Why India will face more terrorist attacks?

It is rare that I start my day wanting to break somebody's face. But Today's New Item on Indian Express about Real Estate Agents in Surat sowing the seeds of terrorism was one such day... Read the News Item @ "Surat Real Estate Agents Says No House for Muslims"

I believe that all the real estate agents and brokers that have all taken an oath - not do business with Muslims should be banned and put behind the bars. I don't want my beloved company to broken into pieces of these idiots. Sadly none other than Indian Express covered this news. And they also did it in an unemotional way... as if all the Muslims in Surat deserved this for what happened in Mumbai. Hope better sense prevails in India.

Never Will I Keep Silent

For a ten member squad to create as much mayhem as what has been done in the 60 hour war on Mumbai, it should have had an enormous local support who should have done the necessary preparation like understanding the layouts of the region, etc. What made these local Indians to support the foreign entity, hell bent on killing people? As I was debating this question in my heart, one of my friends pointed out correctly as "Fear and Insecurity". Fear and Security which grew by keeping mum.. 

Thanks to this war on Mumbai, I have realized that keeping silent does not help anyone... When Raj Thackeray was uttering nonsense, I have kept silent. When my brothers and sisters in Christ were tortured and persecuted in Orissa, this blog kept silent. But now i have realized that our differences and problems can never be solved by keeping quiet, with the hope that someday people will realize their mistakes on their own...

I thought that someday non-Muslims rejecting home for a respected Muslim will understand that they are pushing him slowly to terrorism. I thought that someday Hindus will realize the atrocities committed by draconian organizations - VHP and RSS... Someday people will realize that when the government allows riots (like what Modi did), the community affected will react back one day or later. Now I have realized that keeping Silent Never helps anyone. So expect much more frequent posts on this blog.

War on Mumbai - 2

Finally the 60 hour mayhem has come to an end. In this time of mourning for the lives that were lost in the last 3 days, we should also act to make sure that these barbaric incidents never happen. While the opposition party believes that draconic laws is the way to move forward, thankfully the ruling government disagree. But I believe that the first step is Acceptance

Acceptance that everything is not right inside this country... 

Acceptance that we are still going through the pains of integration... 

Acceptance that we are still 1000 countries living inside a single nation.. 

Acceptance that we are still divided by religion.. 

Acceptance that Muslims don't feel safe in this nation.. 

Acceptance that Christians don't feel safe in this nation.. 

Acceptance that Hindus don't feel safe in this nation.. 

Acceptance that Sikhs don't feel safe in this nation.. 

Acceptance that we committed attrocities during Partition, during Sikh riots, during the destruction of Babri Mosque, during the riots that followed, during Gujarat riots... 

Acceptance that we don't treat people of all the religions the same...

Acceptance that we showed our immaturity by electing Modi.. 

Acceptance that we mishandled the Kashmiri Problem.. 

Acceptance that first we have to understand our mistakes before we lay the blame on others... 

Acceptance that India is still going through the pains of a decision taken 60 years ago by British to bring together different kingdoms under a single nation.. 

Though I may preach the philosophy of acceptance, it doest not mean that we take a laid back approach when a foreign entity attacks us. If the Indian government is sure that the terrorists are from a foreign nation, we should never wait for a second to destroy the people who facilitated this draconic incident, no matter where they are. If it requires precise rockets to be sent inside Pakistani nation, let those rockets be sent.. If it requires Indian army to be sent inside Pakistan, let it be sent. If it requries a nuclear weapon to be used, let it be used.. 

Hope these kind of incidents never gets repeated inside the Indian soil.. (right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari)

War on Mumbai

There are days that define a nation. 9/11, Berlin Wall, etc.. Today is one of them. A Kashmiri-style Attack happening first time inside the real India.... 24-48 hour Terrorist siege - common to every Kashmiri - happening @ the financial capital of India.. 

Terrorism evolving into Urban War... A Sad Day... But also a day of opportunity to resolve this issue for once for all... Personally not knowing what to do, I look up to Government and God to save us from this New Age War. Though I know that the government is as as clueless as me - on how to react and handle this New Age War.

India - Defined By Cricket

Americans as individuals remember their history by political events. If you ask any middle aged American about the most important events of his personal life, JFK's death would be one of them. Some might even remember what they were doing when Armstrong landed on the moon...

An American's life is entangled with the political events of the nation itself. [I am sure iPod Generation will surely remember "Obama's Victory" as one of the most important events in their personal life]

But I found this feature missing in India. Rajeev Gandhi's death or Sonia declining to become PM never impacted our lives. Comparing to USA, I used to feel bad that our nation lacked these minor things. Oldies can still define their life with respect to major events of freedom struggle. But the post-independent bunch never had such great moments. But yesterday's piece by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Cricinfo - Losing my Religion made me to realize what I have failed to notice..

"I remember Ganguly and Dravid soaring in Taunton, mainly because it was the day I got my board-exam results. And boy, did that provide some much-needed relief. I remember Tendulkar's blitz against Australia in Bombay because my dad, who thought cricket was a waste of time, sat through every ball. So connected were these cricketers to my growing up."

Though we are separated by our religion, our language, our culture, etc. , our nation is united by Cricket. Whichever part of you may be in, we cheer when Tendulkar scores a century or Sehwag blasts the opposition into pieces. Both our nation's history and our individual history are defined by cricket. While Dhoni's team is linked with economic prosperity of the nation, our lives would be forever defined by World T20 win. If you still doubt this, try to recall a few of the important matches

• Ganguly & Dravid scoring in Taunton
• two young men - Kaif & Yuvaraj ensured a victory from the brink of a defeat
• Tendulkar's blitz @ Sharjah...

Hmm.. Cricket defined us..  And Cricket has united us.. :)

Google Chrome - Review

When the news about the upcoming Google Chrome reached my ears, I was expecting a web browser that would change the rules of the game.  Surprisingly,  my first impression about Google Chrome was not that great. [Surprise - Since Chrome is coming from the stables of Google]

 

Being a Google enthusiast, I started consoling myself that it was an after-effect of using firefox for a long time. I believed that using Google Chrome for a few more days would change my views. Alas! Here I am,  after my using Google Chrome for the last 5 days.

 

Positive things first. There are a few unique features in Chrome that I loved.

• The way it guesses the website address (including the websites which I have never visited)
• I don't need to have my default Web browser open to see the web links I click from Feedemon.
• New Tab page that showcases the most visited pages...

But still, my mouse prefers firefox to Chrome. Hope Google Chrome comes with some breathtaking changes or I will go back to my firefox.

P.S: I was quite surprised by the buzz that Google tried to create around 'Google Chrome'

• Link in Google Search Homepage
• Posts in most of the blogs of other Google products

Seems Google has big plans around the browser. Let us wait and see

Google News in Tamil

Are you one of those who fear that you will start forgetting Tamil script sooner or later?
Are you one of those who want a one-stop website to know everything happening in the Tamil World?
Are you one of those who love Tamil?

Then Google has come up with a great gift for you.. Yeah.. Google News is now available in Tamil... I still find Google News in English to be the only place where you get to know the latest and important news. And I am happy that Google News has come out with a version in Tamil..

Here is the excerpt from Google News Blog

"It's not every day that you get to launch a product in a more than 2,000-year-old language spoken by more than 70 million people. That's why we're excited to tell you that Google News is now available in Tamil. Tamil is one of the most widely-spoken languages in India, which is no mean feat considering that there are 22 official languages here."

Thank You! Google News Team!

And start reading Google News in Tamil

Gold Finally!!!

An Olympic Gold after a longggggggggggg gap of 28 years... That too in an individual event.. Yahoo!!! Something that India has never achieved in its history.. Yipee... This was my initial reaction when the news was shared by one of my office colleagues..

But with the excitement, there was also a feeling of relief... A relief that the future sportsperson of India would not have to carry the burden of history... A relief that Indians have the ability to win gold in the Olympics... A relief that Indians could compete with the best and still win... Way to Go! Bindra....

Thankfully this historic event has brought me out of the blogging slumber... Hope I don't go back to my slumber again...

What a Match! What a Match!

I am sure everybody, who witnessed the match between Federer and Nadal, would have left with the same words... Especially for someone from the ipod generation, who never got the chance to witness those great matches involving great players like Boris Becker, this match would be the greatest he has ever seen.

Though Nadal may have won, he is still not the champion. For that to happen, he has to win 4 more Wimbledons. Until then, he would remain only as a great challenger. But for me personally, Federer would always remain the champion. Every champion needs a setback to show his real greatnes.. Federer has finally got one. Now it is time that he shows his class and imprints his name in the history books as the greatest tennis player to have graced this earth.

Indians in Time Top 100

Sonia Gandhi, Indra Nooyi and Ratan Tata find themselves in this year's 100 Most Influential people list prepared by Time. For knowing the complete list, do visit here.

Ban Harbhajan for slapping Sreesanth

If it is true that Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth, BCCI should take firm action against him. However bad Marco Materazzi taunted Zidane in the world cup, Zidane's head butt was not justified (This is in a sport that is much more violent than cricket). Similarly whatever Sreesanth had done to invoke Harbhajan, a slap is unwarranted and not justified. BCCI should take firm action after a quick and proper enquiry. He should be banned for at least a few matches and a huge fine should be laid on him.

Weed

By this slap, Harbhajan has let himself down and made the whole nation to doubt his earlier actions during the Australian controversy. He has also given fodder to the likes of Mathew Hayden who has already called him 'an obnoxious weed'. Now even the Indians would start asking whether he is really an obnoxious weed to cricket? Expect the Australians to get back on Harbhajan with full force.

Indian Premier League

But during this controversy there will be one group of people who will laugh their way to the bank - Organizers of Indian Premier League. This controversy will generate more publicity for Indian Premier League and will shoot its television ratings further. Lalit Modi would be thanking his stars for this controversy.

A Sport with Balls and Bats But with no Pitcher

That is how New York Times described Cricket in its article. It has been a dream of ICC and every cricket fan that Cricket spreads its wings all over the world and especially in cash-rich USA. So the esteemed New York Times' coverage of Cricket is surely good news. With this coverage and the inauguration of cricket league among school students in New York, cricket has taken its initial baby steps in US.

 

Cricket League

On Wednesday, the Department of Education in New York inaugurated cricket as its newest league sport, with about 600 high school students. With this, New York becomes the only public school system in the nation to offer competitive cricket. No one is expecting the game to overtake baseball, football or soccer in popularity there any time soon, but a modest increase in interest in the sport won the attention of Eric Goldstein, who is the chief executive for school support services and oversees sports programs for the Department of Education.

 

Future of Cricket in US

Mr. Thompson, the cricket coach at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx, said the sport could catch on in the United States — eventually. He said “I don’t think it’s going to lead to a situation where American kids are going to have to debate, ‘Oh, should I play cricket or should I play basketball?’ ” he said. “At least not yet.”

But who knows? Even the British who introduced Cricket to India never dreamt that India would become the economical powerhouse of Cricket.

Twitter: the next Big Thing?

While the media believes that Facebook is going to be the next big thing in Web Technology, the tech circles have started questioning that belief. These doubts arise from the recent user fatigue observed from the social networking websites, the increasing popularity of Twitter and few niggling problems in Facebook.

 

Facebook Vs Twitter

Twitter that started off as a micro blogging platform, has now started to encroach people's time from social media sites too. Facebook (and Orkut) provided us an opportunity to get into a conversation with your friends and peers. But unlike Twitter, you can interact with only one person at a time(that is, more like a email). But in Twitter, you get an opportunity to interact with all of your followers and thereby increasing the chances of a meaningful communication that happens real time but still thought provoking and intellectual. Twitter has brought its own blogging fatigue as Scoble recently reported in his blog. But I was still unconvinced since anything without an option to monetize is tough to succeed.  But today's post in Problogger - PayperTweet showed that people will come with innovative ways to solve that too.

 

Mainstream Acceptance

An interesting thing is the acceptance that Twitter is being able to generate from people outside tech circles. For e.g. 10, Downing Street, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, etc. have their own Twitter accounts though it has not yet got the publicity like Facebook.

 

India Centricity

As usual, Twitter has not found a mention in any of the mainstream media. None of the politicians or news channels are using them though Twitter as a service is the most suitable technology for their mode of communication. Thankfully, Chennai redeems the respect for India by organizing the first Twitter Meet in India.

P.S: If you are curious to know about me more, you can follow me in Twitter @ http://twitter.com/robinsamuel

Update: Sorry, I fell for April Fool's Joke in Problogger. PayperTweet was a April fool's Joke.. :(

YouTube Awards 2007

YouTube awards is said to be the new Emmy's and the next Oscars-cum-People's choice awards put together. Take a look at nominees in each category - http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07 and decide for yourself whether YouTube awards is worth those words. The nominees and winners of You Tube awards are so astonishing that you would not believe that they are user generated content, produced with no profit motive in mind.

Second Annual YouTube awards for the year 2007 was announced 2 days ago. The winning videos show how simple people could produce amazing videos with innovation and a little luck.

The awards were first organized in 2007 to "call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition". The 2007 awards comprised twelve categories: Adorable, Comedy, Commentary, Creative, Eyewitness, Inspirational, Instructional, Music, Politics, Series, Short Film and Sports

Notable Winners:

Best eyewitness video was the epic "Battle at Kruger," which has drawn more than 26 million views to its astonishing footage of a baby buffalo surviving an attack by lions — and 2 crocodiles! — in the African prairie. It was up against the news-making clip of a University of Florida student pleading "Don't tase me, bro!" as police removed him from a John Kerry forum.

A Kingston man’s mock-Harry Potter puppet show beat a mock-Paris Hilton music video and a power drink commercial spoof to win “Best Comedy Video”. “Laughing Baby” featuring 9-month-old Ethan won in the “Adorable” category. The video showed Ethan having fun by tearing paper. It reminded me everything good about my childhood.

Other winners include Nebraska high school senior Dan Brown, whose video "How to Solve a Rubik's Cube (Part One)" scored in the instructional category. Tay Zonday’s “Chocolate Rain” won in the “Music” category.

For viewing the nominee videos visit http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07 and for viewing the winners of YouTube Awards 2007 visit http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07winners.

Tweetup : Chennai Twitter Meet-Up

Twitters in Chennai are meeting tomorrow at Amethyst Cafe for a casual meet up. If you twitter, don't miss this event since you can get to meet early tech adopters of India. Don't even need to make a guess with regard to organizer of the meet-up. It is Kiruba, who is behind Chennai's first Twitter Meet-Up. He was the one who organized Chennia's Blogger Meets in the earlier days, thus setting up a trend for other Indian cities to follow.

 

For more details visit http://tweetup.pbwiki.com/

 

Personally, I would have loved to attend the event. But Coming from Tirunelveli, just for the Twitter Meet-Up is next to impossible. So, I am missing the meet-up. :(

Goodbye IIM Indore

IIM Indore is one of the few places on earth where only a few could resist falling in love with the place. And a single post is surely not enough to share the fun and amazing experiences that one has in the hillock that never sleeps. In 2 years, there were few things that amazed me, a huge number of things that I am going to miss and an infinite number of things that i loved about the campus.

IIM Indore is a campus where things/people can never stop amazing you. Once I landed in IIM Indore, the first thing that amazed me was the wonderful, down-to-earth, intelligent people you get to meet in the campus. And the people never stopped amazing me in my 2 years there. And I can vouch that most of them is going to make big in their lives.

After living in IIM Indore for 2 years, everybody would have their unique hundreds of things that they are going to miss. My List would include Late night Maggis, Alive at 4am Work Style, Always 'Busy' GTalk Status,Thousands of movies and Hundreds of Serials on ODC, CPs, Late night walks, Heated Arguments on Ordinary Issues and Boring Professors. Hmm.... But the thing I most loved about this place is living in a planet pre-occupied with itself and totally disconnected from the world.

Now the time has come to move on. Good Bye! IIM Indore - Place where i came to know my love for Blogging and Place a boy Became a Man! Good Bye.

P.S: Can read 'Farewell Posts' of other IIM Indore Students here, here, here and here.

Beware of what you share online

What would be you reaction

on seeing the information from your social networking profile

printed on a newspaper article, without your permission?

There are a thousands of articles on the net advising us caution on sharing personal information on social networking websites like Orkut, Facebook, Myspace, etc. But still, today's New York Times article on Ashley Alexandra Dupre - Woman at the Center of NY Governor Eliot Spitzer's Downfall managed to surprise me on the amount of information that was used from Ashley's Myspace page.

With Ashley spending the last few days out of the public eye, the New York Times uses the myspace profile information as the basis for most of their article. A Sample below:

She left “a broken family” at age 17, having been abused, according to the MySpace page, and has used drugs and “been broke and homeless.”

I don't know whether it is legal to use information from the social networking profile page without the owner's permission but it is not surely ethical in my eyes. If the New York Times itself has no issues using information from social networking profile pages, think about others. Who knows who will read our Social Networking Profiles. So Always, Beware of what you share online.

D.Viswanathan, Thanks for the fun!!!

Hindu reports that the two campuses of Anna University in the city – MIT Chromepet and Guindy campus – will be declared “tobacco-free” zones today. Sorry for my Deja-Vu! But there has been a ban on sale and use of tobacco products, including cigarettes, beedis, and chewable tobacco products such as pan masala and guthka, even before I entered the campus on June, 2002. In my four years in the campus, I have never seen any body selling or using tobacco products in public. [Thanks to the punishment that was swift and tough]

And D. Viswanathan, who likes his photo on the front page of newspapers, uses No-Smoking Day(March 12) to get his name on the front page. He has proudly announced to the press that Anna University is the first educational institution in the State to give effect to such a ban, when it has been there for ages. But what he fails to mention is that Anna University is the only campus where cell phones are banned and students are not allowed to wear t-shirts in campus - both classes and hostels. [100% ridiculous rules born in the creative mind of D. Viswanthan]

But the killer comment was

"Emphasis would not be on punishing, but on ‘reforming’ students."

Viswanathan, If you want to really reform something, reform the teaching methodologies that belong to the last centurey, reform the age-old bureaucracy in the campus that hinders students' innovation and creativity, reform the teaching community, etc...


But anyway, thanks for the fun you provide. Hope to see more of these killer comments in the front page.

5 reasons for Supporting Hillary Clinton

In India, you rarely vote for a person because you like him. Rather the vote is decided on the basis of whom you hate the most. So, Seeing the plethora of eligible and likable Presidential nominees that an American voter has, makes me jealous. This kicked off an keen interest in nomination elections especially in the close contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for Democratic Party Presidential Nomination.

Right from the early days of the nomination process, i developed a liking for Hillary Clinton and would have signed myself as a volunteer in her campaign if i was in US. Since i belong to 2 groups - Youth and Techie that forms a key supporter base of Obama, I thought i would reason out my logic for being different.

1. Obama Will win the Democratic Presidential nomination

For both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Becoming the U.S. President is not only a dream but an obsession. But with the relative young age of Obama(46 years), this obsession would not end even if he loses 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination. But that is not the case with Hillary Clinton. If she loses this nomination, her dreams of becoming the US president would come crashing down.

When you have 2 eligible candidates, whom do you choose?

• Option of having only one of them as a Presidential nominee
• Option of having one now and another later

2. Known Devil is better than Unknown Angel

It is always better to choose a known person who delivers rather than an unknown person who promises the sky. With the relatively lesser time that Barack Obama has spent before the scrutiny of the public and media, I tend to favor Hillary Clinton. Yeah! Barack Obama inspires hope... But Does he really believe in the message? Or Is He using it only as a means to attract voters?

3. Economy

For rest of the world, key issue of the Presidential elections is economy and how the new President is going to ensure that the U.S. economy rebounds from the sub prime crisis and the upcoming recession. Obama if elected, could be expected to push for policies that are populist rather than those that would solve the problem. But from Clinton, you could expect Solutions and not populist measures.

4. Indian Connections:

My Indian Connections means that i prefer Clinton because

• Obama might send troops to Pakistan which would not only destabilize Pakistan but the entire South Asia
• Obama has already opposed outsourcing once and he could be expected to do the same once more if the situation warrants it. Read TOI's editorial on the issue.

5. Underdog

The world loves underdog victories in sports, movies and even in politics. And I am no exception. At present, Hillary Clinton is a underdog in Democratic Presidential nomination where her odds are stacked against her. And How lovely it would be to see her triumph!!!

Placement '08 @ IIM Indore

Campus Placements are always a great experience in anyone's lives. It is the time when you are unsure of your future and have a thousand of questions in your heart - whether I will be placed? If so, where? What will be my salary?, etc.. Studying in an elite institute like IIM Indore has an advantage that you can be sure about getting a job offer. Only Question would be whether you will get your dream profile in the dream company with a dream salary.

But this time, the situation was different. With Sub Prime Crisis and precarious state of US Economy, rumors were flying around that a huge number of Investment Banks & foreign companies(Day Zero Companies) were not going to turn up in IIM - Ahmedabad, IIM - Bangalore and IIM - Calcutta. So we were worried whether this would have any cascading effect on IIM Indore. But thanks to an awesome work done by IIM Indore Placement committee, most of the students were happy with the offers they received.

Highlight of the Placement '08 in IIM Indore:

• 42% growth in the number of participating companies (Batch Size increased by 50% this year)
• 20% growth in Average Domestic Salary over Last year [Driven by the huge increase in Average salary of Marketing Offers - Highest Ever in the Campus]
• Highest Domestic Salary offered - 26 Lakhs p.a. [44% Increase compared to last year]
• About 50% of the batch accepted offers from the Banking and Financial Services.
• Among the different sectors, Average Salary of IT companies was the lowest [With US Recession looming around, all the IT companies were pretty cautious]
• Top 50 offers had an average salary of INR 18 Lakhs per annum [International offers may have been included in calculating this]
• Average Salary of accepted offers - INR 13.07 Lakhs per annum [Here too, International offers may have been included]

To read the complete report, Click IIM Indore - Final Placement Report 2008.

IIM Indore in its 10 years of existence has surely achieved some stupendous growth and recognition in the Indian Corporate. This year's Placement stands testament to the fact that IIM Indore can attract top notch placement not only during the boom years but also when things are not going its way.

Disclaimer: All the facts and numbers are taken from IIM Indore's Placement report. Hope you know that the placement report of all the B-Schools have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Upcoming Events - This Week

1. As I have said in one of my earlier posts(Google Updates), Facebook-style Open Social Applications is expected to go live on orkut this week. Personally I have been expecting Open Social Applications in Orkut for a very long time. Hope it happens as announced and Opensocial applications in Orkut are as good as Facebook applications.
2. Google's competitor, Microsoft is expected to release a software that may change the world. Unlike regular PR pitches, this announcement is extra special due to confession of famous Tech Blogger Robert Scoble that he shed tears on seeing the software. Techcrunch predicts that Microsoft is either going to offer Opensource on Feb 27 or announce worldwide telescope on Feb 27. But nobody sure what it is going to be.
   
3. This update is Personal. IIM Indore is having its placement week till February 29th So my Career and my future might be decided in this crazy week.

So keeping my fingers crossed.

Ready to buy TATA Nano Online???

Conventional automobile wisdom says that a car dealer is always required to complete the transaction and a web based option can be just an information window. It can never really be an alternative to a ' brick-and-mortar' dealer. But TATA Nano has already broken a similar conventional automobile wisdom by coming out with a car which is priced at 1 lakh Indian rupees ($2500). It may as well break the conventional automobile wisdom once more.

As per the recent blog post by TATA Nano team, it is seriously considering online car sales option and is asking the comments from people to help them design the right service. All the market pundits(including me) expected the People's car to be revolutionary not only with regard to its manufacturing but also with regard to its distribution model. But I never expected the e-commerce to be a part of that distribution model. One More Nano-lution. Hats off to TATA Nano Team!

Don't Complain about 'Commercialization' of Cricket

When the IPL auction took place, there were hundreds of blogs complaining about the commercialization of cricket, Amit Verma in his post in India Uncut gives a proper reply to these people who complained about Commercialization. He explains clearly why it is us who are responsible for the cricket being the only sports in India and why it is us who will be responsible for the death of Test match cricket when it happens.

Excerpts...

'Wherever there’s big money floating around, politicians emerge and start squealing. The recent auctions at the Indian Premier League have roused the ire of both the Left and the Right of Indian politics. On the right, the inimitable Balasaheb Thackeray has described the IPL auctions as the “gambling of industrialists”. On the Left, Gurudas Dasgupta is complaining that this will make “every youngster not a good sportsman but a man hungry for money.”'

The above passage is just the introduction from the column, for the rest visit 'There is nothing wrong in being commercial". A must read for any cricket enthusiast.

Annual Venture Capital Investment Skyrockets to 166% in 2007

On a 2004 survey on impact of private equity in UK, 77% of companies said that without private equity, their business would not have existed at all or would have developed less rapidly. But this critical component - Private Equity, needed for the survival of entrepreneurs ,was missing for a long time in the Indian economy.

Good news is that things have started changing. A recent report by Dow Jones VentureSource brings out the huge increase in the number of deals and the amount invested by the venture capital funds in India.Venture capitalists invested around $928 Million in 80 deals in entrepreneurial Indian Companies in 2007, the highest total ever.

Some interesting statistics from the report

• Nearly 48% of all venture financing deals in India were for Information Technology (IT) companies.
  
• The most popular recipients of venture capital in the IT industry were companies in the Web-heavy "information services" sector
• Service-oriented companies in India -- both in the technology fields and the non-technology areas of hotels, taxis and similar services -- continue to attract investment
• Of all the companies in India that received venture funding in 2007, nearly 73% were already generating revenues or profitable

But the best thing is the prediction by Ms. Canning , Director of Global Research for DowJones VentureSource that "this is only the beginning for the venture capital market in India". Her belief is supported by the fact that in 2007, around 79% of deals in India were for seed and first rounds and a lot of these companies will continue raising venture capital as they progress toward profitability and liquidity.

Though the going is good, we still have a lot of catching up to do when we compare ourself with the amount of venture capital funding in USA. (>$20 Billion)

An economy that does not have a strong venture capital sector is one that displays symptoms of deeper economic problems
- J.P. Cotis, Chief Economist OECD

P.S: VentureBeat also has a spreadsheet with the segment wise breakup.
Thanks startupdunia for the info.

IPL vs ICL vs EPL

According to you, Which of the three leagues - Indian Premier League, Indian Cricket League and English Premier League is going to be the most popular one in India?

My Answer: Indian Premier League for the next 7-9 years and English Premier League from then on.


The question - 'Which is popular among the two existing cricket leagues in India?' is a no-brainer. The ICL may have been the first off the block, but the fact that players signing a contact with ICL bring their career to a halt means very few stars would be signing with them in the future. And IPL provides the cricketers with a better, if not lucrative option. Since only one entity owns all the teams, the capital base of the ICL is also not expected to be huge, preventing it from future expansion.


The recent buzz for IPL shows clearly the huge popularity that Indian Premier League is going to enjoy. But the real competition for IPL comes from English Premier League. Though soccer as a game is not as famous as cricket in India, it is slowly gaining popularity, especially among young male Indians. [Target Segment of Indian Premier League too] Additionally, English Premier League already boasts of a huge number of Indian Die Hard fans. And it would take a monumental effort for any franchise in English Premier League to create a similar group of die hard fans.

With the increased globalization and increased number of Indians traveling abroad, the reach of English Premier League is going to be an upward graph. And with the Indians' inborn attraction of anything Western, it would seem 'cool' for many young people to follow and to proclaim to be a fan of Manchester United rather than Chennai Super Kings.

With the extreme popularity that cricket enjoys in India, Indian Premier League is sure to remain as the most popular professional league in India, atleast for a few more years. For the dominant position to continue for Indian Premier League, both the players and management have to provide unadulterated fun for people who are watching it - on Television and on ground.

P.S: Since it is going to take a long time for Tirunelveli to get a franchise on its own, I have decided to become a fan and supporter of 'Chennai Super Kings', Chennai Franchise of Indian Premier League. To extend that support, I have started the first fan blog of Chennai Super Kings at http://chennaisuperkings.blogspot.com. If you would like to hear about 'Chennai Super Kings', do subscribe for the blog at http://feeds.feedburner.com/chennaisuperkings.

Indian Children are not safe - Physical Abuse

This is the first of the series of posts under the topic - "Indian Children are not safe". Read the introductory post at "Indian Children are not safe".

Some of us are lucky in our childhood days to get parents who understood us. But others, the unlucky ones had a rough childhood... They have been abused either physically or physiologically or sexually. Sadly these abused ones constitute the majority rather than the minority group in India.

Most of us(including me) had been smacked in our childhood days (sometimes by cane, belts, slippers, etc.) in the name of 'disciplining'. But the sad fact is that there is a huge amount of scientific evidence contrary to the common belief that physical punishment encourage discipline in children. Sometimes, it is the parents' frustrations and their inability to raise their children that finds a manifestation in the form of beating them or causing physical harm rather than 'disciplining'.

Indian society, being a society with a high power distance and a patriarchal structure, parents consider their children as their property and assume a freedom to treat them as they like. This not only results in adoption of harsher methods of disciplining by parents and teachers, but also results in very little opposition to this harshness.

According to the survey conducted by Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Abuse in India - 2007, 2 out of every 3 children in India are physically abused. Parents followed by Teachers are the major perpetrators. And a Belief in "Spare the rod and Spoil the child" is one of the things that these thugs have used to justify their acts. But in any society, such a high level of physical abuse amongst children is not acceptable and no society, which values its children, will not and should not tolerate this.

Hope things atleast change in the next generation!!!

[Just to make things clear.. Physical abuse is defined as beating manifested as kicking, slapping,punishing through corporal punishment, beating by family members and others including peers, police,employer, caregivers, etc.]

Photo Source: MundoZeli

Where is Stanford University of India?

Right from the day, TATA Nano was revealed in Auto Expo, the question - 'Why such innovative products are generally missing from Indian market?' has been haunting me. Why does Entrepreneurship & Innovation has always been belonged to 'all talk and no action' category? What are the barriers to innovation and entrepreneurship in India? And is there anybody working on those barriers so that the future entrepreneurs do not have to face them?

Pranav in his recent article in Startup Dunia lists down the missing pieces of Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem, the foundation on which hundreds of innovation should have happened

• Non-Existent Early Stage Funding
• Inability to attract and hire good talent
• Spark or Tipping Point that sets Indian Entrepreneurial scene in fire.

Add to this

• A general lack of political initiatives trying to create an ecosystem that breeds innovation. [In India, Entrepreneurship is never an electoral issue, while in US, Barack Obama has already promised to take all steps to make sure that the next Google happens in US]
• Focus of Indian Engineering Colleges on creating employable graduates rather than on creating entrepreneurs. Which of the Indian Engineering Colleges is ready to play the role of Stanford university in the creation of Silicon Valley style environment? Remember it is Engineers who beget ideas.
  

Guy Kawasiki has a few advices of his own on How to kick Silicion Valley's butt?

Photo Source : code_martial

MacBook Air in India

When Steve Jobs revealed the World's Thinnest Laptop - MacBook Air in MacWorld Conference & Expo in January 15, 2008, I thought it would take a few years for the product to hit the Indian market. I was planning to save enough money in the meantime, so i could be one of the first persons to buy it in India. But today's news on CNN-IBN disrupted all my well laid out plans.

MacBook Air and Time Capsule, the latest products from the staple of Apple Inc. is expected to hit nationwide franchises and retail outlets in India within the next two weeks. Personally I am at odds on how to interpret this action by Apple: whether to intrepret it as a mark of Growing Economic Clout of India (as our Indian Media would like to believe) or A Classic Situation of a Miscalculated Supply that has outstripped the Demand. Whatever it is, I am not complaining!

Hope the good times continue for India with regard to other latest Apple Products.

P.S: Can anyone explain the reason for Rs.25,000/- Price Difference of MacBook Air sold in India and abroad.

Price of MacBook Air in India - Rs. 96,100/-
Price of MacBook Air Outside India - 1799 USD (Rs. 71,447/-)

Indian Parties Need Internal Democracy

We, the Indians take huge pride in the claim that India and USA are the two greatest democracies in the world - one country has the oldest democracy while the other has the largest. But differences between these two democracies have never been this acute, as in recent times.

• In one country, a huge democratic process is going on to select the Presidential candidate. And the whole world media is going gaga about it. Hundreds of Party men are voting to choose the person, who is going to lead them in the elections and every person in the party are given the option to have their say.
• But in the other country, one high powered committee of the party decides the Prime Ministerial Candidate. [Read Indian Party declares PM Candidate.] Even this looks democratic, when it is compared to the selection process of the opposing party, where the Prime Ministerial Candidate is decided in 10, Janpath.
  

In a recent beautiful article 'The Indian Chromosome', Islamabad-based freelance columnist Dr. Farrukh Salem narrows down the reason for the differences between two neighboring nations , sharing the same chromosome and culture, to a single fact - "Democracy or One Nation being able to elect its leaders". Democracy has been India's greatest asset in the last sixty years and it would remain so, even in the future.

But to fully enjoy the benefits of the democracy, it is time Indian parties chose to give voice to their party cadres. Yeah! India is a country with high power distance. But with the changing Indian Culture, changes in the perception of Youth and the advancements in the technology, Indian party leaders are running out of reasons for not being able to give the choice of choosing the prime ministerial candidate to its cadres. Simply by giving a voice, a party would be able to attract much more members to its rank.

Hope Indian parties realize the need of a thriving and healthy internal party democracy. Otherwise they would be wiped away like some of the Indian firms which were never able to adjust itself to globalization.

Google Updates!

No company has impressed me as Google has done. Their newer products has never stopped amazing me. And Google continues this tradition with these latest news from its blog.

1. Know India's Hottest Trends:

Want to know a snapshot of Indians' collective mind, visit Google Trends - India and come to know the fast rising searches of the day. Find out who is popular, Shahrukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar or Sania Mirza, Bharti Airtel or Vodafone, TATA or Reliance. Read more @ What's India searching for Online?.

2. Death of Elections Talk Shows???

This was the question that raised in my mind when i saw the integration of Google Maps with Twitter[Asking what is Twitter, read about it here]. Hearing(reading) what people like you and me have to say about Super Tuesday (in just 140 characters) was much more interesting than hearing all that nonsense in Election Talk shows. Yeah! Death of Election Talk shows may be far reaching but this product has a huge potential. Read more @ Be part of the Super Tuesday Action & Super Tuesday Wrapup

3. OpenSocial Apps Very Soon on Orkut:

One of the things from Google that i have been waiting for is the OpenSocial Apps in Orkut. And Opensocial API Blog reports that i don't have to wait for many more days. Facebook-style applications would go live to Orkut users in the last week of February. Read more about Google OpenSocial at Google Out'foxing'(opening) Competition.

Also Read other Google Updates from me at

• Microsoft Vs Google
• Google Aggressive on Indian Market?
  

Plans for Future!!!

As an old proverb goes "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". So it is time i come up with a few plans and goals for this blog. Yeah! I know that i am a bit late for 2008 new year resolutions. But it is better late than never! :)

Photo Source: sweetness6

Plans:
Meta morphing http://robinsamuel.blogspot.com to an India-centric Opinion blog with less and less personal stuff.

Goals:

• Reaching 100 Subscribers by RSS/Email by the end of year 2008
  
• Hitting the 200th Post mark before the end of 2008 which roughly translates to 9 posts every month hereafter. [My last post was my 100th post]

100th Post

In Cricket, Nnineties however important it is, can never match the aura of a hundred. We still recall how Dan Bradman missed a career average of 100 runs by just 4 runs. The number 100 is special to all of us including me... We all would like to live to a magic age of 100...

But why all this hullabaloo about number 100?
Simple Reason: This is the 100th post to be published in this blog - http://robinsamuel.blogspot.com. The blog has evolved and grown in the mean time. From just being a space where i write some idiotic stuff about myself, it has metamorphosed itself into an India-centric Opinion blog with less and less personal stuff.

Rather than writing something new to make this special post extra-special, it would be better if i pick out the five best posts of mine in earlier 99 posts... [It also serves the purpose of informing the new readers of this blog of my earlier posts :) ]

1. In Service for Sight - This post is special because it is the first post in which i moved from personal stuff to general stuff. It is about Dr. V and Aravind Hospitals who by their single-minded focus and vision has shown us what is possible for a single person to achieve individually in the land where we live in.

2. Why Tirunelveli is the City of the World? - One Post that still brings me smile even after reading it umpteen number of times. Extra-Extra-Special

3. Orkut Celebrates India's Independence Day - Only Post that has the record of bringing in more than 1000 page views in a single day. Thanks to some luck!

4. BSNL And its Comical Vision - Something that i found out comical about BSNL's Vision and only person on the net to point out the foolishness committed by such a huge Public Sector Company of India.

5. Are Pyramid Schemes(Questnet, Goldquest) Easy Ways to Make Money? - A Constant Traffic Driver even today. My Only Hope is that People who are thinking about investing >30K in those scams get to read this post or posts with similar messages from other blogs.

Enjoy Reading!!!

P.S: Incidentally, This Blog has also hit 10K Page Views Mark. :)

Tirunelveli-an making News in Global Tech World!

When another Tirunelvelian makes news in the global tech world, how can i remain silent?

When I saw the news about Seattle based Global Scholar in Techcrunch, i disregarded the news on seeing the headline. But my whole perception towards Global Scholar changed today on hearing that Kal Raman, CEO of Global Scholar was from Tirunelveli (Thanks to Kiruba's Blog). How exciting it is to hear about another person from your native making news in the global tech world!!!
My 2 Cents to Investors Ignition Partners and Knowledge Universe: Never, ever, worry about $42.5 million invested in Global Scholar. Just remember that we, the Tirunelvelians are born with the gene of business. :D

P.S: Incidentally, Kal Raman also graduated from CEG, Anna University

Kudos to Dominique Lapierre

Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Sri... Until now, my opinion was that these awards reveal the influence wielded by a celebrity in the government... Even the esteemed Bharat Rana was added to this list, when every Tom, Dick and Harry started suggesting their own 'corrupted' party leaders for Bharat Rana. [Read what happend when NDTV ran an opinion poll that included 'Picasso of India'] But all these perceptions changed when i found one of my favorite writers - Dominique Lapierre (a Non-Indian) on the Padma Bhushan awards' list. Read the news here.

A French author, who by his casual way of writing and his extensive research on the subject(historical events) captured my heart. A writer, who by his books, changed my outlook towards

• Last few days of India under British rule and Early days of Indian government(Freedom at Midnight)
• History of a nation created out of nowhere(O Jerusalem!)
• French Liberation and how a NAZI commander saved Paris for eternity(Is Paris Burning)
• Slums of Kolkata(The City of Joy)
• Incidents that resulted in Bhopal Gas Incident(It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal)

and much more...

His books, rather than being a collection of Newspaper headlines, bares all before the eyes of the readers. Sometimes, it jolts people on hearing the history that was never revealed to them in their text books. I can never forgot my own emotions when i read about the saddest days of Indian history(Partition) when fathers beheaded their own daughters and husbands beheaded their wives (to protect them from the torture that awaits them from the people of other religion)

Padma Bhushan gets a special new meaning (for me) because of being awarded to him.. :)

Kudos to ISB!

Finally an Indian B-School finds itself among the Top 20 B-schools of the world. [That too in a ranking released by the reputed financial newspaper "The Financial Times"]. Surprising News - it was ISB and not IIM - Ahmedabad that finds itself in the elite list. Indian School of Business surely deserves accolades for putting Indian education sector on the global map. In doing so, ISB has provided right wing politicians an example to point out how seemingly impossible task by the government becomes possible with a few committed individuals.

One thing that caught my attention, when i read the news in The Hindu, is the length to which the Deputy Dean of ISB, Mr. Ajit Rangnekar went to point out that there could be no comparisons between Indian School of Business and IIMs since they were in different market segment. But still all the management institutes (IIMs & ISB) approach the same group of corporates for recruitment... And this ranking will surely sky rocket its brand among the key decision makers in the corporate world.

P.S: On reading the rankings in FT, I was just a little bit curious. on.. How the weighted salary of ISB is the highest in the world, even higher than Harvard Business School? If anyone knows the answer, please inform me.

Indian children are not safe

It has been a long time since i was reduced to tears on reading something. But this unthinkable happened on reading the report from Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Abuse in India - 2007.

A few statistics from the report that shook me

• Two out of every three children were physically abused
• 53.22% children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse
• 50% abuses are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility
• Every second child reported facing emotional abuse
• 48.4% of the girls wished they were boys

On reading the report, my first reaction was to to discredit the report rather than accept the precarious situation, the children of our country live in. For those(like me) who could not accept the fact that the report could be reflective of the true situation, here are a few facts:

• Survey was conducted among 17,220 people and in 13 states
• Focused Group Discussion and One to one Interaction were the technique used to collect data among children(5-18 years) and interview technique was used among young adults(18-24 years).
• Largest Survey ever taken to find out about Child Abuse in India

Age-wise: Sample Size of Child Respondents

The report clearly points out the monumental task, each of has in ensuring the safety and well being of the future leaders of India(Just remember Indian children constitute more than one third of our population and 19% of world's children)

P.S: This is just an introductory post. Planning to write a series of posts about the different kind of child abuse in India - Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Emotional Abuse and Girl Child Neglect

Key Terms:

1. Physical abuse is inflicting physical injury upon a child. This may include hitting, shaking, kicking,beating, or otherwise harming a child physically.
2. Emotional abuse (also known as verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological maltreatment) includes acts or the failure to act by parents, caretakers, peers and others that have caused or could cause serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental distress/trauma.
3. Sexual abuse is inappropriate sexual behaviour with a child. It includes fondling a child's genitals,making the child fondle an adult's genitals, sexual assault (intercourse, incest, rape and sodomy),exhibitionism and pornography.
4. Child neglect is an act of omission or commission leading to the denial of a child's basic needs. Neglect can be physical, educational, emotional or psychological.

Things You Must Know - Kiva

Similiar to Facebook that revolutionized social media, Kiva has revolutionized the micro finance industry. Recognized by many experts as one of the major things that would change the future of the world, it is time Kiva finds a mention in Indian media. While Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus showed to the world that small loans could change the life of poor people, Kiva brings the advantages of technology and globalization to the micro finance industry.

What does Kiva do?
Through its website, Kiva lets you and me to connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), the sponsor receives email journal updates from the business they have sponsored. When the loans are repaid, the sponsor gets his loan money back (but without any interest). For gaining access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide, Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions.

What Kiva has done?
Kiva has used the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. In its website, you will find hundreds of entrepreneurs in need of loans stating the purpose of the loans and how the loan money would be put to use. You can lend to any one you choose... from any part of the world...

Thanks to Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, Kiva is swamped by lenders willing to lend to people they did not know and living in a far away country (Thanks to the demand created by the Oprah's television show, Kiva has limited lenders to a $25-portion of each loan so that many more people would get the opportunity to loan).

Visit kiva.org and check out for yourself. As some wise man said, "It is not the amount that helps, but the helping hand"

Also Read

• New Heroes - Social Entrepreneurs
  

Interesting News - Speedlinking

A few news items that helped me to smile even amidst the gloominess caused by the stock market crash:

• With the stocks crashing all over the world, each person/organization had their own reaction... Our Finance Minister P Chidambaram tried to assure the market of the Indian growth story... US Fed cut its interest rate... Financial experts advised the investors not to panic... But the cops from Ahmedabad had the most interesting reaction... Their reaction to stock market crash: Secure Ahmedabad's largest lake... Wanted to know why, read 'Market Crash: Cops secure Ahmedabad's largest lake'
• Someone living in India is used to hear frequent press statements from opposition party leaders demanding the resignation of the ruling party on matters of little public interest. But this one is the icing on the cake. Jayalalitha seeks CM's resignation for death of cows
• While the Indian media trumpeted the 'Triumph of Justice' in Bilkis Banu's case, a relative of one of the accused comes with the perfect reason to prove that the case is fabricated: "No Hindu father and son will rape the same woman at the same time". Read the news here

P.S: Got to read these news items, thanks to India Uncut

NDTV Office Attacked in Gujarat

Ahmedabad Office of NDTV, India's largest private producer of news and current affairs, has been vandalized by a Hindu fundamentalist group. Not because the NDTV reported wrong about the group... Not Because they hurt the religious sentiments... Not even because NDTV sided with the minority groups... It was just because they included "Picasso of India" as one of the contestants in their opinion poll for Bharat Ratna, . Read the news here.

While some of the experts may use this incident to point an trend of increasing attacks of Hindu fundamentalist parties and their high intolerance, I am left numb with the question: How can a group get the courage to attack the regional office of India's largest television Production House? Is not the same courage that emboldened the Congress members to attack the Sikhs after the death of Indra Gandhi? Is it not the same courage that emboldened BJP & Shiv Sena to attack the Muslims during Gujarat & Mumbai Riots respectively? Is not the same courage that emboldens thousands of politicians to accept bribes? A Courage fueled by an immunity from punishment. A Courage that stems from the fact that the law would not be able to touch them. A Courage that symbolizes the complete breakdown of law and order in the state. A Courage that scares every person on the rough end(Media in this incident).

God Save Gujarat!

Don't Ban Jallikattu

Do you pluck your eye if a dust particle falls in it? No. But if you believe in PETA Activists, that is the way to go w.r.t Jallikattu, an ancient Tamil tradition. Like their environmentalist comrades who wanted to ban TATA Nano to address the problem of lack of mass transit system in metro cities, the PETA activists wanted to ban Jallikattu to stop cruelty of animals. If they really wanted to stop cruel practices like spraying chili powder in the eyes of bulls or giving it local brew, they should ensure legal mechanisms to prevent these cruel practices rather than asking for an outright ban of Jallikattu. [But Kumaraguru even disagrees with the claim of cruelty to animals in Jallikattu in his Economic Times article - Ban on Jallikattu]

In their passion for preventing cruelty to animals, PETA activists cross the fine line of intrusion into another man's beliefs and customs. They are right in believing that animals should not be tortured in the name of a sport. But what they don't understand is that Bull Chasing is an ancient tamil tradition/sport that has survived for 3500 years. And it is very much part of Tamil culture. To the extent, that any Tamil movie set in the rural villages of Tamilnadu is incomplete without a 'Jallikattu' scene. Also Jallikattu could bring in much needed Tourism revenues to the arid & dry southern parts of Tamilnadu. So Please don't ban Jallikattu citing sporadic cases of animal cruelty.