Weak brands must die so remaining brands can prosper and new ones can emerge. To support dying brands with the public purse is not only morally wrong, in my opinion, it’s also bad for the economy that the government is trying to protect.
There was a fascinating moment of business drama last month in Washington, DC. Three of the most important chief executives on the planet met
leaders from the US Senate and House to plead for extra public funds. General Motors’ chief executive Rick Wagoner, Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli and Ford’s Alan Mulally testified at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing to ask for an additional $25bn handout to keep their brands alive.
It was always going to be a difficult day, but the tone was set early by Democratic representative Gary Ackerman, who told the executives there was “delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, DC and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands” .
Fellow Democrat Brad Sherman continued. “I’m going to ask the three executives here to raise their hand if they flew here commercial,” he said. The three chiefs blinked but made no gesture. “Second, I’m going ask you to raise your hand if you’re planning to sell your jet... and fly back commercial.” Again, there was no response. “Let the record show no hands went up,” concluded Sherman.
There are more than 20 non-stop flights from Detroit to DC with tickets starting at $200 for the two-hour trip. And yet these cash-strapped chiefs who came to communicate the dire straits their respective brands were in, opted to spend in the region of $20,000 each and use their private executive jets instead.
It was a strange moment, yet one typical of the public-private shenanigans taking place worldwide. Formerly proud capitalists are looking at 2009 with a mix of fear and desperation and turning in increasing numbers to government sources for help.
The problem is these huge private institutions have enjoyed periods of unparalleled success , which has created a disgracefully indulgent operating model that contradicts directly with the premise of being given public funds. There is a prime example taking place closer to home this week. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, whose net worth is about £30bn, is holding secret talks with the government to plead for a £1bn loan to help bail out the Ford and Land Rover brands.
Tata acquired the brands only nine months ago, but both now look very vulnerable to changes in the economy and environment. With credit sources tightening, banks are refusing to help out the ailing group. So Tata is asking for a two-year government loan to help keep it afloat.
Without it, both brands could disappear forever. There is a long ‘death list’ circulating among consultants and investors predicting which brands will not survive 2009. Great brands from automotive, newspapers and the high street feature prominently.
Yet reviewing the list is not as depressing as you might think. Brands are born, they grow and they also die. The past decade has seen an unparalleled combination of prosperity and stability and, as a result, marketers have grown comfortable with the idea that brands rarely, if ever, disappear.
But 2009 will be different: many great brands will fall, and so they should, because this is the way of the jungle. This is the game of capitalism and the rule by which it is played. You can have your milliondollar bonuses and private jets, if you can make money. But if you fail, you must face the consequences , and without the help of the taxpayer. Weak brands must die so remaining brands can prosper and new ones can emerge. To support dying brands with the public purse is not only morally wrong, in my opinion, it’s also bad for the economy that the government is trying to protect.
Business Personality - Subroto Bagchi;Constant Gardener
Leslie D'Monte
Subroto Bagchi has been watching leaders bloom at MindTree. Actually, he is not merely watching.
Raja Shanmugam will don a new leadership role at MindTree Consulting in April 2009. He will give up being an operations manager, designated senior vice-president and head of Asia Pacific with the Bangalore-based information technology services company, and take on a pure corporate social responsibility, or CSR, activity of MindTree Foundation.
After 21 years in the IT industry, the last nine with MindTree, Shanmugam owes this sharp change in course to 16 hours, spread over four sessions of four hours each, with MindTree co-founder Subroto Bagchi, designated Gardener and director.
“Self awareness leads to mental capacity enhancement. It sharpens the emotional quotient, or EQ, that most managers with high IQ (intelligence quotient) may lack,” says Bagchi, who also gave us a written FAQ on the subject. He conducts these leadership sessions, dubbed gardening, over a three-month period.
Said to be the only one of its kind in the world, this leadership programme is unusual, and may appear unstructured, but has its own rigour and method. “It’s voluntary. There are no expectations and no deliverables. It’s about behavioural changes. In a way, it’s like interacting with a counselor,” says Shanmugam.
At the sessions, Shanmugam did not discuss how to improve his job profile. Instead, he asked himself deeper questions like who he was and what he would be five years down the line. “I was humbled to realise that the organisation was not as dependent on me as I thought. It was also a liberating experience, and I discussed this with Bagchi and hence the new role,” he says.
Shanmugam’s is among several careers, and lives, that are being manicured by Gardening. Radha R, vice-president and head-datawarehousing and business intelligence practice, has been in the IT industry for over 18 years, the last eight with MindTree.
“I was labelled a super-achiever at MindTree. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Yet, of late, I had doubts that I was doing something worthwhile in the company. And it was then that I got a call from this company which offered me a very good role at nearly four times my current salary. Just to test my market value, I went for the interviews (12-13 rounds of them), and finally got selected. I would be lying if I said the offer was not tempting. I could have retired in peace,” says Radha.
She chose not to. She remains with MindTree and hopes to be there for many more years. “Bagchi gave me a whole new perspective. Not once did he tell me to stay back. But the interactive sessions helped me realise that my ties with MindTree were too strong to sever. I have now also learnt to connect with my 400-odd subordinates in a better way,” says Radha.
Shanmugam and Radha are two of the 35 “Top 100” leaders that Bagchi has identified for Gardening since he moved from being the chief operating officer to Gardener in April this year. The top 20 Leaders of Aztecsoft, recently acquired by MindTree, are also part of this.
But why ‘Gardener’?
Why not chief mentor, chief strategy officer, chief fun officer, or something else?
“No, I am not a chief anything,” asserts Bagchi. The company did think of head Gardener as his title, but a board member said the prefix smacked of hierarchy. The symbolism is that titles do not nourish you. “I am sending that message to our leaders. I am who I am, call me by whatever name. Titles are as meaningful or meaningless as the person holding them,” says Bagchi.
There are strong echoes of gardening in what he does. No plant reports to the Gardener; the Gardener attends to the plants in their time and space. This would mean interacting with the plants (or leaders) even during weekends, since it is voluntary and one-on-one.
“The time has come for all of us to take the idea of organisation, titles, roles and everything else in between, to the next level. The so-called modern organisation we created for ourselves and then became a product of is an extension of the factory-economy of the last century,” says Bagchi.
A leader can approach Bagchi and work with him on all kinds of issues that bother him, concern him or intrigue him, and seek the Gardener out as a sounding board, ask him questions, talk to him or demand that he share what happened in his life.
Bagchi sees people’s lives as a spectrum. At one end, it consists of “personal-personal” issues, like the relationship with a spouse. At the other are “professional-professional” issues, such as, why should one not get a higher raise or how does one get one’s boss to see to it that one gets promoted. “I would not engage at the two extreme ends of the spectrum,” he says.
For instance, Shanmugam and Radha R could have refused when Bagchi invited them for the sessions without the fear of reprisal since the sessions are voluntary.
In the first session, Bagchi listens while the participant talks. Sometimes, even they are surprised by their own answers. In the second session, Bagchi gives his perspective on the participant’s reflections and “works towards building a shared understanding of who the participant is”.
The third session deals with, “Where do we go from here?” Together, the Gardener and the Plant may decide that the latter needs more EQ, or more analytical skills, or a special project (sometimes, it is just a field visit) to enhance his self-awareness.
The fourth and final session becomes a platform for other engagements. “These four sessions, and the subsequent engagements, help me build a leadership of one,” says Bagchi.
Why only the top 100?
“Growth in any company is generally about the top 100 managers,” reasons Bagchi. The sessions have no readymade script, and the top 100 are not necessarily the best 100, says Bagchi with a wry smile. “I do hope that the top 100 do have some of our best people, though. Otherwise, we have a problem right there.”
Bagchi would engage with the top 100 and touch at least half of them in the first year. The hope is that this would make them engage differently with their own people. “When people look at themselves in new light, it is the organisation seeing itself in new light,” he says.
In future, Bagchi hopes to create many roles that would have nothing to do with seniority, title, power, or entitlement, but focus on long-standing issues and make an impact without depending on structural sanctions.
MindTree has committed to support this endeavor for five years. However, there will be a “stock-taking” in February next year.
Apart from leadership, the other key thing for an organisation is size. This requires what Bagchi terms “active deconstruction”. How do you make an organisation all the while effectively smaller, even as it becomes larger?
One way is to look at the organisation as a “community of communities”. So, people are not required to belong to or identify with a monolith. They can engage with and participate in a community of their own choice. They can define its agenda, its leadership and all that is voluntary. Volunteerism begets innovation.
MindTree has 45 such communities, which work as vehicles of innovation and a powerful support system for employees. “But they are also shy of structure and management. As Gardener, I would give time to these communities of practice in a ‘pull-push’ manner. I would work with them on the ground to question their purpose, their vision, sit with them, listen-in to their deliberations and sometimes take them outside MindTree and sometimes bring the outside world to them,” explains Bagchi.
The idea of working with the communities of practice, which, again, are voluntary, is to “deconstruct the largeness of the enterprise”.
But it's not HR…
Bagchi’s role is independent of the human resources, or HR, division’s activities. “In fact, I do not even report to Ashok Soota (MindTree’s chairman & managing director),” he clarifies.
So how does Gardening gel with the overall objectives of the organisation? Puneet Jetli, senior vice-president and head-global people function, says: “It’s the philosophy of the company, and it’s how we perceive leadership. Had it been under the HR umbrella, there could have been many constraints. Besides, the sessions are personal in nature. Bagchi is under no obligation to share any of the findings with us. This, however, is another potent platform for the holistic development of our managers into leaders.”
In the organisation of tomorrow, structure and non-structure will co-exist. Hierarchy will not go away; it will learn to work with the hetroarchy. That is why Procter & Gamble is engaging with FaceBook and creating Capessa.
“We have to extend the same rule of engagement to the internal customer. We have to redo the linkage, reinvent ways to collaborate with, expand and impact that individual very differently than during the end of factory-economy that stayed content with the term ‘white collar.’ The knowledge economy may indeed have as many people without collars as with — forget the colour though. That is how we can engage with people who visit you at Second Life (the website where you can live a virtual life) even before they send you their résumé in real life,” Bagchi explains.
Bagchi firmly believes that communities are the number one source of knowledge, and therefore meets the 45 Community Champions every quarter for half a day. “I represent a non-structural role, hence I’m welcome,” he explains. The MindTree management provides the physical infrastructure, digital content management system to feed data, collaboration tools, “and then gets out of the way”.
Bagchi gives two days to individual communities “for what they want me to do for them”. He visits campuses so that they begin to think differently. “As you can see, these are input measures. In roles like these, input measurements are more critical in the first 12 months. In addition, I want to see substantial content creation with an internal blog”.
It is important for an organisation to have distributed leadership so that some can focus on the structure and some on the non-structure. Some can focus on the hierarchy by belonging to it, and some on the hetroarchy by working with the invisible folks in the organisation. The distributed leadership must be emotionally secure — its members must have a higher sense of purpose that they are not creating fiefdom; they are creating a living organisation that is larger than the sum of its parts.
Subroto Bagchi has been watching leaders bloom at MindTree. Actually, he is not merely watching.
Raja Shanmugam will don a new leadership role at MindTree Consulting in April 2009. He will give up being an operations manager, designated senior vice-president and head of Asia Pacific with the Bangalore-based information technology services company, and take on a pure corporate social responsibility, or CSR, activity of MindTree Foundation.
After 21 years in the IT industry, the last nine with MindTree, Shanmugam owes this sharp change in course to 16 hours, spread over four sessions of four hours each, with MindTree co-founder Subroto Bagchi, designated Gardener and director.
“Self awareness leads to mental capacity enhancement. It sharpens the emotional quotient, or EQ, that most managers with high IQ (intelligence quotient) may lack,” says Bagchi, who also gave us a written FAQ on the subject. He conducts these leadership sessions, dubbed gardening, over a three-month period.
Said to be the only one of its kind in the world, this leadership programme is unusual, and may appear unstructured, but has its own rigour and method. “It’s voluntary. There are no expectations and no deliverables. It’s about behavioural changes. In a way, it’s like interacting with a counselor,” says Shanmugam.
At the sessions, Shanmugam did not discuss how to improve his job profile. Instead, he asked himself deeper questions like who he was and what he would be five years down the line. “I was humbled to realise that the organisation was not as dependent on me as I thought. It was also a liberating experience, and I discussed this with Bagchi and hence the new role,” he says.
Shanmugam’s is among several careers, and lives, that are being manicured by Gardening. Radha R, vice-president and head-datawarehousing and business intelligence practice, has been in the IT industry for over 18 years, the last eight with MindTree.
“I was labelled a super-achiever at MindTree. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Yet, of late, I had doubts that I was doing something worthwhile in the company. And it was then that I got a call from this company which offered me a very good role at nearly four times my current salary. Just to test my market value, I went for the interviews (12-13 rounds of them), and finally got selected. I would be lying if I said the offer was not tempting. I could have retired in peace,” says Radha.
She chose not to. She remains with MindTree and hopes to be there for many more years. “Bagchi gave me a whole new perspective. Not once did he tell me to stay back. But the interactive sessions helped me realise that my ties with MindTree were too strong to sever. I have now also learnt to connect with my 400-odd subordinates in a better way,” says Radha.
Shanmugam and Radha are two of the 35 “Top 100” leaders that Bagchi has identified for Gardening since he moved from being the chief operating officer to Gardener in April this year. The top 20 Leaders of Aztecsoft, recently acquired by MindTree, are also part of this.
But why ‘Gardener’?
Why not chief mentor, chief strategy officer, chief fun officer, or something else?
“No, I am not a chief anything,” asserts Bagchi. The company did think of head Gardener as his title, but a board member said the prefix smacked of hierarchy. The symbolism is that titles do not nourish you. “I am sending that message to our leaders. I am who I am, call me by whatever name. Titles are as meaningful or meaningless as the person holding them,” says Bagchi.
There are strong echoes of gardening in what he does. No plant reports to the Gardener; the Gardener attends to the plants in their time and space. This would mean interacting with the plants (or leaders) even during weekends, since it is voluntary and one-on-one.
“The time has come for all of us to take the idea of organisation, titles, roles and everything else in between, to the next level. The so-called modern organisation we created for ourselves and then became a product of is an extension of the factory-economy of the last century,” says Bagchi.
A leader can approach Bagchi and work with him on all kinds of issues that bother him, concern him or intrigue him, and seek the Gardener out as a sounding board, ask him questions, talk to him or demand that he share what happened in his life.
Bagchi sees people’s lives as a spectrum. At one end, it consists of “personal-personal” issues, like the relationship with a spouse. At the other are “professional-professional” issues, such as, why should one not get a higher raise or how does one get one’s boss to see to it that one gets promoted. “I would not engage at the two extreme ends of the spectrum,” he says.
For instance, Shanmugam and Radha R could have refused when Bagchi invited them for the sessions without the fear of reprisal since the sessions are voluntary.
In the first session, Bagchi listens while the participant talks. Sometimes, even they are surprised by their own answers. In the second session, Bagchi gives his perspective on the participant’s reflections and “works towards building a shared understanding of who the participant is”.
The third session deals with, “Where do we go from here?” Together, the Gardener and the Plant may decide that the latter needs more EQ, or more analytical skills, or a special project (sometimes, it is just a field visit) to enhance his self-awareness.
The fourth and final session becomes a platform for other engagements. “These four sessions, and the subsequent engagements, help me build a leadership of one,” says Bagchi.
Why only the top 100?
“Growth in any company is generally about the top 100 managers,” reasons Bagchi. The sessions have no readymade script, and the top 100 are not necessarily the best 100, says Bagchi with a wry smile. “I do hope that the top 100 do have some of our best people, though. Otherwise, we have a problem right there.”
Bagchi would engage with the top 100 and touch at least half of them in the first year. The hope is that this would make them engage differently with their own people. “When people look at themselves in new light, it is the organisation seeing itself in new light,” he says.
In future, Bagchi hopes to create many roles that would have nothing to do with seniority, title, power, or entitlement, but focus on long-standing issues and make an impact without depending on structural sanctions.
MindTree has committed to support this endeavor for five years. However, there will be a “stock-taking” in February next year.
Apart from leadership, the other key thing for an organisation is size. This requires what Bagchi terms “active deconstruction”. How do you make an organisation all the while effectively smaller, even as it becomes larger?
One way is to look at the organisation as a “community of communities”. So, people are not required to belong to or identify with a monolith. They can engage with and participate in a community of their own choice. They can define its agenda, its leadership and all that is voluntary. Volunteerism begets innovation.
MindTree has 45 such communities, which work as vehicles of innovation and a powerful support system for employees. “But they are also shy of structure and management. As Gardener, I would give time to these communities of practice in a ‘pull-push’ manner. I would work with them on the ground to question their purpose, their vision, sit with them, listen-in to their deliberations and sometimes take them outside MindTree and sometimes bring the outside world to them,” explains Bagchi.
The idea of working with the communities of practice, which, again, are voluntary, is to “deconstruct the largeness of the enterprise”.
But it's not HR…
Bagchi’s role is independent of the human resources, or HR, division’s activities. “In fact, I do not even report to Ashok Soota (MindTree’s chairman & managing director),” he clarifies.
So how does Gardening gel with the overall objectives of the organisation? Puneet Jetli, senior vice-president and head-global people function, says: “It’s the philosophy of the company, and it’s how we perceive leadership. Had it been under the HR umbrella, there could have been many constraints. Besides, the sessions are personal in nature. Bagchi is under no obligation to share any of the findings with us. This, however, is another potent platform for the holistic development of our managers into leaders.”
In the organisation of tomorrow, structure and non-structure will co-exist. Hierarchy will not go away; it will learn to work with the hetroarchy. That is why Procter & Gamble is engaging with FaceBook and creating Capessa.
“We have to extend the same rule of engagement to the internal customer. We have to redo the linkage, reinvent ways to collaborate with, expand and impact that individual very differently than during the end of factory-economy that stayed content with the term ‘white collar.’ The knowledge economy may indeed have as many people without collars as with — forget the colour though. That is how we can engage with people who visit you at Second Life (the website where you can live a virtual life) even before they send you their résumé in real life,” Bagchi explains.
Bagchi firmly believes that communities are the number one source of knowledge, and therefore meets the 45 Community Champions every quarter for half a day. “I represent a non-structural role, hence I’m welcome,” he explains. The MindTree management provides the physical infrastructure, digital content management system to feed data, collaboration tools, “and then gets out of the way”.
Bagchi gives two days to individual communities “for what they want me to do for them”. He visits campuses so that they begin to think differently. “As you can see, these are input measures. In roles like these, input measurements are more critical in the first 12 months. In addition, I want to see substantial content creation with an internal blog”.
It is important for an organisation to have distributed leadership so that some can focus on the structure and some on the non-structure. Some can focus on the hierarchy by belonging to it, and some on the hetroarchy by working with the invisible folks in the organisation. The distributed leadership must be emotionally secure — its members must have a higher sense of purpose that they are not creating fiefdom; they are creating a living organisation that is larger than the sum of its parts.
Sport - Cricket;Gary helped me understand my game;Gambhir
NEW DELHI: A more relaxed approach to batting has been the success mantra for Indian opener Gautam Gambhir who on Friday acknowledged that coach
Gary Kirsten played a vital role in making 2008 the "best year" of his cricketing career.
The diminutive Gambhir, who had a phenomenal year aggregating 1134 runs from eight Tests at an average of 70.88, said Kirsten had helped him understand his game better.
"I was too hard on myself. I wasn't too relaxed and it used to tie me up in knots on occasions. Gary helped me be at ease with myself. I now take it as it comes. Gary has helped me understand my game a lot better," Gambhir said.
"It was the best year of my cricketing career. When the year began, I never thought it'd turn out to be like that," he added.
The 27-year-old Gambhir is not prepared to rest on his laurels and promised to maintain his consistency in the coming years.
"Consistency will be my goal. It's not as if I have any specific target in mind. However, I am aware I need to keep working on my batting," said Gambhir.
Gambhir has learnt to curb his aggression whenever needed and says he can be both ultra-aggressive and painfully patient in order to suit the team.
An example of it was the fourth afternoon of the recent Mohali Test against England where Gambhir batted for 50 overs and scored a mere 41 runs.
"It mainly is a matter of confidence. I have played several big knocks in Ranji Trophy (he has 27 centuries from 104 games) where I alternated between aggression and defence," Gambhir explained.
"When you are confident, you can switch your game according to the situation. You can slip into different roles with ease," he added
Anxiety was costing Gambhir his wickets early in his career after he had taken roots at the crease. There were number of occasions when he used to cross 50 and then lose his wicket.
A case in point was the disastrous series in Sri Lanka in September-October when Gambhir scored three half centuries from his six visits to the crease but never pushed on to get a hundred.
This anomaly was brilliantly rectified in the final four Tests of the year during which Gambhir scored a stupendous 774, inclusive of three centuries, capped by one double century against world champions Australia.
As Gambhir reflects on the year gone by, he is both grateful and gratified. Gambhir said he never thought that his opening stands with Virender Sehwag would be so successful.
In 35 innings together, the two state-mates have put on 1974 runs, inclusive of five century stands, and are arguably the most feared opening pair presently in world cricket.
"Virender Sehwag is a special team-mate. We have a great bonding going, our understanding is great. On most occasions, we don't even do the calling, there is a look at each other and we just dash off for a run," he said.
An example of how highly Gambhir regards Sehwag is the goodwill message from him, scribbled at the back of Gambhir's bat during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year, which the left-hander continues to use till date.
Gambhir is also an admirer of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the way he conducts himself on the field and off it.
"Dhoni is a fantastic leader. He never addresses as 'I', it's always 'we' when he is speaking about the team. He always has a Plan B for crisis. This, along with the support of the seniors and the support staff, has helped team to meet its' goals," he said.
Gambhir insists Indians have it in them to be the numero uno team in the world.
"I think the team has the potential to be number one in the world," he said.
Asked which bowler he fears the most, Gambhir said only South African Shaun Pollock bothered but he too is retired now.
"Shaun Pollock was indeed difficult to pick. I played against him during the 2004 series at home, and then more recently during the Indian Premier League. His class was apparent," he said.
Gary Kirsten played a vital role in making 2008 the "best year" of his cricketing career.
The diminutive Gambhir, who had a phenomenal year aggregating 1134 runs from eight Tests at an average of 70.88, said Kirsten had helped him understand his game better.
"I was too hard on myself. I wasn't too relaxed and it used to tie me up in knots on occasions. Gary helped me be at ease with myself. I now take it as it comes. Gary has helped me understand my game a lot better," Gambhir said.
"It was the best year of my cricketing career. When the year began, I never thought it'd turn out to be like that," he added.
The 27-year-old Gambhir is not prepared to rest on his laurels and promised to maintain his consistency in the coming years.
"Consistency will be my goal. It's not as if I have any specific target in mind. However, I am aware I need to keep working on my batting," said Gambhir.
Gambhir has learnt to curb his aggression whenever needed and says he can be both ultra-aggressive and painfully patient in order to suit the team.
An example of it was the fourth afternoon of the recent Mohali Test against England where Gambhir batted for 50 overs and scored a mere 41 runs.
"It mainly is a matter of confidence. I have played several big knocks in Ranji Trophy (he has 27 centuries from 104 games) where I alternated between aggression and defence," Gambhir explained.
"When you are confident, you can switch your game according to the situation. You can slip into different roles with ease," he added
Anxiety was costing Gambhir his wickets early in his career after he had taken roots at the crease. There were number of occasions when he used to cross 50 and then lose his wicket.
A case in point was the disastrous series in Sri Lanka in September-October when Gambhir scored three half centuries from his six visits to the crease but never pushed on to get a hundred.
This anomaly was brilliantly rectified in the final four Tests of the year during which Gambhir scored a stupendous 774, inclusive of three centuries, capped by one double century against world champions Australia.
As Gambhir reflects on the year gone by, he is both grateful and gratified. Gambhir said he never thought that his opening stands with Virender Sehwag would be so successful.
In 35 innings together, the two state-mates have put on 1974 runs, inclusive of five century stands, and are arguably the most feared opening pair presently in world cricket.
"Virender Sehwag is a special team-mate. We have a great bonding going, our understanding is great. On most occasions, we don't even do the calling, there is a look at each other and we just dash off for a run," he said.
An example of how highly Gambhir regards Sehwag is the goodwill message from him, scribbled at the back of Gambhir's bat during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year, which the left-hander continues to use till date.
Gambhir is also an admirer of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the way he conducts himself on the field and off it.
"Dhoni is a fantastic leader. He never addresses as 'I', it's always 'we' when he is speaking about the team. He always has a Plan B for crisis. This, along with the support of the seniors and the support staff, has helped team to meet its' goals," he said.
Gambhir insists Indians have it in them to be the numero uno team in the world.
"I think the team has the potential to be number one in the world," he said.
Asked which bowler he fears the most, Gambhir said only South African Shaun Pollock bothered but he too is retired now.
"Shaun Pollock was indeed difficult to pick. I played against him during the 2004 series at home, and then more recently during the Indian Premier League. His class was apparent," he said.
Mktg - Brand Master: How to use character ambassadors
Alex Brownsell
For decades, brands have invented characters to help communicate their message with a lighter touch, such as the COI’s use of Tufty the Squirrel and
the Green Cross Code Man to provide roadsafety advice. However, the use of established characters to endorse commercial brands is a more recent phenomenon.
Tea brand Typhoo provided an early example when it hooked up with the BBC to give away promotional Doctor Who cards in 1976, while Disney characters, old and new, have been used by a multitude of brands ranging from fast-food chains to washing detergents .
The licensing market’s current characters of choice appear to be Aardman Animation’s Wallace and Gromit, who have been signed up to represent the disparate brands Npower, Yorkshire Tea and Kingsmill. Choosing the right character requires careful thought.
Wallace and Gromit and Paddington Bear, who is used to promote Unilever’s Marmite, appeal to brands looking to tap into a sense of warmth among consumers and give their marketing an injection of humour. Paddington, in particular, generates a sense of nostalgia among consumers over 30, which is all-important amid today’s financial turbulence, according to Keith Pashley , former European marketing manager at entertainment group Chorion.
“In the downturn, many consumers are looking for a safe haven, and things were always safe and comfortable in childhood . So nostalgia is a strong angle to use,” he says. Pashley, who now runs his own consultancy, the Keith Pashley Project, points toward a series of classic children’s characters making a splash in licensing, such as Peter Rabbit and the Mr Men range.
Characters from programmes such as Bagpuss and The Magic Roundabout also make compelling ambassadors for brands attempting to appeal to people of a certain age for whom more recent creations, such as Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and Powerpuff Girls, will mean little. But although the use of classic characters ensures a degree of cutthrough with adults, it may not chime with younger target audiences.
Children’s TV is moving away from shows with adult central characters, such as Postman Pat, to those featuring child protagonists. BBC Worldwide’s head of UK licensing, Richard Hollis, says it is now vital that children can connect with characters on TV in a more direct way. “Hero characters, such as Ben 10, are doing well, as children are excited by the thought of being explorers themselves ,” he adds.
The choice of character, naturally, depends on what a brand is trying to sell. Marketing directors strive to find an ambassador to suit a brand’s values, or at least the message of the campaign. Marmite signed up Paddington as a fellow classic British brand, while Kingsmill’s tie-up with Wallace and Gromit is perfect in the context of the characters’ latest bakery-themed outing , A Matter of Loaf and Death.
Similarly, David Scott, managing director of costume character specialist Rainbow Productions, points to the use of The Wombles in a national anti-litter and flytipping campaign as an ideal brand partnership . One key point to watch for, however , according to Beanstalk Group managing director Ciaran Coyle, is that the impact of a character does not become watereddown through over-exposure . “If you partner a character with too many brands, you risk weakening its equity,” he says.
So licensed characters should appeal to either the inner child of an adult consumer , or the actual child being targeted by the marketing. They should also share values with the brand, while the potential for humour is a bonus. Nonetheless, marketers should beware characters with too many brand endorsements under their belt, and, perhaps more important, one bigger than the brand — it is likely to obscure the marketing message.
For decades, brands have invented characters to help communicate their message with a lighter touch, such as the COI’s use of Tufty the Squirrel and
the Green Cross Code Man to provide roadsafety advice. However, the use of established characters to endorse commercial brands is a more recent phenomenon.
Tea brand Typhoo provided an early example when it hooked up with the BBC to give away promotional Doctor Who cards in 1976, while Disney characters, old and new, have been used by a multitude of brands ranging from fast-food chains to washing detergents .
The licensing market’s current characters of choice appear to be Aardman Animation’s Wallace and Gromit, who have been signed up to represent the disparate brands Npower, Yorkshire Tea and Kingsmill. Choosing the right character requires careful thought.
Wallace and Gromit and Paddington Bear, who is used to promote Unilever’s Marmite, appeal to brands looking to tap into a sense of warmth among consumers and give their marketing an injection of humour. Paddington, in particular, generates a sense of nostalgia among consumers over 30, which is all-important amid today’s financial turbulence, according to Keith Pashley , former European marketing manager at entertainment group Chorion.
“In the downturn, many consumers are looking for a safe haven, and things were always safe and comfortable in childhood . So nostalgia is a strong angle to use,” he says. Pashley, who now runs his own consultancy, the Keith Pashley Project, points toward a series of classic children’s characters making a splash in licensing, such as Peter Rabbit and the Mr Men range.
Characters from programmes such as Bagpuss and The Magic Roundabout also make compelling ambassadors for brands attempting to appeal to people of a certain age for whom more recent creations, such as Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and Powerpuff Girls, will mean little. But although the use of classic characters ensures a degree of cutthrough with adults, it may not chime with younger target audiences.
Children’s TV is moving away from shows with adult central characters, such as Postman Pat, to those featuring child protagonists. BBC Worldwide’s head of UK licensing, Richard Hollis, says it is now vital that children can connect with characters on TV in a more direct way. “Hero characters, such as Ben 10, are doing well, as children are excited by the thought of being explorers themselves ,” he adds.
The choice of character, naturally, depends on what a brand is trying to sell. Marketing directors strive to find an ambassador to suit a brand’s values, or at least the message of the campaign. Marmite signed up Paddington as a fellow classic British brand, while Kingsmill’s tie-up with Wallace and Gromit is perfect in the context of the characters’ latest bakery-themed outing , A Matter of Loaf and Death.
Similarly, David Scott, managing director of costume character specialist Rainbow Productions, points to the use of The Wombles in a national anti-litter and flytipping campaign as an ideal brand partnership . One key point to watch for, however , according to Beanstalk Group managing director Ciaran Coyle, is that the impact of a character does not become watereddown through over-exposure . “If you partner a character with too many brands, you risk weakening its equity,” he says.
So licensed characters should appeal to either the inner child of an adult consumer , or the actual child being targeted by the marketing. They should also share values with the brand, while the potential for humour is a bonus. Nonetheless, marketers should beware characters with too many brand endorsements under their belt, and, perhaps more important, one bigger than the brand — it is likely to obscure the marketing message.
Personality - Aditya Chopra
Abhilasha Ojha
However, Chopra’s film, which released on December 12, 2008, broke the dry run of most films in 2008 to emerge as a clear winner. Released with 1,200 prints, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’s gross collection for the first weekend was Rs 70 crore. At the end of the first week, the film had collected Rs 90 crore. Its second weekend collection stood at Rs 30 crore (gross) and close to Ghajini’s release, and at the end of its second week, it has added another Rs 24 crore. So, the gross figures for the first 10 days was Rs 120 crore.
The Yash Raj banner, in recent times, has had to reckon with a spate of flops. Tashan, the first film to release through the banner in April 2008, was a huge flop, Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee that released in June, was another disaster. If that wasn’t enough, the much-talked about partnership of Yash Raj Films with Walt Disney, to direct and produce an animation film was given thumbs down by audiences, who rejected Roadside Romeo.
Chopra, according to sources, had foreseen the disaster that Tashan was headed for. To salvage whatever he could, a lot of editing and reshooting of scenes was also done. It seems he wasn’t too happy with the outcome of Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic before it hit the screens too. The pressures for Chopra, who had consciously opted out of direction after Mohabattein in 2000 to create a unique production house, were mounting and that is why in February 2008 he decided to take on direction once again.
What Chopra had been doing all this time was to consolidate a bank of creative people including writers (Jaideep Sahni), directors (Kunal Kohli, Shaad Ali, Siddharth Anand) and even music directors (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Salim-Sulaiman) who would create films solely for the banner for a period of three to five years. While the model resulted in some success, the banner’s films started losing their sheen.
Chopra realised that he needed to impress the audiences and relied on writing the story, screenplay and dialogues on his own too. After eight long years, Chopra also realised that he needed to rely on someone who could guarantee him audiences into theatres. Shahrukh Khan, then, was obviously the most natural choice. The shooting for the film began at a start-to-finish schedule in May 2008 with Chopra keen to release the film during the festive season.
The lead stars’ praiseworthy performance notwithstanding, many have questioned the running time of the film. Even the plot of the film has come under scrutiny. While critics may have issues with the film, Chopra clearly has had the last laugh. He knows the pulse of his audiences and he knows exactly what they want. And with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, he seems to have given the audience a treat. Meanwhile, at Yash Raj’s studio in Mumbai, everyone is grinning. It’s no recession there, thanks to Chopra and his craft.
However, Chopra’s film, which released on December 12, 2008, broke the dry run of most films in 2008 to emerge as a clear winner. Released with 1,200 prints, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’s gross collection for the first weekend was Rs 70 crore. At the end of the first week, the film had collected Rs 90 crore. Its second weekend collection stood at Rs 30 crore (gross) and close to Ghajini’s release, and at the end of its second week, it has added another Rs 24 crore. So, the gross figures for the first 10 days was Rs 120 crore.
The Yash Raj banner, in recent times, has had to reckon with a spate of flops. Tashan, the first film to release through the banner in April 2008, was a huge flop, Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee that released in June, was another disaster. If that wasn’t enough, the much-talked about partnership of Yash Raj Films with Walt Disney, to direct and produce an animation film was given thumbs down by audiences, who rejected Roadside Romeo.
Chopra, according to sources, had foreseen the disaster that Tashan was headed for. To salvage whatever he could, a lot of editing and reshooting of scenes was also done. It seems he wasn’t too happy with the outcome of Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic before it hit the screens too. The pressures for Chopra, who had consciously opted out of direction after Mohabattein in 2000 to create a unique production house, were mounting and that is why in February 2008 he decided to take on direction once again.
What Chopra had been doing all this time was to consolidate a bank of creative people including writers (Jaideep Sahni), directors (Kunal Kohli, Shaad Ali, Siddharth Anand) and even music directors (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Salim-Sulaiman) who would create films solely for the banner for a period of three to five years. While the model resulted in some success, the banner’s films started losing their sheen.
Chopra realised that he needed to impress the audiences and relied on writing the story, screenplay and dialogues on his own too. After eight long years, Chopra also realised that he needed to rely on someone who could guarantee him audiences into theatres. Shahrukh Khan, then, was obviously the most natural choice. The shooting for the film began at a start-to-finish schedule in May 2008 with Chopra keen to release the film during the festive season.
The lead stars’ praiseworthy performance notwithstanding, many have questioned the running time of the film. Even the plot of the film has come under scrutiny. While critics may have issues with the film, Chopra clearly has had the last laugh. He knows the pulse of his audiences and he knows exactly what they want. And with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, he seems to have given the audience a treat. Meanwhile, at Yash Raj’s studio in Mumbai, everyone is grinning. It’s no recession there, thanks to Chopra and his craft.
Science - Blood platelets to be made in lab
WASHINGTON: Blood banks may soon be able to grow human blood platelets for transfusion in their labs, say researchers at The Ohio State University
Medical Center.
Publishing their study report in the journal Experimental Hematology, the researchers said that one day it might be possible to grow platelets continuously and in quantities that could ease the chronically tight supply of these critical blood components.
Their suggestion attains significance because presently platelet concentrates coming from volunteer donors involve huge costs, require 10 or more tests for pathogens, and have a shelf life of only five days.
Principal investigator Larry C. Lasky, associate professor of pathology at Ohio State and a specialist in transfusion medicine and blood banking, says that attempts by others to grow platelets have produced only small numbers for a short time.
"We were pleasantly surprised to achieve continuous production for a month. It is easy to imagine a series of these chambers producing platelets. It would be ideal for clinical use and possibly solve the short shelf-life problem. Using good manufacturing practices would prevent bacterial contamination," Lasky says.
Currently, platelets are collected either from donated blood or by apheresis--an expensive and time-consuming process that involves taking blood from one arm, passing it through a machine that isolates the platelets, and then returning it to the other arm. The method yields four to six platelet units per donor.
For their study, Lasky and his colleagues isolated haematopoietic stem cells, which produce blood cells, from blood taken from umbilical cords following normal, full-term deliveries.
The researcher grew the stem cells to greater numbers, and then added them to the bioreactors - chambers with several layers for gas and growth-media control.
They revealed that control cells were grown in culture flasks. Other attempts to grow platelets have usually used culture flasks or similar two-dimensional systems.
After a few days of growth, the researchers added a solution of growth factors to both groups to stimulate the cells to form large, bone-marrow cells called megakaryocytes, which shed bits of themselves as platelets.
The three-dimensional bioreactor produced up to 1.2 million platelets per day, with production continuing for more than 32 days, while the two-dimensional system generated a maximum of about 350,000 platelets per day over a ten-day period.
Lasky said that his team was trying to modify the process to increase the yield of platelets.
Medical Center.
Publishing their study report in the journal Experimental Hematology, the researchers said that one day it might be possible to grow platelets continuously and in quantities that could ease the chronically tight supply of these critical blood components.
Their suggestion attains significance because presently platelet concentrates coming from volunteer donors involve huge costs, require 10 or more tests for pathogens, and have a shelf life of only five days.
Principal investigator Larry C. Lasky, associate professor of pathology at Ohio State and a specialist in transfusion medicine and blood banking, says that attempts by others to grow platelets have produced only small numbers for a short time.
"We were pleasantly surprised to achieve continuous production for a month. It is easy to imagine a series of these chambers producing platelets. It would be ideal for clinical use and possibly solve the short shelf-life problem. Using good manufacturing practices would prevent bacterial contamination," Lasky says.
Currently, platelets are collected either from donated blood or by apheresis--an expensive and time-consuming process that involves taking blood from one arm, passing it through a machine that isolates the platelets, and then returning it to the other arm. The method yields four to six platelet units per donor.
For their study, Lasky and his colleagues isolated haematopoietic stem cells, which produce blood cells, from blood taken from umbilical cords following normal, full-term deliveries.
The researcher grew the stem cells to greater numbers, and then added them to the bioreactors - chambers with several layers for gas and growth-media control.
They revealed that control cells were grown in culture flasks. Other attempts to grow platelets have usually used culture flasks or similar two-dimensional systems.
After a few days of growth, the researchers added a solution of growth factors to both groups to stimulate the cells to form large, bone-marrow cells called megakaryocytes, which shed bits of themselves as platelets.
The three-dimensional bioreactor produced up to 1.2 million platelets per day, with production continuing for more than 32 days, while the two-dimensional system generated a maximum of about 350,000 platelets per day over a ten-day period.
Lasky said that his team was trying to modify the process to increase the yield of platelets.
India - Blame it on Cabinet, 3G auctions likely to miss January date
Joji Thomas Philip & Sandeep Gurumurthi
NEW DELHI: The auctions for 3G spectrum, vital for next-generation telecoms services such as video-calling and broadband internet on mobile
phones, are set to be delayed beyond its scheduled date of January 16 and may take place in February, according to a top official in the communications ministry.
“The auctions have been delayed as the Cabinet is yet to approve some of the key proposals regarding the auctions,” the official, who asked not to be named, said. However, industry executives said the auction may end up being deferred for a longer time. “If the auctions are delayed by more than a month, it may not happen during the UPA rule. This is because, the code of conduct for the general elections will kick in from March 2009,” said a top executive with a telecom company that is looking to participate in the third generation or 3G auctions.
This executive, who asked not to be named and his company not be identified, also said he had received information from government officials on the auctions being deferred. According to the official, the primary reason behind the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) move to defer the auctions was the poor response to the 3G pre-bid conference on Tuesday by new firms, including foreign players. While the DoT has allowed foreign operators to participate in the 3G auctions, most international players have indicated that they are likely to give it a miss. Global operators have also pointed out that the auction guidelines have been structured to favour only existing Indian operators and have sought several changes to the country’s 3G policy.
Another possible reason could be that foreign players and some Indian companies such as Reliance Communications and Swan have sought additional time to study the information memorandum, which contains all details regarding the auction.
This memorandum, which lists out the spectrum slots and its availability in each circle, was released on December 12 and global telcos have pointed out that a 30-day timeframe would not be sufficient to plan for a multi-billion dollar 3G bid. But officials of the ministry of communications maintained that the delay in Cabinet clearance is holding things up.
Analysts expect the 3G auction to be a subdued affair due to the global financial crunch. Most analysts said the auctions could fetch the government anywhere between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore ($4-$6 billion), although communications minister A Raja is confident that the amount could be as much as Rs 40,000 crore.
Last week, the Telecom Commission, India's telecom decision-making body, had rejected a proposal to impose an ‘administrative tax’ on successful bidders of 3G wireless frequencies, fearing such a tax could impair revenue collections at the upcoming spectrum auction by over Rs 5,000 crore. The commission, after turning down Trai’s recommendation that successful 3G bidders pay 2% of the highest bid amount annually as administrative charges for using the spectrum, had sought the Cabinet endorsement on its decision. Besides, the Telecom Commission had also sought Cabinet approval for its decision to restrict the upcoming 3G auction to five players per circle. This was because of a legal challenge in the Delhi High Court to DoT's move to limit the number of 3G players to five in a circle.
“The Cabinet may take time to clear these proposals — we cannot go ahead with the 3G auctions unless the Cabinet approval comes through,” the communications ministry official added. The DoT may also use this extended period to offer more clarity on the auction process and the policy to foreign telcos. For instance, foreign operators have termed the DoT's recent announcement that new telecom players which win 3G spectrum in the auctions will also be eligible for second generation (2G) radio frequencies, as a mere “gimmick” “The DoT has only said new entrants who succeed in 3G bids will have to wait in queue. They have given no other details. Foreign operators can't plan their business model unless they have further clarity,” said an executive with a multinational telco requesting anonymity. At present, all telecom services in the country are offered on 2G radio frequencies.
An Indian representative of another global telco said the current policy did not specify how new entrants would be allotted additional spectrum in future. The executive added that as successful overseas 3G bidders would get a mere 5 MHz, they would not be able to compete with existing operators such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, which already had up to 10 MHz of 2G spectrum and are likely to get another 5 MHz of 3G spectrum in the auctions.
NEW DELHI: The auctions for 3G spectrum, vital for next-generation telecoms services such as video-calling and broadband internet on mobile
phones, are set to be delayed beyond its scheduled date of January 16 and may take place in February, according to a top official in the communications ministry.
“The auctions have been delayed as the Cabinet is yet to approve some of the key proposals regarding the auctions,” the official, who asked not to be named, said. However, industry executives said the auction may end up being deferred for a longer time. “If the auctions are delayed by more than a month, it may not happen during the UPA rule. This is because, the code of conduct for the general elections will kick in from March 2009,” said a top executive with a telecom company that is looking to participate in the third generation or 3G auctions.
This executive, who asked not to be named and his company not be identified, also said he had received information from government officials on the auctions being deferred. According to the official, the primary reason behind the Department of Telecom’s (DoT) move to defer the auctions was the poor response to the 3G pre-bid conference on Tuesday by new firms, including foreign players. While the DoT has allowed foreign operators to participate in the 3G auctions, most international players have indicated that they are likely to give it a miss. Global operators have also pointed out that the auction guidelines have been structured to favour only existing Indian operators and have sought several changes to the country’s 3G policy.
Another possible reason could be that foreign players and some Indian companies such as Reliance Communications and Swan have sought additional time to study the information memorandum, which contains all details regarding the auction.
This memorandum, which lists out the spectrum slots and its availability in each circle, was released on December 12 and global telcos have pointed out that a 30-day timeframe would not be sufficient to plan for a multi-billion dollar 3G bid. But officials of the ministry of communications maintained that the delay in Cabinet clearance is holding things up.
Analysts expect the 3G auction to be a subdued affair due to the global financial crunch. Most analysts said the auctions could fetch the government anywhere between Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore ($4-$6 billion), although communications minister A Raja is confident that the amount could be as much as Rs 40,000 crore.
Last week, the Telecom Commission, India's telecom decision-making body, had rejected a proposal to impose an ‘administrative tax’ on successful bidders of 3G wireless frequencies, fearing such a tax could impair revenue collections at the upcoming spectrum auction by over Rs 5,000 crore. The commission, after turning down Trai’s recommendation that successful 3G bidders pay 2% of the highest bid amount annually as administrative charges for using the spectrum, had sought the Cabinet endorsement on its decision. Besides, the Telecom Commission had also sought Cabinet approval for its decision to restrict the upcoming 3G auction to five players per circle. This was because of a legal challenge in the Delhi High Court to DoT's move to limit the number of 3G players to five in a circle.
“The Cabinet may take time to clear these proposals — we cannot go ahead with the 3G auctions unless the Cabinet approval comes through,” the communications ministry official added. The DoT may also use this extended period to offer more clarity on the auction process and the policy to foreign telcos. For instance, foreign operators have termed the DoT's recent announcement that new telecom players which win 3G spectrum in the auctions will also be eligible for second generation (2G) radio frequencies, as a mere “gimmick” “The DoT has only said new entrants who succeed in 3G bids will have to wait in queue. They have given no other details. Foreign operators can't plan their business model unless they have further clarity,” said an executive with a multinational telco requesting anonymity. At present, all telecom services in the country are offered on 2G radio frequencies.
An Indian representative of another global telco said the current policy did not specify how new entrants would be allotted additional spectrum in future. The executive added that as successful overseas 3G bidders would get a mere 5 MHz, they would not be able to compete with existing operators such as Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, which already had up to 10 MHz of 2G spectrum and are likely to get another 5 MHz of 3G spectrum in the auctions.
Business - Chinese 'cyber pirates' leave T-Series sleepless
It takes just a press of a button to spoil reputations on the info-highway. And a music company here realised this after facing embarrassment due to two Chinese “cyber pirates” who launched a pornographic website identical to its name.
The two Chinese “cyber pirates” and a US company, which promoted the site have now been told by the Delhi High Court to shell out Rs 5 lakh damages to T-Series music company.
The Court also restrained them from using the name ‘supercassettes’ for their pornographic website, a decision which has sought to punish the new-age crime that spans across territorial boundaries.
Justice R S Endlaw passed the order on a petition filed by Super Cassettes Industries Ltd, seeking a compensation from the cyber pirates, Wang Zhi Zhu Ce Yong Hu and Ying ter Wang Ju Le Bu, in whose name the domain name Supercassettes.Com was registered. The US company responsible for promoting the site was also made a party.
The music company contended that the website, dealing in adult and pornographic images, was inimical to its corporate image, goodwill and reputation and sought damages of Rs 25 lakh from them.
The court after hearing the contention of the company, passed an ex-parte order as the Chinese nationals and a US-based company ICL Ltd which was behind the impugned domain name failed to appear before it.
“A decree for damages in the sum of Rs 5 lakh is passed in favour of the plaintiff (T-Series) and against the defendants (Chinese nationals and US company) jointly and severally. The company shall also be entitled to costs of the suit from the defendants,” Justice R S Endlaw said.
The court had earlier passed an interim order on July 23, 2004, restraining them from using the domain name. The domain name supercassettes.Com was created on September 27, 2003, but it expired on September 27, 2004, after the court passed the interim order.
Initially, the music company had approached the court against the Chinese nationals, but it also impleaded the US company later, after being informed that ICL Ltd was behind promoting the website.
The two Chinese “cyber pirates” and a US company, which promoted the site have now been told by the Delhi High Court to shell out Rs 5 lakh damages to T-Series music company.
The Court also restrained them from using the name ‘supercassettes’ for their pornographic website, a decision which has sought to punish the new-age crime that spans across territorial boundaries.
Justice R S Endlaw passed the order on a petition filed by Super Cassettes Industries Ltd, seeking a compensation from the cyber pirates, Wang Zhi Zhu Ce Yong Hu and Ying ter Wang Ju Le Bu, in whose name the domain name Supercassettes.Com was registered. The US company responsible for promoting the site was also made a party.
The music company contended that the website, dealing in adult and pornographic images, was inimical to its corporate image, goodwill and reputation and sought damages of Rs 25 lakh from them.
The court after hearing the contention of the company, passed an ex-parte order as the Chinese nationals and a US-based company ICL Ltd which was behind the impugned domain name failed to appear before it.
“A decree for damages in the sum of Rs 5 lakh is passed in favour of the plaintiff (T-Series) and against the defendants (Chinese nationals and US company) jointly and severally. The company shall also be entitled to costs of the suit from the defendants,” Justice R S Endlaw said.
The court had earlier passed an interim order on July 23, 2004, restraining them from using the domain name. The domain name supercassettes.Com was created on September 27, 2003, but it expired on September 27, 2004, after the court passed the interim order.
Initially, the music company had approached the court against the Chinese nationals, but it also impleaded the US company later, after being informed that ICL Ltd was behind promoting the website.
Business - India;Multiplexes cash in on paid previews
Pradipta Mukherjee
As many as 12 paid previews have already been hosted at multiplexes this year, and still counting, compared to a very few hosted last year, informed multiplexes in the city.
According to Virendra Marya, Regional Director (East), Inox Leisure, paid previews have increased to 12 this year compared to only a few last year. Paid previews are a call taken by the producer of a movie to add on to the hype around the movie thereby giving patrons an exclusive chance to catch the movie a day ahead of the rest of the world.
“It is a smart strategy to ensure good opening day and weekend collections. Paid previews of recently released films like ‘Singh is Kinng’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, ‘Rock On’, ‘Dostana’, clocked houseful occupancies across Inox properties in Kolkata. So apart from the added revenues, paid previews help in creating more buzz about a film which obviously impacts the occupancy figures in the subsequent weekend,” Marya said.
Paid-previews are screenings held a day before the release of a film. This trend of Thursday screenings is possible because prints usually arrive at least a day before the release.
According to Shunali Shroff, head, corporate communications of Shringar Cinemas which runs ‘Fame’ brand of multiplex, “Paid previews are a value-add for our patrons and an extra source of revenue for us.”
Industry sources estimate that the film ‘Dostana’ earned Rs 75 lakh through paid-previews, overtaking 'Singh Is Kingg's' collection of Rs 50 lakh through its 155 paid previews across the country and over Rs 10 lakh from its paid previews in the overseas markets.
‘Rock On’, which got a total collection of Rs 10 lakh through its paid previews, was released with 1,000 prints on the first day, which went up to 1,250 in the following days, thanks to the great previews.
Most multiplexes charge about 30 per cent premium while some sell tickets at regular weekend rates for such previews.
Paid preview prices are mutually decided by the producers of a film and the exhibitors which vary from movie to movie. But usually weekend pricing is applicable for paid previews.
“We generally play one or two preview shows per property which is again a mutual decision taken by the producers and exhibitors. Paid previews of recently released films like ‘Singh is Kinng’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, ‘Rock On’, ‘Dostana’, clocked 100 per cent occupancy and films like ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Hancock’, ‘Mummy-3’ registered an average of 70-80 per cent occupancy across our three properties in Kolkata,” informed Marya of Inox.
The advance tickets for the paid preview shows of ‘Ghajini’ on December 24 are flying off the counters at multiplexes.
“We will have two preview shows per property and all shows will be complete sellout with a lot of block booking enquiries coming in. The trend of paid previews has also caught on to our district properties in Durgapur and Burdwan and the preview of ‘Ghajini’ will also take place on December 24,” informed Marya.
As many as 12 paid previews have already been hosted at multiplexes this year, and still counting, compared to a very few hosted last year, informed multiplexes in the city.
According to Virendra Marya, Regional Director (East), Inox Leisure, paid previews have increased to 12 this year compared to only a few last year. Paid previews are a call taken by the producer of a movie to add on to the hype around the movie thereby giving patrons an exclusive chance to catch the movie a day ahead of the rest of the world.
“It is a smart strategy to ensure good opening day and weekend collections. Paid previews of recently released films like ‘Singh is Kinng’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, ‘Rock On’, ‘Dostana’, clocked houseful occupancies across Inox properties in Kolkata. So apart from the added revenues, paid previews help in creating more buzz about a film which obviously impacts the occupancy figures in the subsequent weekend,” Marya said.
Paid-previews are screenings held a day before the release of a film. This trend of Thursday screenings is possible because prints usually arrive at least a day before the release.
According to Shunali Shroff, head, corporate communications of Shringar Cinemas which runs ‘Fame’ brand of multiplex, “Paid previews are a value-add for our patrons and an extra source of revenue for us.”
Industry sources estimate that the film ‘Dostana’ earned Rs 75 lakh through paid-previews, overtaking 'Singh Is Kingg's' collection of Rs 50 lakh through its 155 paid previews across the country and over Rs 10 lakh from its paid previews in the overseas markets.
‘Rock On’, which got a total collection of Rs 10 lakh through its paid previews, was released with 1,000 prints on the first day, which went up to 1,250 in the following days, thanks to the great previews.
Most multiplexes charge about 30 per cent premium while some sell tickets at regular weekend rates for such previews.
Paid preview prices are mutually decided by the producers of a film and the exhibitors which vary from movie to movie. But usually weekend pricing is applicable for paid previews.
“We generally play one or two preview shows per property which is again a mutual decision taken by the producers and exhibitors. Paid previews of recently released films like ‘Singh is Kinng’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, ‘Rock On’, ‘Dostana’, clocked 100 per cent occupancy and films like ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Hancock’, ‘Mummy-3’ registered an average of 70-80 per cent occupancy across our three properties in Kolkata,” informed Marya of Inox.
The advance tickets for the paid preview shows of ‘Ghajini’ on December 24 are flying off the counters at multiplexes.
“We will have two preview shows per property and all shows will be complete sellout with a lot of block booking enquiries coming in. The trend of paid previews has also caught on to our district properties in Durgapur and Burdwan and the preview of ‘Ghajini’ will also take place on December 24,” informed Marya.
Entertainment - Ghajini mops up Rs 32 crore on Christmas
Meenakshi Verma Ambwani
NEW DELHI: It’s a merry Christmas for Aamir Khan indeed. His movie Ghajini is set to become the highest grosser of the year. The remake of a South
Indian flick is estimated to have garnered gross worldwide revenues of Rs 30-32 crore on Christmas day, leaving Shah Rukh Khan’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng behind.
The build-up from its paid previews and opening on a long weekend helped the movie garner higher occupancy levels than other big grossers of 2008. A paid preview is a movie screening at select places before its formal opening at premium charges. Ghajini had over 660 paid previews on Wednesday, pocketing Rs 7 crore in the process. Usually, paid previews only have 100 shows.
Says trade analyst Taran Adarsh: “As numbers come in from various territories, it looks like Ghajini’s going to be the biggest hit for the industry this year. It’s doing much better than Singh is Kinng, Golmaal Returns and one can’t even compare Rab Ne... with Ghajini’s numbers.” The box office revenues in the next three days could help the remake of a South Indian movie.
Yash Raj Films’ Rab Ne..., which made Rs 60 crore worldwide in the first three days of release, is estimated to have opening revenues of about Rs 10-11 crore. The year’s top grosser Singh is Kinng, which earned over Rs 45 crore during the opening weekend, made Rs 13-14 crore on day one.
Multiplex players agree they have never seen such a huge response for any movie as all the shows are already sold out. “Occupancies on Christmas day was 95% across all our multiplexes and the number of shows will be increased on Friday. All our shows are booked for the weekend,” said Inox Leisure COO Alok Tandon.
Movie distribution firm Indian Film Company senior V-P Priti Sahani said: “It’s difficult to give a gross figure as numbers are still trickling in from various territories, but we have received an unprecedented response for the movie not only from multiplexes and single screens but also from smaller towns.” The movie is being distributed by Indian Film Company in India and Big Pictures in overseas territories with a total of 1,450 prints.
NEW DELHI: It’s a merry Christmas for Aamir Khan indeed. His movie Ghajini is set to become the highest grosser of the year. The remake of a South
Indian flick is estimated to have garnered gross worldwide revenues of Rs 30-32 crore on Christmas day, leaving Shah Rukh Khan’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng behind.
The build-up from its paid previews and opening on a long weekend helped the movie garner higher occupancy levels than other big grossers of 2008. A paid preview is a movie screening at select places before its formal opening at premium charges. Ghajini had over 660 paid previews on Wednesday, pocketing Rs 7 crore in the process. Usually, paid previews only have 100 shows.
Says trade analyst Taran Adarsh: “As numbers come in from various territories, it looks like Ghajini’s going to be the biggest hit for the industry this year. It’s doing much better than Singh is Kinng, Golmaal Returns and one can’t even compare Rab Ne... with Ghajini’s numbers.” The box office revenues in the next three days could help the remake of a South Indian movie.
Yash Raj Films’ Rab Ne..., which made Rs 60 crore worldwide in the first three days of release, is estimated to have opening revenues of about Rs 10-11 crore. The year’s top grosser Singh is Kinng, which earned over Rs 45 crore during the opening weekend, made Rs 13-14 crore on day one.
Multiplex players agree they have never seen such a huge response for any movie as all the shows are already sold out. “Occupancies on Christmas day was 95% across all our multiplexes and the number of shows will be increased on Friday. All our shows are booked for the weekend,” said Inox Leisure COO Alok Tandon.
Movie distribution firm Indian Film Company senior V-P Priti Sahani said: “It’s difficult to give a gross figure as numbers are still trickling in from various territories, but we have received an unprecedented response for the movie not only from multiplexes and single screens but also from smaller towns.” The movie is being distributed by Indian Film Company in India and Big Pictures in overseas territories with a total of 1,450 prints.
Business - Media and entertainment a hit with PE investors
Reghu Balakrishnan
Mumbai: The media and entertainment sector has witnessed a number of private equity (PE) deals in the month of December, despite a general slowdown in private equity investments in the country. Canaan Partners, Nalanda Capital and Altima India have invested in the sector in December, and more deals are in the offing, say industry watchers.
Among done deals, Singapore-based Nalanda Capital picked up a stake in Kalanidhi Maran's Sun TV Network Ltd for Rs 100 crore; Asian hedge fund Altima India Master Fund picked up 14% in The Indian Film Company, while Bollywood portal Chakpak.com has raised an undisclosed amount from Canaan Partners.
The Indian entertainment and media industry is estimated to touch Rs 1,15,700 crore by 2012 with a compounded annual growth rate of 18% between 2008-12, according to a recent report by Ficci and PricewaterhouseCoopers. For 2007, the report pegged the size of the TV industry at Rs 22,600 crore, print media at Rs 14,900 crore, filmed entertainment at Rs 9,600 crore and radio at Rs 620 crore. Harish Gandhi, executive director, Canaan Partners, said, "The sector is always an attractive opportunity for investments as the Indian youth's spending capacity on entertainment is growing."
Mounting investment in Indian films, which is at times more than investments in Hollywood movies, is a clear indication of the ongoing growth of the industry, he added. Bollywood, valued at $12.5 billion, is the world's most productive movie industry with more than 1,000 releases a year. Though the number of PE deals in media and entertainment this year is less as compared to last year, experts and investors are hopeful that more deals will be struck in the near future. About 20 deals have been struck in 2008 as against 32 deals last year.
According to Arun Natarajan, the media and entertainment sector will benefit hugely once the downturn reverses. "For the last couple of years, the sector was attractive to PE investors, along with other consumer spending sectors such as FMCG. The sector continues to grow even amidst the downturn," he noted.
Mumbai: The media and entertainment sector has witnessed a number of private equity (PE) deals in the month of December, despite a general slowdown in private equity investments in the country. Canaan Partners, Nalanda Capital and Altima India have invested in the sector in December, and more deals are in the offing, say industry watchers.
Among done deals, Singapore-based Nalanda Capital picked up a stake in Kalanidhi Maran's Sun TV Network Ltd for Rs 100 crore; Asian hedge fund Altima India Master Fund picked up 14% in The Indian Film Company, while Bollywood portal Chakpak.com has raised an undisclosed amount from Canaan Partners.
The Indian entertainment and media industry is estimated to touch Rs 1,15,700 crore by 2012 with a compounded annual growth rate of 18% between 2008-12, according to a recent report by Ficci and PricewaterhouseCoopers. For 2007, the report pegged the size of the TV industry at Rs 22,600 crore, print media at Rs 14,900 crore, filmed entertainment at Rs 9,600 crore and radio at Rs 620 crore. Harish Gandhi, executive director, Canaan Partners, said, "The sector is always an attractive opportunity for investments as the Indian youth's spending capacity on entertainment is growing."
Mounting investment in Indian films, which is at times more than investments in Hollywood movies, is a clear indication of the ongoing growth of the industry, he added. Bollywood, valued at $12.5 billion, is the world's most productive movie industry with more than 1,000 releases a year. Though the number of PE deals in media and entertainment this year is less as compared to last year, experts and investors are hopeful that more deals will be struck in the near future. About 20 deals have been struck in 2008 as against 32 deals last year.
According to Arun Natarajan, the media and entertainment sector will benefit hugely once the downturn reverses. "For the last couple of years, the sector was attractive to PE investors, along with other consumer spending sectors such as FMCG. The sector continues to grow even amidst the downturn," he noted.
Business - India;DTH players told to work together, pool resources
New Delhi, Dec. 24 The DTH industry is wasting spectrum on the Ku Band, and can work together and pool resources, said Dr G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space.
Direct-to-Home operators have been queuing up at ISRO for transponders to accommodate the country’s many television channels. The satellite agency can give them space on its own satellites, or lease transponders on international satellite for DTH operators.
But at the rate at which DTH players are expanding, and new channels are being launched, ISRO fears it will be hard to accommodate them. Dr Nair, who was in the Capital for an event organised to felicitate the team behind the successful Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission, suggests operators pool their resources.
DTH players are not allowed exclusive content, which in effect means that all of them offer pretty much the same set of channels. A shared beam can be used by different operators using a standard set top box with different codes, or id cards that would identify the operator, suggests Dr Nair.
Dish TV the country’s first and leading player says theoretically sharing of infrastructure and satellite is possible, but it is an idea that should have been thought of at the licensing stage. “It is being done in Australia and maybe it is something the new players can explore. But it is a little late in the day for the current players, who have not only made huge investments but also have differently encrypted boxes,” said Mr Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV.
Right now, the country’s needs are met by 200 transponders. By the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan ISRO hopes to have 500 transponders. “It is extremely difficult to come by orbital slots, there are very few left in space. It is with great difficulty that we managed to get the five orbital slots we have,” said Dr Nair.
ISRO recently also built a satellite (W2M) for Eutelsat, and is building one more for the United Kingdom. At the cost of $30-40 million, Dr Nair believes ISRO can make significant profit from building satellites for the international market.
Direct-to-Home operators have been queuing up at ISRO for transponders to accommodate the country’s many television channels. The satellite agency can give them space on its own satellites, or lease transponders on international satellite for DTH operators.
But at the rate at which DTH players are expanding, and new channels are being launched, ISRO fears it will be hard to accommodate them. Dr Nair, who was in the Capital for an event organised to felicitate the team behind the successful Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission, suggests operators pool their resources.
DTH players are not allowed exclusive content, which in effect means that all of them offer pretty much the same set of channels. A shared beam can be used by different operators using a standard set top box with different codes, or id cards that would identify the operator, suggests Dr Nair.
Dish TV the country’s first and leading player says theoretically sharing of infrastructure and satellite is possible, but it is an idea that should have been thought of at the licensing stage. “It is being done in Australia and maybe it is something the new players can explore. But it is a little late in the day for the current players, who have not only made huge investments but also have differently encrypted boxes,” said Mr Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV.
Right now, the country’s needs are met by 200 transponders. By the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan ISRO hopes to have 500 transponders. “It is extremely difficult to come by orbital slots, there are very few left in space. It is with great difficulty that we managed to get the five orbital slots we have,” said Dr Nair.
ISRO recently also built a satellite (W2M) for Eutelsat, and is building one more for the United Kingdom. At the cost of $30-40 million, Dr Nair believes ISRO can make significant profit from building satellites for the international market.
Business - Warner Bros. Sues CBS for $49 Million Over Sitcom
Edvard Pettersson
Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. Television unit sued CBS Corp., saying it is owed $49 million from the Charlie Sheen hit comedy “Two and a Half Men.”
A licensing agreement entitles Warner, which produces the show, to additional benefits in the fifth and sixth season, if the show proved to be successful, to recover costs incurred in the first four seasons, according to a complaint filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“CBS has reaped the benefits of the tremendous success of ‘Two and a Half Men’ but wants to deny Warner Bros. the right to its agreed-upon share,” the studio said in the complaint. “It should not be permitted to do so.”
The half-hour situation comedy is currently in its sixth season and is the “crown jewel” of CBS’s Monday night lineup, Warner said. The studio incurred a $61.1 million deficit during the first four seasons as CBS paid less under the licensing agreement than what it cost to produce the show, according to the complaint.
“Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas,” CBS spokesman Chris Ender said in an e-mailed statement.
The case is Warner Bros. Television v. CBS Broadcasting, BC404488, Superior Court of California (Los Angeles County).
Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. Television unit sued CBS Corp., saying it is owed $49 million from the Charlie Sheen hit comedy “Two and a Half Men.”
A licensing agreement entitles Warner, which produces the show, to additional benefits in the fifth and sixth season, if the show proved to be successful, to recover costs incurred in the first four seasons, according to a complaint filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“CBS has reaped the benefits of the tremendous success of ‘Two and a Half Men’ but wants to deny Warner Bros. the right to its agreed-upon share,” the studio said in the complaint. “It should not be permitted to do so.”
The half-hour situation comedy is currently in its sixth season and is the “crown jewel” of CBS’s Monday night lineup, Warner said. The studio incurred a $61.1 million deficit during the first four seasons as CBS paid less under the licensing agreement than what it cost to produce the show, according to the complaint.
“Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas,” CBS spokesman Chris Ender said in an e-mailed statement.
The case is Warner Bros. Television v. CBS Broadcasting, BC404488, Superior Court of California (Los Angeles County).
Entertainment - Q&A Star Den Services CEO
Broadcasters are hit hard by hefty carriage fees as bandwidth is getting choked both on analogue cable and DTH (direct-to-home). Building formidable distribution bouquets is high on their agenda as they struggle to ramp up subscription revenues which is estimated to touch Rs 28 billion this fiscal.
Star Den, a 50:50 joint venture between Star and Digital Entertainment Networks, is quickly adding regional channels to complete its otherwise strong Hindi and English entertainment-news-kids bouquet. Zee-Turner is the only other broadcasting distribution company which has a formidable regional content lineup.
Star Den is eyeing a revenue of Rs 10 billion at a time when the television industry is beginning to feel the first serious signs of a slowdown in advertising revenues. Analysts say this will be a hard task to achieve, despite the boon from DTH revenues. Big TV and Airtel Digital TV launched later in the year, reducing prospects of a full-fiscal revenue gain for the broadcasters.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das, Star Den Media Services chief executive officer Gurjeev Singh Kapoor talks about the dark holes in the distribution business and how the company plans to ramp up growth in a tough business environment.
Excerpts:
Is the steep climb in carriage fees upsetting the business model of broadcasters?
The carriage market has exploded and is expected to end this fiscal at close to Rs 14 billion, up from Rs 6 billion a year ago. As there is a huge amount of bandwidth constraint on analogue cable and even DTH, the industry has changed in terms of carriage. DTH operators are offering 200 channels while the Information and Broadcasting ministry has given the nod to 370 channels. A plethora of channel launches in the Hindi general entertainment, news and regional space has meant that there is a fierce fight for frequency. In a market where funding was easily available, channels were willing to pay more for space on cable networks. Insanity ruled the market.
Will we see a correction in the carriage market?
The balancing act has to happen now. With private equity and other sources of funding drying up, many broadcasters have started contracting their distribution budgets. We could see a flat carriage growth next year as channels start rationalising their costs. Broadcasters are in no position to be omnipresent in all cable networks; they will have to pick and choose where they want to be present and optimise their resources.
But we will continue to see more channel launches next year as Reliance ADAG is planning to get into broadcasting space. Even existing players like Star India have plans to add more channels. Won't this ensure that the carriage tap continues to flow freely?
We may see a 10-15 per cent growth in carriage fee market in FY'11 as more channels enter the race. The next two years will be the blue litmus test for many broadcasters. For the weak channels, there could be a shake out. The fact is that distribution costs have grown unmanageably high.
There can be no potential threat to carriage revenues unless the digital universe expands to at least 25 per cent. When we reach that stage, other models can emerge like broadcasters getting into agreements for sharing their distribution revenues with delivery platform providers.
Are broadcasters getting united to resist on carriage fees?
Broadcasters have doled out so much money in the past because of competition that it will be difficult to correct the system fully. More so, as we will see new channel launches. Carriage fee is being governed by market forces. But it is good that the thought process has started to fight carriage fees collectively. How far that will succeed only time will tell.
Would you want Trai to (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) come out with some regulation on carriage?
I wish there could be some kind of formula that can be arrived at to regulate carriage. As an idea, it is definitely good since the regulator has mandated pricing issues.
How difficult is it to ramp up subscription revenues in the backdrop of MSOs (multi-system operators) consolidating the cable TV market and Trai introducing pricing regulations?
Subscription revenue for pay-TV broadcasters will close at Rs 28 billion in FY'09, up from Rs 23 billion a year ago. Even though there is a slowdown in the market and the times are tough, the industry expects a 10-15 per cent growth in FY'10.
Isn't that growth mainly because of DTH?
DTH, undoubtedly, has expanded the market. But ARPUs (average revenue per user) haven't grown in the DTH business; they are virtually the same as that of cable. IPTV, though much talked about, has also not happend this year.
Will Star Den's revenue touch Rs 10 billion this fiscal?
While we are looking at very aggressive numbers and have set ourselves a very challenging task, I can't comment on our financials.
Do broadcasting distribution companies see the consolidation in the cable TV sector as a welcome change?
The marketplace will make it difficult for small networks even as broadcasters rationalise their distribution budgets. Networks who have a geographical spread can bargain hard with broadcasters. In the short term, they will get paid more and will be reluctant to pay for more subscribers. But in the long term, it is better that the industry moves towards a better structured environment. MSOs and broadcasters have to join hands and realise that ultimately money has to come from the ground.
Since the parent owner of Star Den also runs a cable TV company, how do you leverage the power of your bouquet to push the cable distribution business?
We operate as independent entities. We treate Den like the other MSOs.
Star India had earlier inked a distribution deal with sports broadcaster Neo which did not last long after the new management took over. Do you feel that the Star Den bouquet is strong but still incomplete without sports channels in its mix?
We are currently distributing 23 channels and are in a very strong position to post growth. We have great quality content in the Hindi general entertainment space with Star Plus as the leader and Star One in the fifth spot. In the news television space, we have Times Now which leads in the English segment, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and Star News. CNBC TV18 and Awaaz, of course, are leaders in their segments and are powerful subscription-driven channels.
In the kids genre, we have Hungama and the three Disney channels. For the English-viewing audiences, we have a formidable presence in Star Movies, MGM and Star World. We also distribute NGC and Zoom.
We are now filling up the missing pieces and adding the regional bouquet. With Star buying majority stake in Asianet, we will cover all the languages down south. Star has also launched a Bengali and a Marathi general entertainment channel while the one in Gujarati is in the pipeline.
Will Colors (the second most-watched Hindi GEC from the Viacom18 stable) automatically come to your bouquet when it decides to go pay?
I wouldn't like to offer any comments.
Will you also be getting the MTV channels after Viacom's contract with One Alliance expires on 31 March, 2009?
I don't want to comment on this.
What about the wedding and home shopping channels that Star is planning to launch next year?
Whatever niche channels Star launches, we will be happy to service. Niche channels will have a demand particularly on digital platforms. One the Fox channels launch, we will also be happy to distribute them.
Star Den, a 50:50 joint venture between Star and Digital Entertainment Networks, is quickly adding regional channels to complete its otherwise strong Hindi and English entertainment-news-kids bouquet. Zee-Turner is the only other broadcasting distribution company which has a formidable regional content lineup.
Star Den is eyeing a revenue of Rs 10 billion at a time when the television industry is beginning to feel the first serious signs of a slowdown in advertising revenues. Analysts say this will be a hard task to achieve, despite the boon from DTH revenues. Big TV and Airtel Digital TV launched later in the year, reducing prospects of a full-fiscal revenue gain for the broadcasters.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das, Star Den Media Services chief executive officer Gurjeev Singh Kapoor talks about the dark holes in the distribution business and how the company plans to ramp up growth in a tough business environment.
Excerpts:
Is the steep climb in carriage fees upsetting the business model of broadcasters?
The carriage market has exploded and is expected to end this fiscal at close to Rs 14 billion, up from Rs 6 billion a year ago. As there is a huge amount of bandwidth constraint on analogue cable and even DTH, the industry has changed in terms of carriage. DTH operators are offering 200 channels while the Information and Broadcasting ministry has given the nod to 370 channels. A plethora of channel launches in the Hindi general entertainment, news and regional space has meant that there is a fierce fight for frequency. In a market where funding was easily available, channels were willing to pay more for space on cable networks. Insanity ruled the market.
Will we see a correction in the carriage market?
The balancing act has to happen now. With private equity and other sources of funding drying up, many broadcasters have started contracting their distribution budgets. We could see a flat carriage growth next year as channels start rationalising their costs. Broadcasters are in no position to be omnipresent in all cable networks; they will have to pick and choose where they want to be present and optimise their resources.
But we will continue to see more channel launches next year as Reliance ADAG is planning to get into broadcasting space. Even existing players like Star India have plans to add more channels. Won't this ensure that the carriage tap continues to flow freely?
We may see a 10-15 per cent growth in carriage fee market in FY'11 as more channels enter the race. The next two years will be the blue litmus test for many broadcasters. For the weak channels, there could be a shake out. The fact is that distribution costs have grown unmanageably high.
There can be no potential threat to carriage revenues unless the digital universe expands to at least 25 per cent. When we reach that stage, other models can emerge like broadcasters getting into agreements for sharing their distribution revenues with delivery platform providers.
Are broadcasters getting united to resist on carriage fees?
Broadcasters have doled out so much money in the past because of competition that it will be difficult to correct the system fully. More so, as we will see new channel launches. Carriage fee is being governed by market forces. But it is good that the thought process has started to fight carriage fees collectively. How far that will succeed only time will tell.
Would you want Trai to (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) come out with some regulation on carriage?
I wish there could be some kind of formula that can be arrived at to regulate carriage. As an idea, it is definitely good since the regulator has mandated pricing issues.
How difficult is it to ramp up subscription revenues in the backdrop of MSOs (multi-system operators) consolidating the cable TV market and Trai introducing pricing regulations?
Subscription revenue for pay-TV broadcasters will close at Rs 28 billion in FY'09, up from Rs 23 billion a year ago. Even though there is a slowdown in the market and the times are tough, the industry expects a 10-15 per cent growth in FY'10.
Isn't that growth mainly because of DTH?
DTH, undoubtedly, has expanded the market. But ARPUs (average revenue per user) haven't grown in the DTH business; they are virtually the same as that of cable. IPTV, though much talked about, has also not happend this year.
Will Star Den's revenue touch Rs 10 billion this fiscal?
While we are looking at very aggressive numbers and have set ourselves a very challenging task, I can't comment on our financials.
Do broadcasting distribution companies see the consolidation in the cable TV sector as a welcome change?
The marketplace will make it difficult for small networks even as broadcasters rationalise their distribution budgets. Networks who have a geographical spread can bargain hard with broadcasters. In the short term, they will get paid more and will be reluctant to pay for more subscribers. But in the long term, it is better that the industry moves towards a better structured environment. MSOs and broadcasters have to join hands and realise that ultimately money has to come from the ground.
Since the parent owner of Star Den also runs a cable TV company, how do you leverage the power of your bouquet to push the cable distribution business?
We operate as independent entities. We treate Den like the other MSOs.
Star India had earlier inked a distribution deal with sports broadcaster Neo which did not last long after the new management took over. Do you feel that the Star Den bouquet is strong but still incomplete without sports channels in its mix?
We are currently distributing 23 channels and are in a very strong position to post growth. We have great quality content in the Hindi general entertainment space with Star Plus as the leader and Star One in the fifth spot. In the news television space, we have Times Now which leads in the English segment, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and Star News. CNBC TV18 and Awaaz, of course, are leaders in their segments and are powerful subscription-driven channels.
In the kids genre, we have Hungama and the three Disney channels. For the English-viewing audiences, we have a formidable presence in Star Movies, MGM and Star World. We also distribute NGC and Zoom.
We are now filling up the missing pieces and adding the regional bouquet. With Star buying majority stake in Asianet, we will cover all the languages down south. Star has also launched a Bengali and a Marathi general entertainment channel while the one in Gujarati is in the pipeline.
Will Colors (the second most-watched Hindi GEC from the Viacom18 stable) automatically come to your bouquet when it decides to go pay?
I wouldn't like to offer any comments.
Will you also be getting the MTV channels after Viacom's contract with One Alliance expires on 31 March, 2009?
I don't want to comment on this.
What about the wedding and home shopping channels that Star is planning to launch next year?
Whatever niche channels Star launches, we will be happy to service. Niche channels will have a demand particularly on digital platforms. One the Fox channels launch, we will also be happy to distribute them.
Mktg - Big Cinemas plans to screen films with English subtitles
MUMBAI: In a bid to attract the hearing-impaired and non-Hindi speaking audience to its theaters pan India, Reliance ADAG’s theatre chain Big Cinemas is planning to screen the forthcoming movies with English subtitles.
To begin with, Big Cinemas will screen the Amir Khan-starrer Ghajini with English subtitles from its second week at digital screens in BIG Cinemas’ Wadala and Metro BIG Cinemas in Mumbai.
“We wanted to expand our audience reach and hence, decided to take up this new initiative. This will ensure that the cinema medium can be enjoyed by a larger number of the public - especially the hearing impaired who could not earlier understand the dialogues,” says Big Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra.
"The release of Ghajini, being an eagerly awaited film, was an ideal way for us to start offering this facility and will set a trend for future releases,” Dhingra adds.
Post Ghajini, the next big release that will be screened with English subtitles by Big Cinemas across its digital theatres is Chandni Chowk To China. The film, directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, will hit the theatres on 16 January.
Adlabs Digital Cinema COO Patrick von Sychowski states, “Digital cinema technology makes it easy to introduce such innovations. Hence, we look forward to introducing more such innovations for the benefit of the audience.”
To begin with, Big Cinemas will screen the Amir Khan-starrer Ghajini with English subtitles from its second week at digital screens in BIG Cinemas’ Wadala and Metro BIG Cinemas in Mumbai.
“We wanted to expand our audience reach and hence, decided to take up this new initiative. This will ensure that the cinema medium can be enjoyed by a larger number of the public - especially the hearing impaired who could not earlier understand the dialogues,” says Big Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra.
"The release of Ghajini, being an eagerly awaited film, was an ideal way for us to start offering this facility and will set a trend for future releases,” Dhingra adds.
Post Ghajini, the next big release that will be screened with English subtitles by Big Cinemas across its digital theatres is Chandni Chowk To China. The film, directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, will hit the theatres on 16 January.
Adlabs Digital Cinema COO Patrick von Sychowski states, “Digital cinema technology makes it easy to introduce such innovations. Hence, we look forward to introducing more such innovations for the benefit of the audience.”
Entertainment - YRF’s ‘Rab Ne…’ enters UK top 10 list
MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films’ Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has made it to the top ten of the weekend UK box office, occupying the seventh spot in the list.
The SRK-starrer, which had garnered approximately Rs 900 million worldwide in its first week, has grossed Rs 300 million in its second weekend.
“This is by far the highest collection, even surpassing Dhoom:2 and Chak De India, both of which did outstanding business in their second weekend,” a Yash Raj Films spokesperson said.
While the film’s total collection in India over the second weekend is around Rs 240 million, the film’s gross collection from the overseas markets during the same period is in the region of Rs 75 million
The SRK-starrer, which had garnered approximately Rs 900 million worldwide in its first week, has grossed Rs 300 million in its second weekend.
“This is by far the highest collection, even surpassing Dhoom:2 and Chak De India, both of which did outstanding business in their second weekend,” a Yash Raj Films spokesperson said.
While the film’s total collection in India over the second weekend is around Rs 240 million, the film’s gross collection from the overseas markets during the same period is in the region of Rs 75 million
Entertainment - TZP helps Zee reclaim No.2 slot
Sangeeta Tanwar
After being pushed at No.3 for a few weeks, Zee is back at No.2 among the GECs. But it hasn’t replaced Colors from the No 2 position. Both the channels share the second position among GECs with a share of 20 per cent. Zee’s GRP increased from 194 in Week 50 to 230 in the current week. Colors also managed a GRP of 233 in Week 51, which is slightly higher than that of Zee. As per the TAM Media Research, (C&S, 4+, Hindi speaking markets, Week 51).
STAR Plus, however, continues to be the No.1 channel with a share of 25 per cent. STAR Plus’ GRP increased from 272 in Week 50 to 292 in Week 51.
Zee’s success can be attributed to the success of the Hindi feature film Taare Zameen Par, which garnered a TVR of 5.25, and was the third most rated show of the week following Bidaai on STAR Plus and Balika Vadhu on Colors. Both these shows got a TVR of 7.76 and 7.44, respectively.
Besides Taare Zameen Par, Zee has two more shows in the top 10 list. The music talent hunt show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009, has got a TVR of 3.66, while Maayka which is back in the top 10 list replacing STAR Plus’, Tujh Sang Preet Lagayi Sajna, has got a TVR of 3.19.
New shows that were launched in the last few weeks on STAR Plus and Colors have also made it to the top 10 list of programmes. Uttaran on Colors is the fifth most watched show on GECs with TVR of 3.84. The fourth position is also occupied by another Colors show, Jai Shri Krishna (Colors), which has recorded a 4.81 rating point.
The new show on STAR Plus Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath stands in the sixth place with a TVR of 3.77. Other STAR Plus shows such as Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil and Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat feature in the Top 10 list, too with a TVR of 3.75 and 3.31, respectively.
Among other general entertainment channels Sony is at No. 4, with an 8 per cent relative share, STAR One is at No. 5, with a 7 per cent share, NDTV Imagine is at No. 6, with a 6 per cent share, and 9X, Sahara One and SAB are at No. 7, each with a 4 per cent share. DD 1 and STAR Utsav occupy the No.10 position, both having a relative share of 2 per cent each.
After being pushed at No.3 for a few weeks, Zee is back at No.2 among the GECs. But it hasn’t replaced Colors from the No 2 position. Both the channels share the second position among GECs with a share of 20 per cent. Zee’s GRP increased from 194 in Week 50 to 230 in the current week. Colors also managed a GRP of 233 in Week 51, which is slightly higher than that of Zee. As per the TAM Media Research, (C&S, 4+, Hindi speaking markets, Week 51).
STAR Plus, however, continues to be the No.1 channel with a share of 25 per cent. STAR Plus’ GRP increased from 272 in Week 50 to 292 in Week 51.
Zee’s success can be attributed to the success of the Hindi feature film Taare Zameen Par, which garnered a TVR of 5.25, and was the third most rated show of the week following Bidaai on STAR Plus and Balika Vadhu on Colors. Both these shows got a TVR of 7.76 and 7.44, respectively.
Besides Taare Zameen Par, Zee has two more shows in the top 10 list. The music talent hunt show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009, has got a TVR of 3.66, while Maayka which is back in the top 10 list replacing STAR Plus’, Tujh Sang Preet Lagayi Sajna, has got a TVR of 3.19.
New shows that were launched in the last few weeks on STAR Plus and Colors have also made it to the top 10 list of programmes. Uttaran on Colors is the fifth most watched show on GECs with TVR of 3.84. The fourth position is also occupied by another Colors show, Jai Shri Krishna (Colors), which has recorded a 4.81 rating point.
The new show on STAR Plus Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath stands in the sixth place with a TVR of 3.77. Other STAR Plus shows such as Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil and Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat feature in the Top 10 list, too with a TVR of 3.75 and 3.31, respectively.
Among other general entertainment channels Sony is at No. 4, with an 8 per cent relative share, STAR One is at No. 5, with a 7 per cent share, NDTV Imagine is at No. 6, with a 6 per cent share, and 9X, Sahara One and SAB are at No. 7, each with a 4 per cent share. DD 1 and STAR Utsav occupy the No.10 position, both having a relative share of 2 per cent each.
Lifestyle - Americans prefer news from Web to newspapers: survey
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Internet has surpassed newspapers as the main source for national and international news for Americans, according to a new survey.
Television, however, remains the preferred medium for Americans, according to the survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Seventy percent of the 1,489 people surveyed by Pew said television is their primary source for national and international news.
Forty percent said they get most of their news from the Internet, up from 24 percent in September 2007, and more than the 35 percent who cited newspapers as their main news source.
Only 59 percent of people younger than 30 years old prefer television, Pew said, down from 68 percent in the September 2007 survey.
The latest survey was conducted December 3-7 and released on Tuesday. Pew did not provide the margin of error.
Television, however, remains the preferred medium for Americans, according to the survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Seventy percent of the 1,489 people surveyed by Pew said television is their primary source for national and international news.
Forty percent said they get most of their news from the Internet, up from 24 percent in September 2007, and more than the 35 percent who cited newspapers as their main news source.
Only 59 percent of people younger than 30 years old prefer television, Pew said, down from 68 percent in the September 2007 survey.
The latest survey was conducted December 3-7 and released on Tuesday. Pew did not provide the margin of error.
India - Himalayan villagers on global warming frontline
Sam Taylor
KYANGJIN GOMPA, Nepal (AFP) – Standing in the Himalayan valley of Langtang, Rinjin Dorje Lama remembers where he used to play as a child in the 1960s.
"When I was a kid, it was a lot longer," said Lama, pointing at the Lirung glacier surrounded by snowy peaks on Nepal's northern border with Tibet.
"We used to play on the glacier, and it came right down to the monastery, but now it's about two kilometres (1.2 miles) further back."
Temperatures in the Himalayas are rising by around 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.108 Fahrenheit) annually, according to a long-term study by the Nepalese department of hydrology.
The rate is far above the global average given last year by the UN's senior scientists, who said surface temperatures have risen by a total of 0.74 degrees C over the past 100 years.
"I don't really understand why the glacier has gone so far back, but I am told it's due to global warming," said Lama, whose weather-beaten face makes him look older than his 57 years.
Lama has witnessed other changes in the roadless valley, 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Kathmandu, where sure-footed ponies remain the quickest form of transport.
"I feel that the sun is getting stronger, and in the past there used to be a lot more snow in winter. We used to get up to two metres in the winter, and it would stay for weeks. Last winter we only had two centimetres."
On top of unpredictable weather, other dangers are increasing in Nepal's mountains because of climate change.
As the meltwater flows off the glacier, lakes begin to form and grow.
When the pressure becomes too great, the lake walls burst and release millions of cubic tonnes of water that can wash away people, villages and arable land.
Researchers at the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have said five major glacial lake floods have hit Nepal since 1970, as well as at least two in Tibet and one in Bhutan.
Ang Tsering Sherpa, who grew up in Nepal's Everest region, has observed the growth of one glacial lake with growing concern.
"A small pond first appeared close to the Imja glacier in about 1962," said Sherpa, who owns a trekking and expedition company in Kathmandu.
Last year, a research team from Japan measured the Imja lake as being 1.7 kilometres long, 900 metres wide and 92 metres deep.
"If that lake bursts, it will be like a tsunami," said Sherpa, who estimates that the Imja glacier has been retreating at a rate of 60 metres per year.
"Imagine the damage that will be caused by a lake emptying within minutes into a well-inhabited valley. The loss of life will be huge."
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calculates there are 2,000 glacial lakes forming in Nepal and around 20 are in danger of bursting.
Mountain dwellers are seeing at first hand the effects of global warming, but the changing climate will eventually have dire consequences for a much wider section of Asia's population.
Himalayan snow and ice is a massive freshwater reserve that feeds nine of Asia's major waterways, including the Indus, Ganges and Yellow rivers.
"In the long term, water scarcity will become a big problem," said Sandeep Chamling Rai, WWF climate change officer.
"There will eventually be a tipping point where the amount of water from the glaciers is hugely reduced, which will result in loss of water resources for people downstream who rely on these Himalayan-fed rivers."
The ICIMOD said in August that climate change posed a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayans, putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk.
Studies say much of the blame is due to the "Asia brown cloud" spewed from tailpipes, factory chimneys and power plants -- as well as forests and fields that are burned for agriculture, and wood and dung burned for fuel.
Back in the Langtang Valley, where around 700 people and 4,000 yaks live, Lama can only watch as the ice and snow retreat from around his home.
"I am very worried, but what can we do. We are not contributing to global warming but we feel its effects. I am scared there will be no snow and ice in these mountains within the next 15 years."
KYANGJIN GOMPA, Nepal (AFP) – Standing in the Himalayan valley of Langtang, Rinjin Dorje Lama remembers where he used to play as a child in the 1960s.
"When I was a kid, it was a lot longer," said Lama, pointing at the Lirung glacier surrounded by snowy peaks on Nepal's northern border with Tibet.
"We used to play on the glacier, and it came right down to the monastery, but now it's about two kilometres (1.2 miles) further back."
Temperatures in the Himalayas are rising by around 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.108 Fahrenheit) annually, according to a long-term study by the Nepalese department of hydrology.
The rate is far above the global average given last year by the UN's senior scientists, who said surface temperatures have risen by a total of 0.74 degrees C over the past 100 years.
"I don't really understand why the glacier has gone so far back, but I am told it's due to global warming," said Lama, whose weather-beaten face makes him look older than his 57 years.
Lama has witnessed other changes in the roadless valley, 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Kathmandu, where sure-footed ponies remain the quickest form of transport.
"I feel that the sun is getting stronger, and in the past there used to be a lot more snow in winter. We used to get up to two metres in the winter, and it would stay for weeks. Last winter we only had two centimetres."
On top of unpredictable weather, other dangers are increasing in Nepal's mountains because of climate change.
As the meltwater flows off the glacier, lakes begin to form and grow.
When the pressure becomes too great, the lake walls burst and release millions of cubic tonnes of water that can wash away people, villages and arable land.
Researchers at the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have said five major glacial lake floods have hit Nepal since 1970, as well as at least two in Tibet and one in Bhutan.
Ang Tsering Sherpa, who grew up in Nepal's Everest region, has observed the growth of one glacial lake with growing concern.
"A small pond first appeared close to the Imja glacier in about 1962," said Sherpa, who owns a trekking and expedition company in Kathmandu.
Last year, a research team from Japan measured the Imja lake as being 1.7 kilometres long, 900 metres wide and 92 metres deep.
"If that lake bursts, it will be like a tsunami," said Sherpa, who estimates that the Imja glacier has been retreating at a rate of 60 metres per year.
"Imagine the damage that will be caused by a lake emptying within minutes into a well-inhabited valley. The loss of life will be huge."
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calculates there are 2,000 glacial lakes forming in Nepal and around 20 are in danger of bursting.
Mountain dwellers are seeing at first hand the effects of global warming, but the changing climate will eventually have dire consequences for a much wider section of Asia's population.
Himalayan snow and ice is a massive freshwater reserve that feeds nine of Asia's major waterways, including the Indus, Ganges and Yellow rivers.
"In the long term, water scarcity will become a big problem," said Sandeep Chamling Rai, WWF climate change officer.
"There will eventually be a tipping point where the amount of water from the glaciers is hugely reduced, which will result in loss of water resources for people downstream who rely on these Himalayan-fed rivers."
The ICIMOD said in August that climate change posed a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayans, putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk.
Studies say much of the blame is due to the "Asia brown cloud" spewed from tailpipes, factory chimneys and power plants -- as well as forests and fields that are burned for agriculture, and wood and dung burned for fuel.
Back in the Langtang Valley, where around 700 people and 4,000 yaks live, Lama can only watch as the ice and snow retreat from around his home.
"I am very worried, but what can we do. We are not contributing to global warming but we feel its effects. I am scared there will be no snow and ice in these mountains within the next 15 years."
Tech - Sacred texts: Vatican embraces iTunes prayer book
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is endorsing new technology that brings the book of daily prayers used by priests straight onto iPhones.
The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications is embracing the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by a technologically savvy Italian priest, the Rev. Paolo Padrini, and an Italian Web designer.
The application includes the Breviary prayer book — in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Latin and, in the near future, Portuguese and German. Another section includes the prayers of the daily Mass, and a third contains various other prayers.
After a free trial period in which the iBreviary was downloaded approximately 10,000 times in Italy, an official version was released earlier this month, Padrini said.
The application costs euro0.79 ($1.10), while upgrades will be free. Padrini's proceeds are going to charity.
Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, praised the new application Monday, saying the Church "is learning to use the new technologies primarily as a tool or as a mean of evangelizing, as a way of being able to share its own message with the world."
Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media. During last summer's World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, he sent out mobile phone text messages citing scripture to thousands of registered pilgrims — signed with the tagline "BXVI."
The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications is embracing the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by a technologically savvy Italian priest, the Rev. Paolo Padrini, and an Italian Web designer.
The application includes the Breviary prayer book — in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Latin and, in the near future, Portuguese and German. Another section includes the prayers of the daily Mass, and a third contains various other prayers.
After a free trial period in which the iBreviary was downloaded approximately 10,000 times in Italy, an official version was released earlier this month, Padrini said.
The application costs euro0.79 ($1.10), while upgrades will be free. Padrini's proceeds are going to charity.
Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, praised the new application Monday, saying the Church "is learning to use the new technologies primarily as a tool or as a mean of evangelizing, as a way of being able to share its own message with the world."
Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media. During last summer's World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, he sent out mobile phone text messages citing scripture to thousands of registered pilgrims — signed with the tagline "BXVI."
Lifestyle - Even a tiny bit of flab raises heart failure risk
Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Even a little bit of extra weight can raise the risk of heart failure, according to a U.S. study published on Monday that calculated the heart hazards of being pudgy but not obese.
It comes as little surprise that obesity makes a person much more apt to get heart failure, a deadly condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood throughout the body.
But researchers who tracked the health of 21,094 U.S. male doctors for two decades found that even those who were only modestly overweight had a higher risk -- and it grew along with the amount of extra weight.
In men who are 5 feet 10 inches tall, for every seven pounds (3.2 kg) of excess body weight, their risk of heart failure rose on average by 11 percent over the next 20 years, the researchers wrote in the journal Circulation.
The average age of the men at the outset of the so-called Physicians' Health Study was 53. During the study, 1,109 of them developed heart failure.
Overall, the risk of heart failure increased by 180 percent in men who met the definition of obesity according to their body mass index (BMI of 30 and higher), and by 49 percent in men who met the definition of overweight (a BMI of 25 to 30).
Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, contributes to 300,000 deaths each year in the United States.
Conditions such as coronary artery disease and high blood pressure can leave the heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood efficiently.
Dr. Satish Kenchaiah of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues also looked at how physical activity affected heart failure risk.
"The lean and active group had the lowest risk and the obese and inactive group had the highest risk," Kenchaiah said in a telephone interview.
"As far as vigorous physical activity is concerned, even if somebody said they exercised one to three times per month -- which is a very low level of exercise -- they had an 18 percent reduction in the risk of heart failure after accounting for all other established risk factors," Kenchaiah added.
The benefit of exercise in cutting heart failure risk was seen in lean, overweight and obese men, the researchers found. But regardless of the level of activity, higher body mass index also meant higher heart failure risk.
(Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Xavier Briand)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Even a little bit of extra weight can raise the risk of heart failure, according to a U.S. study published on Monday that calculated the heart hazards of being pudgy but not obese.
It comes as little surprise that obesity makes a person much more apt to get heart failure, a deadly condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood throughout the body.
But researchers who tracked the health of 21,094 U.S. male doctors for two decades found that even those who were only modestly overweight had a higher risk -- and it grew along with the amount of extra weight.
In men who are 5 feet 10 inches tall, for every seven pounds (3.2 kg) of excess body weight, their risk of heart failure rose on average by 11 percent over the next 20 years, the researchers wrote in the journal Circulation.
The average age of the men at the outset of the so-called Physicians' Health Study was 53. During the study, 1,109 of them developed heart failure.
Overall, the risk of heart failure increased by 180 percent in men who met the definition of obesity according to their body mass index (BMI of 30 and higher), and by 49 percent in men who met the definition of overweight (a BMI of 25 to 30).
Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, contributes to 300,000 deaths each year in the United States.
Conditions such as coronary artery disease and high blood pressure can leave the heart too weak or stiff to fill and pump blood efficiently.
Dr. Satish Kenchaiah of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues also looked at how physical activity affected heart failure risk.
"The lean and active group had the lowest risk and the obese and inactive group had the highest risk," Kenchaiah said in a telephone interview.
"As far as vigorous physical activity is concerned, even if somebody said they exercised one to three times per month -- which is a very low level of exercise -- they had an 18 percent reduction in the risk of heart failure after accounting for all other established risk factors," Kenchaiah added.
The benefit of exercise in cutting heart failure risk was seen in lean, overweight and obese men, the researchers found. But regardless of the level of activity, higher body mass index also meant higher heart failure risk.
(Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Xavier Briand)
Business - HP Makes App Store Debut with iPrint Photo
Jennifer LeClaire
HP has jumped photos first into the Apple App Store. by releasing iPrint Photo, a free application that gives iPhone and iPod touch customers the ability to print photos wirelessly.
With the official launch of iPrint Photo, HP becomes the first company to offer an application that prints photos directly from an iPod touch or iPhone without using a desktop or laptop computer. iPrint Photo lets consumers wirelessly print 4 x 6-inch photos from the Apple devices to most HP inkjet printers connected to a local Wi-Fi network.
Uncaging iPhone Photos
The HP iPrint Photo application aims to give customers the freedom and flexibility to wirelessly print the photos that have been captured on iPhone or iPod touch devices. The application will be showcased for the first time at the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo and the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The iPrint Photo application is fully compatible with Apple's Bonjour technology and uses Apple's Multi-Touch interface for a wireless iPhone or iPod touch print experience.
"There's a major shift happening in the mobile domain today," said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Annual camera phone device shipments are exploding on a worldwide basis, and mobile photo printing is quickly growing. Until now, customers had no easy way to print the special moments captured on their iPhone or stored on their iPod touch."
An App Store Explosion
HP isn't the only brand making headlines this week with its App Store induction. Kraft Foods also launched an application for the iPhone: the iFood Assistant. The new application offers users access to food and meal planning ideas. The Kraft app is available for 99 cents.
Last week, Big Canvas launched HolidayFrames, an application that allows users to customize photos on the iPhone and iPod touch with holiday-themed photo frames. That application costs $1.99. The company plans to launch new apps around upcoming holidays, such as Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's day.
And CallFire earlier this month launched a voice broadcast application for the iPhone. The free service lets people send a voice-recorded personal message to many contacts at the same time so they don't have to make multiple phone calls or type lengthy text messages.
The App Store Phenomenon
According to Michael Gartenberg, vice president of Mobile Strategy at Jupitermedia, the HP iPrint Photo debut, as well as the myriad of other applications making their way to the App Store, demonstrates how the iTunes marketplace is somewhere everyone wants to be.
"The App Store is like Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. Everyone just shows up there," Gartenberg said. "If you look at the rest of the partners, whether it's HP or AccuWeather or USA Today, companies have this notion that this is where consumers are going and they want to be part of that ecosystem and get that brand in the ecosystem."
By contrast, Gartenberg said the market isn't seeing companies rush to build applications for the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile or even the Android mobile platform with the fervor that Apple is enjoying. App Store additions are making news as they are launched to the marketplace.
"You simply can't discount the importance that this ecosystem has taken on in and of itself where it has become the story and the fact that Apple has done this in less than six months," Gartenberg said.
HP has jumped photos first into the Apple App Store. by releasing iPrint Photo, a free application that gives iPhone and iPod touch customers the ability to print photos wirelessly.
With the official launch of iPrint Photo, HP becomes the first company to offer an application that prints photos directly from an iPod touch or iPhone without using a desktop or laptop computer. iPrint Photo lets consumers wirelessly print 4 x 6-inch photos from the Apple devices to most HP inkjet printers connected to a local Wi-Fi network.
Uncaging iPhone Photos
The HP iPrint Photo application aims to give customers the freedom and flexibility to wirelessly print the photos that have been captured on iPhone or iPod touch devices. The application will be showcased for the first time at the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo and the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The iPrint Photo application is fully compatible with Apple's Bonjour technology and uses Apple's Multi-Touch interface for a wireless iPhone or iPod touch print experience.
"There's a major shift happening in the mobile domain today," said Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "Annual camera phone device shipments are exploding on a worldwide basis, and mobile photo printing is quickly growing. Until now, customers had no easy way to print the special moments captured on their iPhone or stored on their iPod touch."
An App Store Explosion
HP isn't the only brand making headlines this week with its App Store induction. Kraft Foods also launched an application for the iPhone: the iFood Assistant. The new application offers users access to food and meal planning ideas. The Kraft app is available for 99 cents.
Last week, Big Canvas launched HolidayFrames, an application that allows users to customize photos on the iPhone and iPod touch with holiday-themed photo frames. That application costs $1.99. The company plans to launch new apps around upcoming holidays, such as Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's day.
And CallFire earlier this month launched a voice broadcast application for the iPhone. The free service lets people send a voice-recorded personal message to many contacts at the same time so they don't have to make multiple phone calls or type lengthy text messages.
The App Store Phenomenon
According to Michael Gartenberg, vice president of Mobile Strategy at Jupitermedia, the HP iPrint Photo debut, as well as the myriad of other applications making their way to the App Store, demonstrates how the iTunes marketplace is somewhere everyone wants to be.
"The App Store is like Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. Everyone just shows up there," Gartenberg said. "If you look at the rest of the partners, whether it's HP or AccuWeather or USA Today, companies have this notion that this is where consumers are going and they want to be part of that ecosystem and get that brand in the ecosystem."
By contrast, Gartenberg said the market isn't seeing companies rush to build applications for the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile or even the Android mobile platform with the fervor that Apple is enjoying. App Store additions are making news as they are launched to the marketplace.
"You simply can't discount the importance that this ecosystem has taken on in and of itself where it has become the story and the fact that Apple has done this in less than six months," Gartenberg said.
Business - Microsoft Acknowledges Critical SQL Server Flaw
Jennifer LeClaire
Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a vulnerability that could allow remote-code execution on systems with supported editions of its Microsoft SQL Server products.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, and Windows Internal Database are affected. Systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected by this issue.
"Microsoft is aware that exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by this advisory," Microsoft said in its security advisory. "Currently, Microsoft is not aware of active attacks that use this exploit code or of customer impact at this time."
Alerting All Database Admins
According to Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, the vulnerability in Microsoft's SQL Server product is highly critical. Database administrators, he said, should immediately review and implement the workarounds Microsoft offered as soon as possible.
"MS SQL Server is a highly popular product as we have seen in April of this year, when [an] SQL-Injection vulnerability that specifically targeted MS SQL Server-driven Web sites was used to redirect users to Web sites serving malware," Kandek said. "The effects of this attack are still out on the Internet, as we can still see sites that have fallen victim to the attack and that have not been restored to an exploit-free state."
Kandek said the potential exists for private data leakage, as well as major disruptions in critical Microsoft SQL-driven applications, such as e-commerce and HR. On the positive side, Qualys believes companies have aggressively firewalled off their Microsoft SQL Server from being accessible directly on the Internet after the traumatic Slammer worm in 2003. That, Kandek said, should provide some protection from direct attacks.
However, he added, a smart attacker can easily pair this exploit with another attack mechanism, such as phishing, to get behind the corporate firewalls and then attack all accessible MS SQL Server installations.
Mitigating Factors
Microsoft said its investigation of this exploit code has verified that it does not affect systems that have had the suggested workarounds applied.
For example, the vulnerability is not exposed anonymously. According to Microsoft, an attacker would need to either authenticate to exploit the vulnerability or take advantage of an SQL injection vulnerability in a Web application that it is able to authenticate.
By default, MSDE 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Express do not allow remote connections. An authenticated attacker would need to initiate the attack locally to exploit the vulnerability. Microsoft said it is not aware of any third-party applications that use MSDE 2000 or SQL Server 2005 Express that would be vulnerable to remote attack. However, Microsoft is actively monitoring this situation to provide customer guidance as necessary.
"We expect that Microsoft is currently working on [a] patch and will release it out of band. Differently from the recent release of the Internet Explorer patch, the deployment will be slow," Kandek said. "MS SQL is part of the core server infrastructure of many enterprise companies and is subject to lengthy patch and testing cycles before any such fix can be deployed."
Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a vulnerability that could allow remote-code execution on systems with supported editions of its Microsoft SQL Server products.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, and Windows Internal Database are affected. Systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected by this issue.
"Microsoft is aware that exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by this advisory," Microsoft said in its security advisory. "Currently, Microsoft is not aware of active attacks that use this exploit code or of customer impact at this time."
Alerting All Database Admins
According to Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, the vulnerability in Microsoft's SQL Server product is highly critical. Database administrators, he said, should immediately review and implement the workarounds Microsoft offered as soon as possible.
"MS SQL Server is a highly popular product as we have seen in April of this year, when [an] SQL-Injection vulnerability that specifically targeted MS SQL Server-driven Web sites was used to redirect users to Web sites serving malware," Kandek said. "The effects of this attack are still out on the Internet, as we can still see sites that have fallen victim to the attack and that have not been restored to an exploit-free state."
Kandek said the potential exists for private data leakage, as well as major disruptions in critical Microsoft SQL-driven applications, such as e-commerce and HR. On the positive side, Qualys believes companies have aggressively firewalled off their Microsoft SQL Server from being accessible directly on the Internet after the traumatic Slammer worm in 2003. That, Kandek said, should provide some protection from direct attacks.
However, he added, a smart attacker can easily pair this exploit with another attack mechanism, such as phishing, to get behind the corporate firewalls and then attack all accessible MS SQL Server installations.
Mitigating Factors
Microsoft said its investigation of this exploit code has verified that it does not affect systems that have had the suggested workarounds applied.
For example, the vulnerability is not exposed anonymously. According to Microsoft, an attacker would need to either authenticate to exploit the vulnerability or take advantage of an SQL injection vulnerability in a Web application that it is able to authenticate.
By default, MSDE 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Express do not allow remote connections. An authenticated attacker would need to initiate the attack locally to exploit the vulnerability. Microsoft said it is not aware of any third-party applications that use MSDE 2000 or SQL Server 2005 Express that would be vulnerable to remote attack. However, Microsoft is actively monitoring this situation to provide customer guidance as necessary.
"We expect that Microsoft is currently working on [a] patch and will release it out of band. Differently from the recent release of the Internet Explorer patch, the deployment will be slow," Kandek said. "MS SQL is part of the core server infrastructure of many enterprise companies and is subject to lengthy patch and testing cycles before any such fix can be deployed."
Business - Google Hands Out Phones, Not Cash, as Holiday Bonus
Patricia Resende
While Internet search giant Google handed out cash to employees last year, the company is scaling back and giving its workers a different kind of gift this holiday season.
Google is giving its employees a taste of its own Kool-Aid by passing out Android-based mobile phones to at least 85 percent of employees, a person described as "familiar with the matter" told Bloomberg News.
"The current economic crisis requires us to be more conservative about how we spend our money," Google said in an internal memo that was posted on technology industry blog Valleywag.com.
Because the phone will not work in more than one dozen countries, including Turkey, Kenya, Brazil, Russia and India, Google is instead giving $400 to employees in those countries, which is the cash value of the phone.
Cash-Strapped or Celebration of Android?
Gone are the days of huge cash bonuses and all-expenses-paid holiday weekend trips to the Caribbean.
Instead, companies are finding ways to cut costs, making drastic changes including cutting thousands of jobs, cutting back on plans to expand, and spinning off other businesses in order to turn around a profit for shareholders -- and in an effort to stay afloat.
Adobe Systems, Viacom, AT&T and Circuit City are just some of the companies that have cut between 600 and 5,000 employees in recent weeks.
Google, while successful, has also felt the pinch of the economic downturn and has also had to scale back. Last month, the company quietly cut a reported 3,000 contract positions.
So Google's explanation behind its move should not be shocking to employees.
"Some of you will of course be wondering why we decided to change from a cash bonus to the Dream phone," Google states in the posted memo. "Here are the reasons: First, we've never developed anything like the Android software before and this represented a unique opportunity to celebrate that achievement."
"Googlers globally have been asking for the Dream phone, and we're looking forward to seeing all the different things that you do with them," the company said. "This is a chance for us to once again dogfood a product and make it even better! We felt that giving the Dream phone would be a great holiday present -- something we could all celebrate."
Bloggers React
Bloggers are fired up about Google employees who are not gracious about receiving the mobile phone as a bonus.
Bloggers say Google employees should be happy that they are receiving a bonus in such hard economic times and should be thankful that they are not being sent home for the holidays with a pink slip, as many in the technology industry have in recent months.
Google employees will receive an e-mail from Google's "Holiday Gift Team" in each office with the logistics of when they will receive their phone, according to the company.
While Internet search giant Google handed out cash to employees last year, the company is scaling back and giving its workers a different kind of gift this holiday season.
Google is giving its employees a taste of its own Kool-Aid by passing out Android-based mobile phones to at least 85 percent of employees, a person described as "familiar with the matter" told Bloomberg News.
"The current economic crisis requires us to be more conservative about how we spend our money," Google said in an internal memo that was posted on technology industry blog Valleywag.com.
Because the phone will not work in more than one dozen countries, including Turkey, Kenya, Brazil, Russia and India, Google is instead giving $400 to employees in those countries, which is the cash value of the phone.
Cash-Strapped or Celebration of Android?
Gone are the days of huge cash bonuses and all-expenses-paid holiday weekend trips to the Caribbean.
Instead, companies are finding ways to cut costs, making drastic changes including cutting thousands of jobs, cutting back on plans to expand, and spinning off other businesses in order to turn around a profit for shareholders -- and in an effort to stay afloat.
Adobe Systems, Viacom, AT&T and Circuit City are just some of the companies that have cut between 600 and 5,000 employees in recent weeks.
Google, while successful, has also felt the pinch of the economic downturn and has also had to scale back. Last month, the company quietly cut a reported 3,000 contract positions.
So Google's explanation behind its move should not be shocking to employees.
"Some of you will of course be wondering why we decided to change from a cash bonus to the Dream phone," Google states in the posted memo. "Here are the reasons: First, we've never developed anything like the Android software before and this represented a unique opportunity to celebrate that achievement."
"Googlers globally have been asking for the Dream phone, and we're looking forward to seeing all the different things that you do with them," the company said. "This is a chance for us to once again dogfood a product and make it even better! We felt that giving the Dream phone would be a great holiday present -- something we could all celebrate."
Bloggers React
Bloggers are fired up about Google employees who are not gracious about receiving the mobile phone as a bonus.
Bloggers say Google employees should be happy that they are receiving a bonus in such hard economic times and should be thankful that they are not being sent home for the holidays with a pink slip, as many in the technology industry have in recent months.
Google employees will receive an e-mail from Google's "Holiday Gift Team" in each office with the logistics of when they will receive their phone, according to the company.
Tech - Will Apple Release an iPhone Nano in January?
Barry Levine
One of the hottest online rumors in the days leading up to January's Macworld Conference & Expo contends that Apple is planning to release an iPhone nano.
According to MacRumors.com, which has been a central focal point for the rumors, there are some items of possible evidence -- as well as some doubts.
Rumors from China
On the "possible evidence" side, MacRumors.com showed a screenshot from the Web site of an iPhone case manufacturer, XSKN. The screenshot shows a "Browse by Category" menu of phone model choices, which, under iPhone, includes "iPhone nano" as well as iPhone 3G and "iPhone 1st Gen."
The credibility for this evidence, MacRumors noted, is that XSKN began selling cases earlier this year for the iPhone 3G, before it was released. In September, it showed case images of unreleased fourth-generation iPod nano designs, prior to that model's release.
Although XSKN has not published images specifically identified as the iPhone nano, a company called iDealsChina has. Commentary on iDealsChina's site noted that China is the place these rumors often start because the "thousands of people involved in building iPhone components" means information will get out. This information, the commentary noted, can mean "millions of dollars, if you get it right and you get it early," for "accessory manufacturers and agents in China" who will then decide whether and when to produce accompanying items.
In a posting dated December 15, iDealsChina contended that a variety of companies are currently producing cases for the new iPhone nano. It quoted other sites as suggesting that the new iPhone would have a control dial with a pull-out keypad, but no 3G. iDealsChina also contended that the iPhone nano will be targeted at those who are looking for a lower price point, will be sold in such stores as Walmart, and will be launched at the Macworld show in January.
Doubts on Photo, Form Factor
On the "dubious evidence" side, MacRumors also published a photo that looks like a product shot, with a regular-sized iPhone next to a version that is about 25 percent smaller. The site noted that it has doubts about the photo because of its source -- it was submitted anonymously -- and because of "the practicality of introducing a new form factor to the iPhone/iPod touch platform."
Whether the rumors are true or not, some refreshing of the iPhone line is expected. The device, which had a brief period of being unlike anything else on the market, is now facing a variety of competitors, especially outside the United States.
A new report from industry research firm ChangeWave, for instance, showed that, while the iPhone is more than holding its own against Research In Motion's recently released BlackBerry Storm, widely considered to be an iPhone challenger, there were clouds on the horizon.
One example: The report showed that 39 percent of the respondents to its survey planned to buy a BlackBerry in the next three months, an increase of nine percent from September. Thirty percent intended to buy an iPhone, which was down four percent from September.
One of the hottest online rumors in the days leading up to January's Macworld Conference & Expo contends that Apple is planning to release an iPhone nano.
According to MacRumors.com, which has been a central focal point for the rumors, there are some items of possible evidence -- as well as some doubts.
Rumors from China
On the "possible evidence" side, MacRumors.com showed a screenshot from the Web site of an iPhone case manufacturer, XSKN. The screenshot shows a "Browse by Category" menu of phone model choices, which, under iPhone, includes "iPhone nano" as well as iPhone 3G and "iPhone 1st Gen."
The credibility for this evidence, MacRumors noted, is that XSKN began selling cases earlier this year for the iPhone 3G, before it was released. In September, it showed case images of unreleased fourth-generation iPod nano designs, prior to that model's release.
Although XSKN has not published images specifically identified as the iPhone nano, a company called iDealsChina has. Commentary on iDealsChina's site noted that China is the place these rumors often start because the "thousands of people involved in building iPhone components" means information will get out. This information, the commentary noted, can mean "millions of dollars, if you get it right and you get it early," for "accessory manufacturers and agents in China" who will then decide whether and when to produce accompanying items.
In a posting dated December 15, iDealsChina contended that a variety of companies are currently producing cases for the new iPhone nano. It quoted other sites as suggesting that the new iPhone would have a control dial with a pull-out keypad, but no 3G. iDealsChina also contended that the iPhone nano will be targeted at those who are looking for a lower price point, will be sold in such stores as Walmart, and will be launched at the Macworld show in January.
Doubts on Photo, Form Factor
On the "dubious evidence" side, MacRumors also published a photo that looks like a product shot, with a regular-sized iPhone next to a version that is about 25 percent smaller. The site noted that it has doubts about the photo because of its source -- it was submitted anonymously -- and because of "the practicality of introducing a new form factor to the iPhone/iPod touch platform."
Whether the rumors are true or not, some refreshing of the iPhone line is expected. The device, which had a brief period of being unlike anything else on the market, is now facing a variety of competitors, especially outside the United States.
A new report from industry research firm ChangeWave, for instance, showed that, while the iPhone is more than holding its own against Research In Motion's recently released BlackBerry Storm, widely considered to be an iPhone challenger, there were clouds on the horizon.
One example: The report showed that 39 percent of the respondents to its survey planned to buy a BlackBerry in the next three months, an increase of nine percent from September. Thirty percent intended to buy an iPhone, which was down four percent from September.
World - Asia at risk of era of mega-disasters: report
SYDNEY (AFP) – The Asia-Pacific faces an era of large-scale natural disasters which could kill up to one million people at a time, with Indonesia, the Philippines and China most at risk, according to an Australian report.
The Sydney Morning Herald cited a scientific report which found that the impact of natural events such as earthquakes and tsunamis would in coming years be amplified by rising populations and climate change.
The paper said the report, by government body Geoscience Australia, had prompted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create a joint disaster training and research centre.
Geoscience Australia could not be reached for comment Friday.
The Herald said the Australian scientists had analysed the likelihood of earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis and volcanoes occurring in the region and then estimated the likely casualty toll.
The study found that cities in the Himalayan belt, China, Indonesia and the Philippines could experience earthquakes where the death toll could top one million.
Indonesia and the Philippines were was also at risk of volcanoes which could affect hundreds of thousands of people while a low-lying country like Bangladesh could be ravaged by tsunamis, floods and cyclones.
The study, part of an assessment by Australia and Indonesia on humanitarian crises, said catastrophes which killed more than 10,000 people were likely to occur several times each decade and there was the potential for events to affect more than one million people.
The paper said that rising populations, climate change and food shortages could exacerbate natural events.
Geoscience Australia scientist Alanna Simpson said the analysis looked at the data of natural events from the past 400 years to predict the likelihood of future events.
"Whilst the incidence of natural hazards themselves -- earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the like -- hasn't really changed, the sheer number of people living in the Asia-Pacific region means any earthquake has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions," Simpson said.
"If we worked out that parts of Alaska, for instance, are likely to have a volcanic eruption every 100 years, the impact of those events would be pretty low because there is no one living in those parts of Alaska, whereas the same frequency in Java will have a huge impact."
The Sydney Morning Herald cited a scientific report which found that the impact of natural events such as earthquakes and tsunamis would in coming years be amplified by rising populations and climate change.
The paper said the report, by government body Geoscience Australia, had prompted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create a joint disaster training and research centre.
Geoscience Australia could not be reached for comment Friday.
The Herald said the Australian scientists had analysed the likelihood of earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis and volcanoes occurring in the region and then estimated the likely casualty toll.
The study found that cities in the Himalayan belt, China, Indonesia and the Philippines could experience earthquakes where the death toll could top one million.
Indonesia and the Philippines were was also at risk of volcanoes which could affect hundreds of thousands of people while a low-lying country like Bangladesh could be ravaged by tsunamis, floods and cyclones.
The study, part of an assessment by Australia and Indonesia on humanitarian crises, said catastrophes which killed more than 10,000 people were likely to occur several times each decade and there was the potential for events to affect more than one million people.
The paper said that rising populations, climate change and food shortages could exacerbate natural events.
Geoscience Australia scientist Alanna Simpson said the analysis looked at the data of natural events from the past 400 years to predict the likelihood of future events.
"Whilst the incidence of natural hazards themselves -- earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the like -- hasn't really changed, the sheer number of people living in the Asia-Pacific region means any earthquake has the potential to affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions," Simpson said.
"If we worked out that parts of Alaska, for instance, are likely to have a volcanic eruption every 100 years, the impact of those events would be pretty low because there is no one living in those parts of Alaska, whereas the same frequency in Java will have a huge impact."
Business - Notebooks Ascend to PC Supremacy: First Time Ever
Over the past quarter, PC makers shipped more notebook PCs than desktops for the first time ever, marking a major milestone in the industry, according to market research firm iSuppli. While the number of units shipped worldwide during the third quarter looks relatively close -- 38.6 million notebook PCs vs. 38.5 million desktop PCS -- sales of notebook PCs experienced far more growth.
Figures released by iSuppli indicate notebook PC shipments rose almost 40 percent in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007. In contrast, desktop PC shipments dropped by 1.3 percent for the same period.
Not Too Surprising
Matthew Wilkins, who is principal analyst for computing platforms at iSuppli explains that, "Momentum has been building in the notebook market for some time, so it's not a complete surprise that [notebook] shipments have surpassed those of desktops."
At the same time, he points to the third-quarter news as a significant event in the PC market because it marks what he calls, "the start of the age of the notebook."
The notebook PC, he says, is no longer a tool only for the business market, or for well-off consumers; "it's now a computer for everyman."
HP and Dell Stay Strong, Acer Moves Ahead
Further data from the iSuppli report show no major changes among the relative rankings of the Top-5 PC makers during Q3, although Acer experienced significant growth.
U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard retained the top spot, with shipments of 14.9 million units, and an 18.8 percent market share. Fellow U.S. PC-maker Dell maintained second place, shipping just under 11 million units, netting a market share of 13.9 percent.
Taiwan-based Acer remained in third place with a market share of 12.2 percent resulting from shipments of 9.7 million during the quarter. The iSuppli report called out Acer, in particular, for its "standout performance" during the third quarter.
"On a sequential basis, the company grew its unit shipment market share by 45 percent, and by 79 percent on a year-over-year basis," Wilkins said. Acer shipped almost 3 million more notebooks in the third quarter than it did in Q2, with the majority of those 3 million being the company's netbook products. "Clearly, the company's netbook strategy is paying dividends," Wilkins said, "with Acer now trailing Dell by less than 2 percentage points of market share for all PCs."
Rounding out the list of Top-5 PC makers were Lenovo in the fourth spot with a market share of 7.5, and Toshiba Corp., ranked fifth with a 4.6 percent market share.
Where's Apple?
Looking beyond the Top-5 OEMs, the iSuppli report shows Apple in seventh place overall for PC shipments. Apple lost almost half a point of market share on a sequential basis, ending with a market share of 3.2 percent.
Taiwan-based ASUSTeK Computer Inc. reported a great performance, according to iSuppli, with its ASUS notebook shipments. The company surpassed Lenovo to become the fifth-largest notebook PC OEM, while retaining its position overall as the sixth-ranked PC OEM in terms of total PC shipments.
Screen Real Estate Growing Too
For those who think laptops and notebooks can't replace desktops in the long run because of their limited screen size, Lenovo has some interesting news. The company last week announced the upcoming release of the first laptop with two LCD screens.
The ThinkPad W700ds laptop sports a 17-inch main screen and a 10.6-inch second screen. Lenovo calls it a "mobile workstation," designed for power users who are accustomed to two screens when they sit at a desk.
The double-screened laptop will debut in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with an expected release at about the same time.
Figures released by iSuppli indicate notebook PC shipments rose almost 40 percent in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007. In contrast, desktop PC shipments dropped by 1.3 percent for the same period.
Not Too Surprising
Matthew Wilkins, who is principal analyst for computing platforms at iSuppli explains that, "Momentum has been building in the notebook market for some time, so it's not a complete surprise that [notebook] shipments have surpassed those of desktops."
At the same time, he points to the third-quarter news as a significant event in the PC market because it marks what he calls, "the start of the age of the notebook."
The notebook PC, he says, is no longer a tool only for the business market, or for well-off consumers; "it's now a computer for everyman."
HP and Dell Stay Strong, Acer Moves Ahead
Further data from the iSuppli report show no major changes among the relative rankings of the Top-5 PC makers during Q3, although Acer experienced significant growth.
U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard retained the top spot, with shipments of 14.9 million units, and an 18.8 percent market share. Fellow U.S. PC-maker Dell maintained second place, shipping just under 11 million units, netting a market share of 13.9 percent.
Taiwan-based Acer remained in third place with a market share of 12.2 percent resulting from shipments of 9.7 million during the quarter. The iSuppli report called out Acer, in particular, for its "standout performance" during the third quarter.
"On a sequential basis, the company grew its unit shipment market share by 45 percent, and by 79 percent on a year-over-year basis," Wilkins said. Acer shipped almost 3 million more notebooks in the third quarter than it did in Q2, with the majority of those 3 million being the company's netbook products. "Clearly, the company's netbook strategy is paying dividends," Wilkins said, "with Acer now trailing Dell by less than 2 percentage points of market share for all PCs."
Rounding out the list of Top-5 PC makers were Lenovo in the fourth spot with a market share of 7.5, and Toshiba Corp., ranked fifth with a 4.6 percent market share.
Where's Apple?
Looking beyond the Top-5 OEMs, the iSuppli report shows Apple in seventh place overall for PC shipments. Apple lost almost half a point of market share on a sequential basis, ending with a market share of 3.2 percent.
Taiwan-based ASUSTeK Computer Inc. reported a great performance, according to iSuppli, with its ASUS notebook shipments. The company surpassed Lenovo to become the fifth-largest notebook PC OEM, while retaining its position overall as the sixth-ranked PC OEM in terms of total PC shipments.
Screen Real Estate Growing Too
For those who think laptops and notebooks can't replace desktops in the long run because of their limited screen size, Lenovo has some interesting news. The company last week announced the upcoming release of the first laptop with two LCD screens.
The ThinkPad W700ds laptop sports a 17-inch main screen and a 10.6-inch second screen. Lenovo calls it a "mobile workstation," designed for power users who are accustomed to two screens when they sit at a desk.
The double-screened laptop will debut in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with an expected release at about the same time.
World - US;Obama visits Marines in Hawaii for Christmas dinner
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, made a Christmas Day stop at a Marine Corps base in Hawaii, where he greeted troops and their family members during holiday dinner.
Obama spent a little more than an hour greeting service men and women at the mess hall at Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay.
The Obama family celebrated Christmas by opening presents at their vacation rental compound in Kailua.
Earlier Thursday, in a holiday radio and online video address, Obama paid tribute to US sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines and coast guard forces.
"In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table; in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can only wonder at the look on their child's face as they open a gift back home," said the president-elect, who is due to take the oath of office on January 20.
Obama spent a little more than an hour greeting service men and women at the mess hall at Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay.
The Obama family celebrated Christmas by opening presents at their vacation rental compound in Kailua.
Earlier Thursday, in a holiday radio and online video address, Obama paid tribute to US sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines and coast guard forces.
"In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table; in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can only wonder at the look on their child's face as they open a gift back home," said the president-elect, who is due to take the oath of office on January 20.
World - Iran's unpopular president is favored to win re-election
Warren P Strobel
TEHRAN, Iran — In many other countries it would be a slam-dunk for the opposition: The president is increasingly unpopular, his economic policies are blamed for 30 percent annual inflation and his foreign policy has left the country more isolated than at any time in recent memory.
However, this is Iran , where things are never simple. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be the subject of incessant grumbling and the butt of jokes zinging from cell phone to cell phone via text message. Yet with presidential elections six months away, he's still the man to beat.
The elections will be of intense interest to President-elect Barack Obama . Iran's alleged nuclear-weapons program, support for terrorist groups and influence in Iraq , Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, are likely to make the Islamic Republic one of his main foreign policy challenges. Some observers have speculated that Obama may wait until after June before offering direct negotiations with Iran , in hopes that Ahmadinejad will be replaced by a more moderate figure.
Ahmadinejad's opponents, mostly reformers and some traditional conservatives, are struggling to capitalize on the president's woes and heal their own internal divisions.
"We're not sure we're going to have a consensus candidate," acknowledged Mostafa Tajzadeh, a deputy interior minister under former President Mohammad Khatami .
Tajzadeh spoke in an interview in the offices of a magazine published by the Islamic Iran Participation Front , a reformist party associated with Khatami. Days earlier, criticism of Ahmadinejad's economic policies dominated the party's annual meeting in Tehran .
Khatami, who served two terms as president from 1997 to 2005, has emerged as the opposition's best hope. An intense, behind-the-scenes campaign is under way to persuade him to run, according to Iranian political figures and analysts.
"Khatami looks like a savior to the people right now," said one analyst who requested anonymity because he feared retribution.
"We were critical of Khatami before," the analyst said, reflecting widespread disillusionment with the former president's failure to carry out reforms opposed by the country's conservative Shiite Muslim religious establishment. "Now we pray he returns."
Khatami, 65, said last week that he's considering running for his old job, but he hasn't decided.
Other potential candidates in the June election include Ahmadinejad, who has yet to announce that he'll seek a second four-year term; moderate cleric Mehdi Karroubi, who finished third in the 2005 presidential election; speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani ; and respected Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf , who holds the post Ahmadinejad once had.
Ahmadinejad appears to have the support of Iran's security forces, including the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , and of many poorer, rural Iranians, whom he's courted. Crucially, he also has tacit backing from Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — at least for now.
"The will of Ayatollah Khamenei is going to be a huge factor in determining who is Iran's next president," said Karim Sadjadpour , an associate at the Washington -based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Though Khamenei publicly defends Ahmadinejad, he may well decide that the costs of having him serve a second term outweigh the benefits."
After the experience of the Bush administration, which criticized the entire electoral process and dismissed Khatami as ineffective — moves that Ahmadinejad used to his advantage — Obama may think twice about showing any preference.
Iranian elections are far from free and fair. Candidates' Islamic credentials are vetted by the Council of Guardians , a religious body dominated by Khamenei.
Iranian voters, however, have upset expectations in the recent past — including Khatami's victory in 1997 and Ahmadinejad's four years ago.
Ahmadinejad has lost the support of virtually every other major constituency in Iran . Tehran's powerful merchant class, the bazaaris, are angered by the rampant inflation and a proposed value-added tax that the government was forced to postpone in October after shopkeepers closed their doors in protest.
Young, upscale Tehranis express frustration with the dearth of economic opportunities and restrictions on social life, which had been loosened during Khatami's tenure.
Even Iran's conservative religious establishment, based in the holy city of Qom, is said to be alienated by what they perceive as Ahmadinejad's attempts to reduce their power while ruling on social issues. Two years ago, he lifted a ban on women attending men's soccer games, but backed down after a conservative backlash.
"I have no doubt . . . that 70 percent of seminarians and clerics in Qom do not approve (of) and back Ahmadinejad," said one Iranian with close ties to senior religious figures. He, too, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
All of which has reformists pining for a unity candidate who can carry them to victory and begin tackling Iran's deep economic and social problems. To them, Khatami looks like the best bet.
"He's under pressure. Everybody's asking him to run," said Tajzadeh, of the pro-Khatami party. "If you would have asked me two or three months ago, I would have said (the chances of Khatami's running are) 20 percent. Now it's 50 percent and increasing."
Others aren't so sure.
Mohammad Kazam Anbarloui, the editor of the conservative Resalat daily newspaper, predicted that Ahmadinejad would win.
Iran's reformists, he said, "have big differences that they have not been able so far to resolve."
TEHRAN, Iran — In many other countries it would be a slam-dunk for the opposition: The president is increasingly unpopular, his economic policies are blamed for 30 percent annual inflation and his foreign policy has left the country more isolated than at any time in recent memory.
However, this is Iran , where things are never simple. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be the subject of incessant grumbling and the butt of jokes zinging from cell phone to cell phone via text message. Yet with presidential elections six months away, he's still the man to beat.
The elections will be of intense interest to President-elect Barack Obama . Iran's alleged nuclear-weapons program, support for terrorist groups and influence in Iraq , Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, are likely to make the Islamic Republic one of his main foreign policy challenges. Some observers have speculated that Obama may wait until after June before offering direct negotiations with Iran , in hopes that Ahmadinejad will be replaced by a more moderate figure.
Ahmadinejad's opponents, mostly reformers and some traditional conservatives, are struggling to capitalize on the president's woes and heal their own internal divisions.
"We're not sure we're going to have a consensus candidate," acknowledged Mostafa Tajzadeh, a deputy interior minister under former President Mohammad Khatami .
Tajzadeh spoke in an interview in the offices of a magazine published by the Islamic Iran Participation Front , a reformist party associated with Khatami. Days earlier, criticism of Ahmadinejad's economic policies dominated the party's annual meeting in Tehran .
Khatami, who served two terms as president from 1997 to 2005, has emerged as the opposition's best hope. An intense, behind-the-scenes campaign is under way to persuade him to run, according to Iranian political figures and analysts.
"Khatami looks like a savior to the people right now," said one analyst who requested anonymity because he feared retribution.
"We were critical of Khatami before," the analyst said, reflecting widespread disillusionment with the former president's failure to carry out reforms opposed by the country's conservative Shiite Muslim religious establishment. "Now we pray he returns."
Khatami, 65, said last week that he's considering running for his old job, but he hasn't decided.
Other potential candidates in the June election include Ahmadinejad, who has yet to announce that he'll seek a second four-year term; moderate cleric Mehdi Karroubi, who finished third in the 2005 presidential election; speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani ; and respected Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf , who holds the post Ahmadinejad once had.
Ahmadinejad appears to have the support of Iran's security forces, including the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , and of many poorer, rural Iranians, whom he's courted. Crucially, he also has tacit backing from Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — at least for now.
"The will of Ayatollah Khamenei is going to be a huge factor in determining who is Iran's next president," said Karim Sadjadpour , an associate at the Washington -based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Though Khamenei publicly defends Ahmadinejad, he may well decide that the costs of having him serve a second term outweigh the benefits."
After the experience of the Bush administration, which criticized the entire electoral process and dismissed Khatami as ineffective — moves that Ahmadinejad used to his advantage — Obama may think twice about showing any preference.
Iranian elections are far from free and fair. Candidates' Islamic credentials are vetted by the Council of Guardians , a religious body dominated by Khamenei.
Iranian voters, however, have upset expectations in the recent past — including Khatami's victory in 1997 and Ahmadinejad's four years ago.
Ahmadinejad has lost the support of virtually every other major constituency in Iran . Tehran's powerful merchant class, the bazaaris, are angered by the rampant inflation and a proposed value-added tax that the government was forced to postpone in October after shopkeepers closed their doors in protest.
Young, upscale Tehranis express frustration with the dearth of economic opportunities and restrictions on social life, which had been loosened during Khatami's tenure.
Even Iran's conservative religious establishment, based in the holy city of Qom, is said to be alienated by what they perceive as Ahmadinejad's attempts to reduce their power while ruling on social issues. Two years ago, he lifted a ban on women attending men's soccer games, but backed down after a conservative backlash.
"I have no doubt . . . that 70 percent of seminarians and clerics in Qom do not approve (of) and back Ahmadinejad," said one Iranian with close ties to senior religious figures. He, too, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
All of which has reformists pining for a unity candidate who can carry them to victory and begin tackling Iran's deep economic and social problems. To them, Khatami looks like the best bet.
"He's under pressure. Everybody's asking him to run," said Tajzadeh, of the pro-Khatami party. "If you would have asked me two or three months ago, I would have said (the chances of Khatami's running are) 20 percent. Now it's 50 percent and increasing."
Others aren't so sure.
Mohammad Kazam Anbarloui, the editor of the conservative Resalat daily newspaper, predicted that Ahmadinejad would win.
Iran's reformists, he said, "have big differences that they have not been able so far to resolve."
Mktg - NY Times publishing Obama book
Michael Calderone
Is anyone not working on an Obama-related book in 2009?
The New York Times is now putting together "Obama: The Historic Journey," a book featuring photos and essays which will be published by Riverhead in February 2009.
The "heavily illustrated book cover[s] Barack Obama's life, from his childhood through his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States, with a final chapter that includes the inaugural address and a 32-page photo essay by 12 New York Times staff photographers," according to today's Publisher's Marketplace (via FishbowlNY).
Times Executive Editor Bill Keller is writing the introduction, and there will be contributors from op-ed stars like Frank Rich, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, David Brooks and Gail Collins.
Considering that newspapers reaped the benefits of Election Day issues selling out -- and keep selling anything Obama related -- it makes sense the Times would utilize their stock of campaign trail photographs and top writers.
Is anyone not working on an Obama-related book in 2009?
The New York Times is now putting together "Obama: The Historic Journey," a book featuring photos and essays which will be published by Riverhead in February 2009.
The "heavily illustrated book cover[s] Barack Obama's life, from his childhood through his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States, with a final chapter that includes the inaugural address and a 32-page photo essay by 12 New York Times staff photographers," according to today's Publisher's Marketplace (via FishbowlNY).
Times Executive Editor Bill Keller is writing the introduction, and there will be contributors from op-ed stars like Frank Rich, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, David Brooks and Gail Collins.
Considering that newspapers reaped the benefits of Election Day issues selling out -- and keep selling anything Obama related -- it makes sense the Times would utilize their stock of campaign trail photographs and top writers.
World - US;Bush - Christmas - Camp David
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush is spending Christmas at Camp David, the 12th time he and his family have celebrated the Yuletide holiday at the Maryland presidential retreat.
Bush's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, along with the president's siblings and their families also were marking the occasion at Camp David, as were the president's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, and Jenna's husband, Henry Hager, the White House said Wednesday.
Bush and his wife, Laura, now have spent a dozen Christmases at Camp David — every year during Bush's eight-year presidency and four times during his father's time in the Oval Office from 1989-93.
Their Christmas Day menu is traditional: roast turkey with cornbread dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, spinach salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, and pumpkin pie and pecan pie for dessert.
Bush spent part of Christmas Eve morning phoning U.S. troops stationed around the world. The president called nine members of the armed forces to wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and to thank them for their service, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
Perino said the president asked each one to pass holiday wishes from him and Mrs. Bush to other troops serving with them. He thanked the members for their "continued sacrifices that they are making in serving our country overseas, and away from family." He especially congratulated Spc. Marcus T. Brown, now stationed in Baghdad, for being awarded the Bronze Star during combat operations in Iraq.
Bush's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, along with the president's siblings and their families also were marking the occasion at Camp David, as were the president's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, and Jenna's husband, Henry Hager, the White House said Wednesday.
Bush and his wife, Laura, now have spent a dozen Christmases at Camp David — every year during Bush's eight-year presidency and four times during his father's time in the Oval Office from 1989-93.
Their Christmas Day menu is traditional: roast turkey with cornbread dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes with giblet gravy, spinach salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, and pumpkin pie and pecan pie for dessert.
Bush spent part of Christmas Eve morning phoning U.S. troops stationed around the world. The president called nine members of the armed forces to wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and to thank them for their service, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
Perino said the president asked each one to pass holiday wishes from him and Mrs. Bush to other troops serving with them. He thanked the members for their "continued sacrifices that they are making in serving our country overseas, and away from family." He especially congratulated Spc. Marcus T. Brown, now stationed in Baghdad, for being awarded the Bronze Star during combat operations in Iraq.
Lifestyle - Sixty Percent of All Humanity Owns a Cell Phone
3G Americas, the wireless industry trade association representing GSM devices, has announced that as of December 2008, four billion cell phones are currently in use, covering 60 percent of the world population.
The organization said in a statement that in some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless, "changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever." Of the countries listed in the report, Latin America and the Caribbean region both posted 16 percent year-on-year growth; subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million.
Looking forward, 3G Americas is pushing the adoption of next-generation LTE networks. "Third generation technologies continue to evolve and the GSM operator today has a clear path towards LTE," said Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas, in the statement. "In addition to the evolution to LTE by GSM operators, LTE is proving to be the technology choice for CDMA operators as well."
In a separate study, Informa notes that 415 million cell phone subscribers use 3G networks, with 77 percent of them on HSDPA/UMTS and the remaining 95 million on CDMA EV-DO.
The organization said in a statement that in some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless, "changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever." Of the countries listed in the report, Latin America and the Caribbean region both posted 16 percent year-on-year growth; subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million.
Looking forward, 3G Americas is pushing the adoption of next-generation LTE networks. "Third generation technologies continue to evolve and the GSM operator today has a clear path towards LTE," said Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas, in the statement. "In addition to the evolution to LTE by GSM operators, LTE is proving to be the technology choice for CDMA operators as well."
In a separate study, Informa notes that 415 million cell phone subscribers use 3G networks, with 77 percent of them on HSDPA/UMTS and the remaining 95 million on CDMA EV-DO.
Entertainment - Disney pulls out of third 'Narnia' film
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Disney confirmed Wednesday that it would not be involved in the third film of "The Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy series, dealing a blow to the franchise based on C.S. Lewis's classic books.
A spokeswoman for Disney confirmed in an email that the company had chosen not to exercise an option to co-produce and co-finance the next "Narnia" film with producers Walden Media.
The Hollywood Reporter cited "budgetary and logistical reasons" for Disney's decision, which leaves the third film "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" facing an uncertain future.
The film was due to start filming early next year with a release date tentatively set for 2010.
The two previous films in the series "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian" have grossed more than 1.1 billion dollars worldwide since the first film was released in 2005.
The Hollywood Reporter said the decision reflected a cooling of interest by movie studios in adapting children's fantasy novels, following the success of the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" films.
A spokeswoman for Disney confirmed in an email that the company had chosen not to exercise an option to co-produce and co-finance the next "Narnia" film with producers Walden Media.
The Hollywood Reporter cited "budgetary and logistical reasons" for Disney's decision, which leaves the third film "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" facing an uncertain future.
The film was due to start filming early next year with a release date tentatively set for 2010.
The two previous films in the series "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian" have grossed more than 1.1 billion dollars worldwide since the first film was released in 2005.
The Hollywood Reporter said the decision reflected a cooling of interest by movie studios in adapting children's fantasy novels, following the success of the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" films.
Lifestyle - Indian women face uphill health battle: report
Yasmeen Mohiuddin
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian women have taken big steps in politics and the workforce but their health is still determined by class and caste, says a major study tracking their experiences over the last 30 years.
Food shortages and a declining government commitment to health care in the 1990s increased the "systemic inequities" for women throughout the country, said a copy of the report obtained by AFP.
Positive developments such as longer female life expectancy are negated by the fact that a woman's health "depends on where she is born and lives, and what class and caste she belongs to," says the study.
The report, the first ever comprehensive review of the welfare of women at a national level, was prepared over four years as part of a joint project between the UN Development Programme and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It used a landmark 1975 report on the status of women to measure changes and map their "intellectual and material contribution" to society.
Urvashi Butalia, the director of Zubaan books, which is publishing the report in January, told AFP that it "balances gains and losses" on issues such as globalisation that have had both negative and positive impacts on India.
Although globalisation has increased poverty for some, Butalia said it has also created jobs in the service sector for lower- and middle-class women who would otherwise be unable to find work.
While women who find success in politics may face a backlash, enforced quotas at a local level have propelled them to otherwise unreachable heights, said Butalia.
The government perceives women more positively now than in the past, but there is still a "considerable gap" between policy and implementation, she added.
But in the areas of health and safety, Butalia said that "some things are indeed worse."
Women who report domestic violence under the 2006 Domestic Violence Act often find authorities are not properly trained to handle the subject, said the study.
A government survey released last year said almost 40 percent of married women suffered physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners.
Many women in poor and rural areas also face barriers to reproductive rights and lack access to basic health care.
Women in urban areas live three years longer than those in rural areas, and infant and child mortality rates and maternal mortality rates remain "unconscionably high," the report states.
And despite awareness campaigns and laws banning sex-selective abortions, such "anti-female biases" are prevalent among educated members of society who are under pressure to have smaller families, states the study.
India has only 927 females for every 1,000 males -- far lower than the worldwide average of 1,050 females -- because of gender-specific abortions.
Males are traditionally seen as breadwinners in Indian society and are expected to take care of ageing parents later in life.
In 1994, India introduced tough laws against tests to determine foetal gender for non-medical reasons, but the rules are widely flouted.
The joint project's goal is to "improve the quality of life and promote gender equality," UNDP gender analyst Meenakshi Kathel told AFP.
The report suggests monitoring how legislation functions on the ground by giving women a "proactive" role in its implementation.
"An attempt has been made to try and bring in women from the time when they were seen as beneficiaries of welfare," said Butalia.
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian women have taken big steps in politics and the workforce but their health is still determined by class and caste, says a major study tracking their experiences over the last 30 years.
Food shortages and a declining government commitment to health care in the 1990s increased the "systemic inequities" for women throughout the country, said a copy of the report obtained by AFP.
Positive developments such as longer female life expectancy are negated by the fact that a woman's health "depends on where she is born and lives, and what class and caste she belongs to," says the study.
The report, the first ever comprehensive review of the welfare of women at a national level, was prepared over four years as part of a joint project between the UN Development Programme and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It used a landmark 1975 report on the status of women to measure changes and map their "intellectual and material contribution" to society.
Urvashi Butalia, the director of Zubaan books, which is publishing the report in January, told AFP that it "balances gains and losses" on issues such as globalisation that have had both negative and positive impacts on India.
Although globalisation has increased poverty for some, Butalia said it has also created jobs in the service sector for lower- and middle-class women who would otherwise be unable to find work.
While women who find success in politics may face a backlash, enforced quotas at a local level have propelled them to otherwise unreachable heights, said Butalia.
The government perceives women more positively now than in the past, but there is still a "considerable gap" between policy and implementation, she added.
But in the areas of health and safety, Butalia said that "some things are indeed worse."
Women who report domestic violence under the 2006 Domestic Violence Act often find authorities are not properly trained to handle the subject, said the study.
A government survey released last year said almost 40 percent of married women suffered physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners.
Many women in poor and rural areas also face barriers to reproductive rights and lack access to basic health care.
Women in urban areas live three years longer than those in rural areas, and infant and child mortality rates and maternal mortality rates remain "unconscionably high," the report states.
And despite awareness campaigns and laws banning sex-selective abortions, such "anti-female biases" are prevalent among educated members of society who are under pressure to have smaller families, states the study.
India has only 927 females for every 1,000 males -- far lower than the worldwide average of 1,050 females -- because of gender-specific abortions.
Males are traditionally seen as breadwinners in Indian society and are expected to take care of ageing parents later in life.
In 1994, India introduced tough laws against tests to determine foetal gender for non-medical reasons, but the rules are widely flouted.
The joint project's goal is to "improve the quality of life and promote gender equality," UNDP gender analyst Meenakshi Kathel told AFP.
The report suggests monitoring how legislation functions on the ground by giving women a "proactive" role in its implementation.
"An attempt has been made to try and bring in women from the time when they were seen as beneficiaries of welfare," said Butalia.
World - US;Bush's $1 trillion war on terror
Mark Thompson
The news that President Bush's war on terror will soon have cost the U.S. taxpayer $1 trillion - and counting - is unlikely to spread much Christmas cheer in these tough economic times. A trio of recent reports - none by the Bush Administration - suggests that sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark. Even after adjusting for inflation, that's four times more than America spent fighting World War I, and more than 10 times the cost of 1991's Persian Gulf War (90 percent of which was paid for by U.S. allies). The war on terror looks set to surpass the cost the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, to be topped only by World War II's price tag of $3.5 trillion.
The cost of sending a single soldier to fight for a year in Afghanistanor Iraq is about $775,000 - three times more than in other recent wars, says a new report from the private but authoritative Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. A large chunk of the increase is a result of the Administration cramming new military hardware into the emergency budget bills it has been using to pay for the wars. (See pictures of U.S. troops in Iraq)
These costs, of course, pale alongside the price paid by the nearly 5,000 U.S. troops who have lost their lives in the conflicts - not to mention the wounded - and the families of all the casualties. And President Bush insists that their sacrifice, and the expenditure on the wars, has helped prevent a recurrence of 9/11. "We could not afford to wait for the terrorists to attack again," he said last week at the Army War College. "So we launched a global campaign to take the fight to the terrorists abroad, to dismantle their networks, to dry up their financing and find their leaders and bring them to justice."
But many Americans may suffer a moment of sticker shock from the conclusions of the CSBA report, and similar assessments from the Government Accounting Office and Congressional Research Service, which make clear that the nearly $1 trillion already spent is only a down payment on the war's long-term costs. The trillion-dollare figure does not, for example, include long-term health care for veterans, thousands of whom have suffered crippling wounds, or the interest payments on the money borrowed by the Federal government to fund the war. The bottom lines of the three assessments vary: The CSBA study says $904 billion has been spent so far, while the GAO says the Pentagon alone has spent $808 billion through last September. The CRS study says the wars have cost $864 billion, but it didn't factor inflation into its calculations.
Sifting through Pentagon data, the CSBA study breaks down the total cost for the war on terror as $687 billion for Iraq, $184 billion for Afghanistan, and $33 billion for homeland security. By 2018, depending on how many U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and Iraq, the total cost is projected likely to be between $1.3 trillion and $1.7 trillion. On the safe assumption that the wars are being waged with borrowed money, interest payments raise the cost by an additional $600 billion through 2018.
Shortly before the Iraq war began, White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey earned a rebuke from within the Administration when he said the war could cost as much as $200 billion. "It's not knowable what a war or conflict like that would cost," Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld said. "You don't know if it's going to last two days or two weeks or two months. It certainly isn't going to last two years."
According to the CSBA study, the Administration has fudged the war's true costs in two ways: Borrowing money to fund the wars is one way of conducting it on the cheap, at least in the short term. But just as pernicious has been the Administration's novel way of budgeting for them. Previous wars were funded through the annual appropriations process, with emergency spending - which gets far less congressional scrutiny - only used for the initial stages of a conflict. But the Bush Administration relied on such supplemental appropriations to fund the wars until 2008, seven years after invading Afghanistan and five years after storming Iraq.
"For these wars we have relied on supplemental appropriations for far longer than in the case of past conflicts," says Steven Kosiak of the CSBA, one of Washington's top defense-budget analysts. "Likewise, we have relied on borrowing to cover more of these costs than we have in earlier wars - which will likely increase the ultimate price we have to pay." That refusal to spell out the full cost can lead to unwise spending increases elsewhere in the federal budget or unwarranted tax cuts. "A sound budgeting process forces policymakers to recognize the true costs of their policy choices," Kosiak adds. "Not only did we not raise taxes, we cut taxes and significantly expanded spending."
The bottom line: Bush's projections of future defense spending "substantially understate" just how much money it will take to run Obama's Pentagon, Kosiak says in his report. Luckily, Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to hang around to try to iron out the problem.
The news that President Bush's war on terror will soon have cost the U.S. taxpayer $1 trillion - and counting - is unlikely to spread much Christmas cheer in these tough economic times. A trio of recent reports - none by the Bush Administration - suggests that sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark. Even after adjusting for inflation, that's four times more than America spent fighting World War I, and more than 10 times the cost of 1991's Persian Gulf War (90 percent of which was paid for by U.S. allies). The war on terror looks set to surpass the cost the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, to be topped only by World War II's price tag of $3.5 trillion.
The cost of sending a single soldier to fight for a year in Afghanistanor Iraq is about $775,000 - three times more than in other recent wars, says a new report from the private but authoritative Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. A large chunk of the increase is a result of the Administration cramming new military hardware into the emergency budget bills it has been using to pay for the wars. (See pictures of U.S. troops in Iraq)
These costs, of course, pale alongside the price paid by the nearly 5,000 U.S. troops who have lost their lives in the conflicts - not to mention the wounded - and the families of all the casualties. And President Bush insists that their sacrifice, and the expenditure on the wars, has helped prevent a recurrence of 9/11. "We could not afford to wait for the terrorists to attack again," he said last week at the Army War College. "So we launched a global campaign to take the fight to the terrorists abroad, to dismantle their networks, to dry up their financing and find their leaders and bring them to justice."
But many Americans may suffer a moment of sticker shock from the conclusions of the CSBA report, and similar assessments from the Government Accounting Office and Congressional Research Service, which make clear that the nearly $1 trillion already spent is only a down payment on the war's long-term costs. The trillion-dollare figure does not, for example, include long-term health care for veterans, thousands of whom have suffered crippling wounds, or the interest payments on the money borrowed by the Federal government to fund the war. The bottom lines of the three assessments vary: The CSBA study says $904 billion has been spent so far, while the GAO says the Pentagon alone has spent $808 billion through last September. The CRS study says the wars have cost $864 billion, but it didn't factor inflation into its calculations.
Sifting through Pentagon data, the CSBA study breaks down the total cost for the war on terror as $687 billion for Iraq, $184 billion for Afghanistan, and $33 billion for homeland security. By 2018, depending on how many U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and Iraq, the total cost is projected likely to be between $1.3 trillion and $1.7 trillion. On the safe assumption that the wars are being waged with borrowed money, interest payments raise the cost by an additional $600 billion through 2018.
Shortly before the Iraq war began, White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey earned a rebuke from within the Administration when he said the war could cost as much as $200 billion. "It's not knowable what a war or conflict like that would cost," Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld said. "You don't know if it's going to last two days or two weeks or two months. It certainly isn't going to last two years."
According to the CSBA study, the Administration has fudged the war's true costs in two ways: Borrowing money to fund the wars is one way of conducting it on the cheap, at least in the short term. But just as pernicious has been the Administration's novel way of budgeting for them. Previous wars were funded through the annual appropriations process, with emergency spending - which gets far less congressional scrutiny - only used for the initial stages of a conflict. But the Bush Administration relied on such supplemental appropriations to fund the wars until 2008, seven years after invading Afghanistan and five years after storming Iraq.
"For these wars we have relied on supplemental appropriations for far longer than in the case of past conflicts," says Steven Kosiak of the CSBA, one of Washington's top defense-budget analysts. "Likewise, we have relied on borrowing to cover more of these costs than we have in earlier wars - which will likely increase the ultimate price we have to pay." That refusal to spell out the full cost can lead to unwise spending increases elsewhere in the federal budget or unwarranted tax cuts. "A sound budgeting process forces policymakers to recognize the true costs of their policy choices," Kosiak adds. "Not only did we not raise taxes, we cut taxes and significantly expanded spending."
The bottom line: Bush's projections of future defense spending "substantially understate" just how much money it will take to run Obama's Pentagon, Kosiak says in his report. Luckily, Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to hang around to try to iron out the problem.