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FROM THE EDITOR

Now, What About BossCCI?

Vol 9 Issue 4 May 2010

Managing Editor Jason D Pavoratti Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Hyderabad: Iqbal Siddiqui Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D

Subhash Chandra must be a happy man. One innocent wedding rumour in DNA, and the IPL castle of cards comes down swiftly. Too bad that it tripped a naïve Tharoor, but too good that it took down Modi with it.

BCCI had been that unfair to Chandra’s Zee. Despite winning the telecast rights fair and square thrice, BCCI had rejected Zee’s tender, prompting the otherwise prudent billionaire to hastily create an alternative, the forgettable Indian Cricket League (ICL).

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But really ICL was not a bad idea at all. But Chandra hadn’t counted on the might of that special muscle called the official muscle. Not only was BCCI the only official power, but it was the only power to determine who can be the official power. When it decided that Lalit Modi’s baby, IPL, can be official, it became so. Last week when it decided this was not to be, the (now fat) baby remained official, but Modi went through the window.

Now what will Chandra do? Time is fit for reviving ICL. During his last public outburst, Punit Goenka had complained that BCCI was threatening even the advertisers of ICL. Now is the time a court case against such threats will get patient ears.

But who will head such a reinvented ICL? Hey, isn’t the world’s Best Twenty20 Commissioner available? If the Congress bigwigs are not willing to upset the applecart by going all out against Pawar and NCP, Modi should survive as a legally available and hireable CEO. And seriously, for all the brickbats he received, there is no doubt Lalit Modi will remain the most productive Cricket Commissioner ever.

If you didn’t like the way he did his business, that is your problem, not his. KK Modi explained this succinctly. His younger son too has this style of functioning, says Modi. In other words, it was, and is, the Modi way of doing business.

Never mind that this style was which that brought down this once-highflying business family’s name from among peers like the Tatas and Birlas. Too clever, too aggressive, and too secretive, the Modi clan flourished during the Licence Raj, but started floundering after the liberalization drive of the 90s.

Many Modis became blacklisted by the bankers, who thronged to serve the cunning-yet-neat entrepreneurs of the new India, the Ambanis, the Murthys, and of course, the Tatas who excelled in reinventing themselves for the times.

FROM THE EDITOR But who cares? Not the least the Modis. Just KK Modi’s empire is worth more than 3500 crore. So, what if you can’t write software, drill oil, or create a Nano? There will always be evergreen businesses like cigarettes, and new opportunities like Fashion TV and online lotteries. All of them perfectly legal, if not that respectable.

Alembic shares shot up around 5% when Chirayu Amin was made the new Commissioner. What for? Is the theoretically super-efficient market determining that somehow the pharma company will gain from its CMD becoming the IPL Commissioner? Remember, it is the same market that punished the bluest blue-chips like TCS & Reliance for coming up with very good results, just a few days back! So much for the theory that the market takes into account everything.

One of our lead stories this time tells the story of a man who didn’t believe that the markets were super efficient. ‘THE MAN WHO MADE TOO MUCH’ – John Paulson – is already the eye of the new financial storm crashing stock-markets around the world. But sadly, the crisis itself is not named after him, but on Goldman Sachs. Because, yet again, you find the typical new-age entrepreneur – unbelievably cunning yet unbelievably difficult to legally pin down.

The good man he is, Chirayu Amin is learnt to be averse to after-match IPL parties and cheerleaders, as they are anti-Indian. BCCI seems to have finally concluded that girls lifting their legs to reveal their crotches was not really an innovation, but used to be always there in Mumbai, along some suburban lines, and was called whoring, not cheerleading.

In any case, it is great that Modi’s original innovation of after-match parties will come to an end. After the arrest of Madhuri ‘Spy’ Gupta, nobody can be blamed for suspecting that Pakistan had invented and implemented the IPL parties to finish off our youthful blood like Yuvaraj and Dhoni. Such was their ardour off-ground says those who attended Modi’s parties by paying Rs. 50,000 a night or Rs. 22 lakhs for all nights.

Anyway, no need really for the parties. If Bhajii can hug and lift off Nita Ambani on ground, the after-parties are really an overkill.

Dhoni and Gary Kirsten, meanwhile, have also turned suave diplomats.

Clearly respecting the newfound powers of BossCCI, they took the ‘What Fatigue’ line before boarding for the World Cup. But expect fatigue to return as the all important reason, if and when India gets thrown out of the tournament. Of course, we can blame that too on Modi.

Anyway, the best advice for Indian cricket came from an unexpected source, Bal Thackeray. He wanted BCCI to select a former player like Gavaskar or Shastri to replace Modi. Coming from him, the advice had his untainted love for the native Mumbaikar written all over it, but he does have a point, with most of the national cricketing associations that make up the ICC having former celebrity players as their Chairman or CEO. In contrast, what has Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitley, & Farooq Abdullah got to do with cricket?

Indian Cricket is now a too dangerous place for even them as the betting saga behind IPL unveils fully. The madly betting segment among the cricket enthusiasts is now mad at how the bookies turned the tables on those who bet for CSK’s win in the final. Investigating agencies, according to some sources, have gathered evidence that this round of IPL has produced $11 billion in betting money from the 60 matches, each of them doctored in favour of the bookies. And believe it or not, there seems to be evidence that the massive betting league was masterminded from Karachi by none other than D. John Antony

CONTENTS The Man Who Made Too Much Starting 2007 and until last week, he was only that - the man who made too much. But the American Government's recent fraud suit against international banking's too-big-tofail powerhouse Goldman Sachs changes all that. Will his too-clever but still-legal business..

Tit for Tat, Trick for Trick How to Answer 10 Tricky Interview Questions.

They are just shot at you to see how well you think on your feet.

Did Raavan Dive That Dive?

Raavan was my most challenging film to date says Abhishek. Credit goes to..

Walking on Water Down in the ground ... it’s a pool, it’s a floor, it’s a Hydrofloor.

Jobs Too Intelligent This Time Thirty years back he lost the chance of a lifetime to Bill Gates. This...

Can Moral Sense Be Physically Controlled?

Scientists discover moral compass in the brain which can be...

AUTO Most Sought After Diesel Machines Advancement in technology and continuous rise in petrol prices have..

What are Friends For? Aparna is true inheritor of Satyajit Ray says Shabana Azmi...

Air Fights Water to be the Next Fuel

500-Horsepower Plug-In Porsche Makes Us Swoon.

On March 1st people in India and other countries with large Hindu populations celebrated Holi, the Festival of Colors.

A Little Workout, A Little Restraint

Making Car Fuel from Thin Air now seems possible and near.

Can a Car Deliver 718 BHP and 78.4 Miles Per Gallon?

Holi 2010

Energy Balance & Weight Loss is a Two-Sided Equation.

Sign of Times to Come As Apple replaces Microsoft in the tech war with Google, enemy's enemy can turn into a friend. In an unprecedented..

Can Kumble Overcome Caste?

I'll join politics for sure says ace cricketer.

Touchskin Follows Will ExxonMobil and Touchscreen Reliance Go Out of Business?

With Artificial Photosynthesis, a Bottle of Water Could Produce Enough..

Skinput arrives because touchscreens never felt right anyway.

Why Scheduled Exercise is Not Enough Apart From Lack Of Exercise, Prolonged Periods Of Sitting Are Harmful.

Are Women More Neurotic Than Men? Women, anyway, feel more guilt than men.

Behind India's Love Why America Facebook Should Apologize for The social-networking giant has opened Is US of A so great that it needn't apologize even if it makes a grave mistake? A section of the US politicians..

its first-ever office in Asia—in the country where being all up in one...

Fitness Clothes Not Just a Feel Good Fad Waterworld Can be Futuristic Concept Waterscraper brings Monumental Architecture into the...

10 Questions Shashi Tharoor Must Answer to Come Clean

Mobiles to Have 3D Before TV, Computers Now, you can watch 3D images without glasses.

10 Coloured Rainbows

Difficult to Down Him

Half of the Women See More Colors Than the Rest of the People Do.

British helicopter pilot shot between the eyes but keeps flying to save 20...

IPO CORNER

Sports Good for Career, Bad for Education Gopichand says our education system needs flexibility.

Guess From Where Low Waist Took Birth?

Raise your pants, and raise your image, says US Senator.

OBEROI CONSTRUCTIONS COAL INDIA LTD

Isn’t Coal Feeling Like Hot? SJVN

A Realty IPO Worth Considering?

JAYPEE INFRATECH

Do Strengths Beat Weaknesses?

Risks Balancing Out Rewards?

NEPTUNE

AMBIENCE LTD IPO

Invest or Avoid?

Kunnath, Creators of Musli Power X-Tra, Bags French Innovation Award MEDANTA

Attractive Only in Long Term? Medicine’s Last Word

MOVIES

Did Raavan Dive That Dive?

Raavan was my most challenging film to date says Abhishek. Credit goes to Mani who made Bachchan Jr, Aishwarya, and the actors stand for two hours under the Athirappilly waterfall to get the feel.

He dived from a 90-ft cliff into water, stood under a waterfall for two hours, braved snakes and leeches in Kerala's forests - Abhishek Bachchan says shooting for 'Raavan' was emotionally and physically challenging for him.

The actor revealed that he decided to jump from scary heights despite a no from director Mani Ratnam.

"I did jump. There was a professional diver to train me how to do it," Abhishek, who has teamed up with wife Aishwarya Rai in the movie, told us in an interview.

locations or tough scenes. The film drains you and you feel so good when you go home at night because you feel that you have done something. Getting a movie like 'Raavan' is so rare. You don't get such a role today," Abhishek said.

Ratnam's 'Raavan' is said to be a modern interpretation of the epic 'Ramayana'. It also stars southern

"This is the most challenging film I have ever done in my life. I haven't done such a physically and emotionally challenging film in my life. And it's not about going to tough

"Once you work with him, you will be in awe of him because of the talent he brings to the table. The minute he says cut, he turns into a dear friend.

He is someone very close to me. I really feel a strong bond with him. But in front of the camera, you don't have to work to give him the respect - it just comes... He is truly just the best," said Abhishek. It was Ratnam who gave Abhishek his first hit in 'Yuva' and they later worked together in 'Guru'.

Talking about his character, Abhishek said: "Beera is the most fun character I have played. Fun because when we work on a character, we draw an outline and then fill in the blanks. But Beera is so unpredictable that you can get away with everything. Mani said do whatever you have done. Make it a convincing performance.

"I believe if you can look the character, 50 percent of your job done. I think when you get the body language correct, half of your work is done. And if you have understood the body language, your dialogues after that would just come."

"When we went up there, it was 90 feet or something. So the insurance people said that we can't allow him to do it. You can't put your lead actor's life at risk," he said.

"Mani said no, I am not going to risk my actor jumping off that (cliff).

Actually, the current of that river is very intense. There are rocks at the bottom. "In the meantime, a five-yearold boy came and dived into the water.

We were shooting it at Hogenakkal (waterfall on the Cauvery river), where these local kids jump off for money.

So five-six people jumped at the end of the day and finally the shot was taken," he said.

film has lots of action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. Ratnam completed the film despite health problems.

Ratnam loves shooting on real locations to extract the best from his actors, said Abhishek.

superstar Vikram, who plays a cop married to Aishwarya. The director simultaneously shot 'Raavan' in Tamil and Hindi at various locations, including the Athirapally forests in Kerala, Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata, and the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra. The

"On the first day, he puts us under the waterfall for two hours and, trust me, you are in character. Mani loves to shoot at location. You will think, 'where have we come?' The jungles of Kerala, the snakes and leeches... then you realise that he puts you into the situation where in a day or two you start reacting instinctively as your character would react because you are actually facing that. "You don't need to act that much, you are just reacting naturally. So when you go to locations like that, it brings out the character automatically."

FINANCE

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

The Man Who Made Too Much

Starting 2007 and until last week, he was only that - the man who made too much. But the American Government's recent fraud suit against international banking's too-big-to-fail powerhouse Goldman Sachs changes all that. Will his too-clever but still-legal business survive? Or will it be Europe that brings him to his knees? With the likes of Warren Buffett too falling for the Goldman worldview, much is at stake regarding this one man. Because hedge fund manager John Paulson has profited more than anyone else from the financial crisis. His $3.7 billion payday in 2007 broke every record, and he made it all by betting against homeowners, shareholders, and the rest of us. Now he’s paying the price. Or will he, ever? With securitization - the controversial financial tool that converts risky loans into mutual fund like investments - rearing its ugly head in India, this is one engrossing story no investor can afford to miss. wo young men, traders on John -Paulson’s staff, come into his hedge fund’s office seeking advice on whether to buy a certain debt security. Sitting just a few feet away, I have no idea what Paulson tells them. His slightly high-pitched voice is so soft that on the rare occasions he is forced to speak in public, he’s easily drowned out by the rustling of papers or the clearing of throats.

When he appeared before a U.S. House committee in November to try to explain how he had lavishly profited while countless others had suffered, Paulson spoke so gently, even when inches from the microphone, that representatives repeatedly, and with growing irritation, had to ask him to speak up.

Paulson is smart enough to know that at this particular moment in history, the less he’s heard from, the better. The simple reason: He is not suffering. In an era in which losers are universal and making a profit seems somehow shady, Paulson is the most conspicuous of Wall Street’s winners.

Paulson makes no apologies. During our conversation in his conference room, he describes in detail how he pulled off the greatest financial coup in recent history—a two-year bet that the calamity we are now experiencing would take place. It was a megatrade involving dozens of financial instruments, along with prescient wagers that banks like Lehman Brothers would eventually go under.

Left unexamined is the uncomfortable moral dimension of Paulson’s achievement. If he saw all of this coming, was it right for him to keep his own counsel, quietly trading while the financial system melted down? Do traders who figure out a way to profit from our misery deserve our contempt or our

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Paulson & Co.’s funds (with an estimated $36 billion under management and growing by the day) were up a staggering $15 billion as the markets teetered in 2007; one fund gained 590 percent, another 353 percent. All this reportedly garnered him a personal payday of $3.7 billion, among the biggest in history. In 2008, his funds didn’t climb nearly as much but were still successful enough to put him at the very top of his profession. By scoring returns of this magnitude, Paulson has dwarfed the success of George Soros, whose currency trades in the 1990s made him so much money that he has spent much of the rest of his career atoning for them.

FINANCE

The Man Who Made Too Much “The shorts and rumormongers succeeded in bringing down Bear Stearns,” Fuld asserted. “And I believe that unsubstantiated rumors in the marketplace caused significant harm to Lehman Brothers.”

admiration, however grudging?

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

The question has long dogged that most hated species of Wall Street trader, the short-seller who profits by trading borrowed stock. Because of his recent success, Paulson is now their designated king. So it’s no surprise that he is finding himself the object of finger-pointing about who caused the mess we’re in. On November 13, Paulson and four other titans of the hedge fund world—Soros, Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners, Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, and James Simons of Renaissance Technologies—were forced to answer questions in the glare of TV lights before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California, the same man who dog-and-ponied tobacco executives into claiming under oath that cigarettes aren’t addictive. The five were selected because they were the highest-paid fund managers in 2007, as ranked by Alpha magazine, an industry trade publication. (View a slideshow detailing the falling fortunes of other hedge fund managers.)

There has never really been a time when short-sellers have been feted.

They had a brief moment in the sun following the corporate scandals of the early 2000s, when hedge fund manager Jim Chanos, among others, was credited with uncovering Enron’s fraud. Even though short-sellers redflagged the dangers of subprime lending years before the crisis—Gradient

Analytics, a research firm, issued private warnings as far back as 2002— they have received few brownie points since the housing bust began. “Everybody’s too busy looking out for themselves to come to the defense of people who are perceived as profiting from the misery of others,” Chanos says.In the view of many C.E.O.’s, short-sellers do more than just profit from corporate misfortune; they inflame it. C.E.O. Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers and Alan Schwartz, former C.E.O. of Bear Stearns, in their own recent appearances before congressional panels, blamed rumormongers and short--sellers for the demise of their firms.

“The shorts and rumormongers succeeded in bringing down Bear Stearns,” Fuld -asserted. “And I believe that unsubstantiated rumors in the marketplace caused significant harm to Lehman Brothers.”

Schwartz gave similar testimony when he appeared before the Senate Banking Committee in April, saying that there was a run on the bank despite a “capital cushion well above what was required to meet regulatory standards.” He testified that “market forces continued to drive and accelerate our precipitous liquidity decline.” Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd chimed in that “this goes beyond rumors. This is about collusion.”But was it? Chanos, for one, is tired of the blame-the-shorts litany, and he recalls a conversation with Bear Stearns’

Schwartz to make his point.

The day before the Fed’s rescue of Bear Stearns, Chanos says he was walking to the Post House restaurant in New York City, when, at 6:15 p.m., his cell phone rang. He saw the Bear Stearns exchange come up on his caller I.D. and took the call.

“Jim, hi, it’s Alan Schwartz.”

“Hi, Alan.”

“Well, Jim, we really appreciate your business and your staying with us. I’d like you to think about going on CNBC tomorrow morning, on Squawk Box, and telling everybody you still are a client, you have money on deposit, and everything’s fine.”

“Alan, how do I know everything’s fine? Is everything fine?”

“Jim, we’re going to report record earnings on Monday morning.”?

“Alan, you just made me an insider. I didn’t ask for that information, and I don’t think that’s going to be relevant anyway. Based on what I understand, people are reducing their margin balances with you, and that’s resulting in a funding squeeze.”

“Well, yes, to some extent, but we should be fine.”

“This is now 6:15 on Thursday night, the night before the collapse,” Chanos says. “It was after a meeting with Molinaro”—Bear Stearns C.F.O. Sam Molinaro—“who basically told him at that meeting, ‘We’re done. We’re gone. We need money overnight we don’t have.’? So here he is, calling one of his biggest clients to go on CNBC the next morning to say everything’s fine when clearly it’s not. And he knew it wasn’t.”

Chanos refused to go on CNBC. By 6:30 the next morning, word was out that the Fed was engineering the rescue of Bear Stearns. Chanos realized that he could have been on CNBC while that was -announced. “I thought, That ****** was going to throw me under the bus no matter what.”

Schwartz, not surprisingly, has a different version of events. “I did not make the statements attributed to me

by Mr. Chanos,” he says through a spokesperson. According to someone who has spoken to Schwartz, the exC.E.O.’s side of the story is that the conversation took place on Wednesday, not Thursday, and that it was entirely different from what was related by Chanos. His contentions are that the call was an effort to obtain a public statement from Chanos that “a group of short-sellers out there are trying to take Bear Stearns down” and that no information on Bear’s financial strength was conveyed to Chanos.Paulson is in his mid-fifties, hair thinning at the top just a bit, with a slight paunch that he fights by jogging in Central Park, a half-block from the 28,000-square-foot Upper East Side townhouse that he bought a few years ago. He is of medium height, medium build, medium disposition.

He favors old-fashioned tortoi seshell bifocals and dark-gray suits—none of the forced informality that you find in some hedge fund offices. He speaks fluidly and candidly and is unmoved by critics of his chosen profession.

This, after all, is a man whose mind has been set on making vast, historic amounts of money since he was a kid, when he bought candy in bulk and sold individual pieces to his buddies at a profit.

At the beginning of 2008, he says, the general thinking was, No, we’re not going to have a recession; we’re going to have a slowdown. “Then there would be a pickup in the second half of the year. When the second half start-

“We felt that housing was in a bubble; housing prices had appreciated too much and were likely to come down,” he says. “We couldn’t short a house, so we focused on mortgages.” ed looking as bad as the first, the general feeling became, We’re not going to have a pickup; we’ll have a slowdown.”

Paulson is astounded that some optimists continue to expect that somehow the formerly unsinkable economy will remain afloat, at least long enough for the government’s rescue boats to arrive. “Now that we’re in a recession, they’re probably admitting, ‘Okay, we’re in a recession, but it will probably last just two to three quarters.’ So they’re always underestimating the severity of the magnitude,” he says.

Paulson’s own view of the current situation is much darker. He predicts that the recession will last well into 2010 and that unemployment will reach 9 percent, a sharp increase from its current perch just below 7 percent. “We have a long way to go before we reach the bottom,” he says.

Paulson has become a lightning rod not simply because he made money in an awful market, but because of the way he made it. He wagered against subprime securities while everyone else was piling in. He bet that in addition to Lehman Brothers, other banks like Washington Mutual and -Wachovia were due for a fall.

Long before the financial crisis hit, Paulson, according to one person briefed on the trade, invested $22 million in a credit default swap that eventually paid $1 billion when the federal government opted not to rescue

Lehman Brothers. That amounts to a staggering $45.45 for each dollar invested.

John Paulson was born in 1955 in Queens, New York, in a pleasant and somewhat obscure middle-class neighborhood called Beechhurst. His father, Alfred, an accountant who came from a Norwegian family that had settled in Ecuador, rose to become C.F.O. of Ruder & Finn, a public relations agency. But John’s investment-banking genes seemed to have come from his mother’s father, Arthur Boklan, who, during the crash of 1929, was a banker at a long-since-vanished Wall Street firm. In an interesting parallel with his grandson, he apparently prospered even as the Great Depression dragged the country into misery.

In 1930, according to census records, he was able to afford a $220-a-month apartment in the Turin, a stately building that still stands at 93rd Street and Central Park West in Manhattan.

Boklan saw to it that his grandson had an early appreciation for the principles of capitalism. When John was a small child, Boklan was the one who encouraged him to buy Charms candy in bulk at the supermarket and then sell the individual candies to kids in the schoolyard at a substantial markup.

His profits grew, as did his appreciation for economies of scale and the tendency of certain commodities to become mispriced through ignorance

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

“So here it is,” Chanos says. “Alan Schwartz takes the position ‘Shortsellers were our problem,’ and who did he try to get to vouch for him on the morning of the collapse? The largest short-seller in the world. You want to talk about ethics and who’s telling the truth on these things? It’s unbelievable.”

FINANCE

The Man Who Made Too Much

or carelessness. It was also the point at which he would become transfixed by the process of turning pennies into dollars. Paulson would spend much of the rest of his career under the tutelage of older Wall Street role models, seeking to replicate those days with his grandfather. Following high school in Brooklyn, Paulson moved on to New York University, which in the 1970s offered a popular seminar taught by John Whitehead, then a senior partner at Goldman Sachs. Paulson listened, fascinated, as Robert Rubin, later secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton and now an unofficial adviser to Barack Obama—talked about the mysterious and new (to Paulson, anyway) world of risk arbitrage.

At the time, the scholarly, soft-spoken Rubin was viewed, at least by Paulson’s professor, as the smartest partner at Goldman Sachs; he was certainly the richest. Paulson graduated first in the class of 1978, with visions of arbitrage in his future. Harvard Business School followed. There, Paulson came under the spell of another established star in finance, the leveraged-buyout titan Jerry Kohlberg. “I had never heard of Jerry Kohlberg,”

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Paulson recalls, “but one of my friends told me, ‘Forget about investment banking. You’ve got to hear Jerry Kohlberg. These guys make more money than anybody on Wall

Street.’?” According to Paulson, Kohlberg described how he engineered the L.B.O. of a company by putting up just $500,000 in equity and then obtaining a $20 million bank loan secured by the company’s assets. The company was turned around and sold at a profit of $17 million in two years’ time.

Paulson received his M.B.A. and then spent his time in pursuit of as much money as he could earn. In 1980, the hottest jobs were not in investment banking but in management consulting. So when Paulson finished at Harvard that year, he joined one of the leading lights in the field, the Boston Consulting Group. Though the starting salaries were far higher than those in investment banking, he realized that even the partners didn’t manage to pull in the kind of money he was hoping for. Thus, following a chance social encounter with Kohlberg, Paulson moved to Wall Street, where he was introduced to Leon Levy of Oppenheimer & Co.?Paulson was soon hired

by Levy’s new venture, Odyssey Partners.

After a couple of years at Odyssey, Paulson realized he was not getting the training he needed to climb the -investment-banking money tree. So in 1984, just as the bull market was beginning, the 28-year-old joined Bear

At first, growth was slow.

Paulson, who lived in an apartment in Lower Manhattan above what is now a discount shoe outlet, shepherded his money carefully and began to establish a track record. In keeping with the norms of the time, he charged a fee of 20 percent of profits and 1 percent of assets—a comfortable sum when the size of his fund was $20 million but nothing like what he has made recently.

Stearns as an investment-banking associate. Four years later, he was promoted to managing director but soon opted to strike out on his own. After dabbling in real estate and beer— Paulson was an early investor in what would become the Boston Beer Co.— he joined the great, long march of former investment bankers and traders into the hedge fund business in 1994, going where he thought the money was. Paulson began with about $2 million of his own money, just a blip in the hedge fund world, even then. The firm consisted of just Paulson and an assistant. He shared office space in a Park Avenue building with other small hedge funds.

At first, growth was slow. Paulson, who lived in an apartment in Lower Manhattan above what is now a discount shoe outlet, shepherded his money carefully and began to establish a track record. In keeping with the norms of the time, he charged a fee of 20 percent of profits and 1 percent of assets—a comfortable sum when the size of his fund was $20 million but nothing like what he has made recently.

Then, in the late 1990s, came the tech bubble, and more important for Paul-

Paulson began branching out, moving away from betting on mergers and into the financial instruments of firms in bankruptcy. He was still as obscure as he could be, keeping his name and that of his wife, Jenny, out of the papers, though they did begin to accumulate the usual symbols of hedge fund wealth. He left his apartment on Broadway for the palatial quarters of a mansion on East 86th Street and bought an opulent, though not extravagant, house in the Hamptons, outside of New York City.

Paulson got wind of the coming storm in the credit markets through the infallible barometer of prices. By 2005, the amount of money he could make on the riskiest securities was not enough to justify the risk he was tak-

ing. Pricing, in his view, made no sense. Paulson concluded that he could do better on the short side— wagering that prices of risky securities would fall.

“We felt that housing was in a bubble; housing prices had appreciated too much and were likely to come down,” he says. “We couldn’t short a house, so we focused on mortgages.” He began taking short positions in securities that he believed would collapse along with the housing market. The best opportunities were in the junkiest portion of the housing market: subprime. Pricing of subprime securities “was absurd,” Paulson says. “It didn’t make sense.” Subprime securities graded triple-B—in other words, those that the credit-rating agencies thought were just a tad better than junk—were trading for only one percentage point over risk-free Treasury bills. This absurdity appealed to Paulson as easy money.

While Paulson was hardly the only fund manager to bet against subprime, he seems to have made the most money, most consistently, from the banking industry’s troubles. One reason for this is that Paulson was able to recognize and act on the unimaginable— that the banks, which took on most of the subprime risk, had no clue what they were holding or how much it was worth. Big banks like Merrill Lynch, UBS, and Citigroup held triple-A-rated securities, but these were backed by collateral that was subprime at best, making the rating of the securities almost irrelevant. “They felt,” Paulson explains, “that by having 100 different tranches of triple-B bonds, they had diversification to minimize the risk of any particular bond. But all these bonds were homogeneous.” It was like having 100 different pieces of the same poisoned apple pie. “They all moved down together.”

What separated Paulson from the rest of the hedge fund crowd was his realization that nobody was able to value

these complex securities. His advantage came when he was willing to admit that. Other traders refused to short the big banks because they couldn’t believe that such huge institutions would be so unaware of their own risks. Once that fact dawned on Paulson, he bet, fast and big, that the banks would fail. “We thought that many banks and brokerages were massively overleveraged, with very risky assets, and that a small decline in the assets would wipe out the equity and impair the debt,” Paulson says. He and his analysts knew that the banks were deep into subprime, and yet the prices of their debt securities hadn’t fallen, indicating that the rest of the market hadn’t caught on.

By the end of 2007, he started to beef up his short positions, focusing on overleveraged financial institutions— Wachovia and Washington Mutual among them.

And then there were derivatives. Since all that toxic waste on the balance sheet imperiled the survival of the banks, Paulson wanted to be sure he was prepared. So he bought credit default swaps, like the $22 million he bet against Lehman—essentially an insurance policy that paid off when Lehman’s bonds defaulted.

Even though Paulson didn’t actually own any Lehman bonds, he made more than $1 billion on that bet. It’s

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son, who was shorting stocks and betting big on corporate mergers, its bursting in 2001. When the market crashed after stocks lost steam that year, Paulson’s funds climbed 5 percent and rose the same amount in 2002, demonstrating his uncanny ability to avoid losing his investors’ cash as the rest of the market cratered. (Indeed, Paulson has had only one down year out of the past 15: His funds recorded a 4.9 percent decline in 1998, the year of the debacle in the Asian markets.) Money continued to pour in.

By 2003, his funds had $600 million under management; two years later, their value was upwards of $4 billion.

FINANCE

The Man Who Made Too Much as though he’d bought insurance policies on houses he didn’t own along the Indian Ocean just moments before the tsunami hit.

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Though the financial crisis has rewarded Paulson handsomely, he continues to search for investment opportunities. On October 2, he walked into a breakfast meeting at the J.P. Morgan Chase Tower, right across the street from his hedge

John Paulson was born in 1955 in Queens, New York, in a pleasant and somewhat obscure middle-class neighborhood called Beechhurst. His father, Alfred, an accountant who came from a Norwegian family that had settled in Ecuador, rose to become C.F.O. of Ruder & Finn, a public relations agency. But John’s investment--banking genes seemed to have come from his mother’s father, Arthur Boklan, who, during the crash of 1929, was a banker at a long-sincevanished Wall Street firm.

fund’s old office on Park Avenue, to make a presentation to potential investors about a new fund he had started to trade distressed debt. Its name: the Paulson Recovery Fund. As usual, Paulson was calm and quiet. His associates described how Paulson & Co.’s funds had thrived during even the very worst declines in the market, with an annual growth rate of 17 percent since inception.

Slides in Paulson’s presentation declared that the U.S. had slipped into its deepest recession since World War II. His charts displayed the usual parade of bad tidings: a steep decline in home prices, soaring mortgage delinquencies, credit contracting, and hemorrhaging in the financial sector. The 14th chart showed his strategy. It read, “How do we benefit nearterm?”

Paulson’s answer came in four bullet points: Cut leverage and build cash, eliminate exposure to the equity markets, maintain only short-term securities, and

prepare for bargains in debt securities of distressed companies—a “$10 trillion opportunity,” another chart pointed out. Paulson has also taken steps that may help him avoid being tagged as a robber baron, donating $15 million to the Center for Responsible Lending to support a program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. His congressional testimony on November 13 included his thoughts on how the government could help the banks get back on their feet—something that will of course benefit everyone, not just the holders of those distressed securities that Paulson is eager to buy.

But it’s hard to see how any financier who made a fortune from market turbulence can improve his public image when the economy is in such serious trouble. George Soros, even with his massive philanthropic efforts to promote democracy in Eastern Europe, will probably go down in history as the man who broke the Bank of England. Traders like Paulson will probably never be popular. They might as well get used to it.

Paulson himself remains unrepentant.

At a recent lunch for investors at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan, his clients dined on Colorado rack of lamb and sipped champagne, the recession be damned.

Paulson, his wife, and their children still live in their home on East 86th Street, in a mansion that at one time was a men’s club. They also have a seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-halfbath estate with an indoor pool on Ox Pasture Road in Southampton, New York; he bought the house in 2006 for $12.75 million. This past April, Paulson apparently wanted a place that was larger than a mere bungalow for his growing family, so he listed the property for $19.5 million.At last look, it was still for sale; its asking price, which had been lowered at least twice, was down to $13.9 million. Evidently, John Paulson had bought at the top of the market.

FINANCE

CELEBRITY

'I have seen 'The Japanese Wife' twice. It's such a wonderful film. I think that Aparna Sen is the true inheritor of Satyajit Ray,' she said.

'I am not saying because she is my very close friend, but I think she is the best filmmaker of the country.

That's why I have come to support the film even with my fractured foot,' Shabana told reporters at the premiere of 'The Japanese Wife'

How Shabana Diets

'Aparna and me share such a bonding that I can't deny any of her request. And today I proved that if she expects me, I will come even on my single feet. That's why I came today.

APARNA IS TRUE INHERITOR OF SATYAJIT RAY SAYS SHABANA AZMI.

What are Friends For?

The actress recently completed director Gurinder Chadha's 'It's a Wonderful Afterlife'. She had to put on weight for her role.

'I had to put on 25 pounds for 'It's a wonderful Afterlife', which would be premiered in London.

But probably I would not be able to attend it because of my fractured foot.

'Putting on the weight was wonderful because I ate all the samosas, jalebis and bhels I like.

Nut Shedding that excessive weight was very difficult because I had to eat only lettuce and tomatoes,' said Shabana.

Shabana, who featured in Sen's '15 Park Avenue' (2005), attended the premiere in a wheelchair.

'Aparna and me share such a bonding that I can't deny any of her request. And today I proved that if she expects me, I will come even on my single feet. That's why I came today.

'I had been to hospital today thinking they will remove the plaster but they have put a fresh plaster and I have to keep it for two more weeks.'

Shabana is also impressed with Rahul Bose's performance in 'The Japanese Wife' and says he has given an award winning performance.

'This is the best work of Rahul. He has given an award winning performance. If you see him in this film, you won't get an ounce of urban, sophisticated and westernised Rahul Bose. I give full credit to Aparna.

'Raima's performance is outstanding too. 'The Japanese Wife' is like a Japanese painting,' said Shabana.

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eteran actress Shabana Azmi, who came for the premiere of 'The Japanese Wife' despite a fractured foot, believes director Aparna Sen is the true inheritor of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

HEALTH

Why Scheduled Exercise is Not Enough Apart From Lack Of Exercise, Prolonged Periods Of Sitting Are Harmful. n an issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, specialists argue that prolonged periods of sitting are truly detrimental. In addition, we should focus on the harms caused by daily inactivity rather than on the lack of regular exercise alone.

The term "sedentary behavior" has come to mean "taking no exercise" according to doctors from the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. They say it should be more correctly used to describe "muscular inactivity."

Recent research indicates that prolonged periods of sitting and lack of whole body muscular movement are strongly linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and an overall higher risk of death. This is regardless of whether moderate to vigorous exercise is taken.

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An Australian study suggested that for every additional hour a woman sits in front of the TV, her risk of metabolic syndrome which is a precursor to diabetes and cardio vascular disease, increases by 26 percent. This is irrespective of how much moderate exercise she does.

The authors explain that the health of people who already do too little exercise will suffer even more if combined with extended bouts of sitting.

The researchers remark that further

investigation is needed to establish a causal effect between prolonged sitting and ill health. However, some underlying mechanisms have already been identified.

These include an enzyme known as lipoprotein lipase. It has an essential role in the regulation of key blood fats.

Consequently, the authors put forward a new model or paradigm of "inactivity physiology". It establishes that sitting and nonmuscular activity may inde pendently boost the risk of ill health, and that sedentary behavior is a separate class of behavior with specific consequences for ill health.

These are different than those caused by taking too little exercise.

The authors explain that the molecular and physiological responses of the body provoked by too much sitting cannot simply be eliminated by taking additional exercise.

They add: "In the future, the focus in clinical practice and guidelines should not only be to promote and prescribe exercise, but also to encourage people to maintain their intermittent levels of daily activities [that involve movement]. Climbing the stairs, rather than using elevators and escalators, five minutes of break during sedentary work, or walking to the store rather than taking the car will be as important as exercise."

Every additional hour a woman sits in front of the TV, her risk of metabolic syndrome which is a precursor to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, increases by 26 percent.

This is irrespective of how much moderate exercise she does.

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SCIENCE

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10

Half of the Women See More Colors Than the Rest of the People Do.

Coloured Rainbows

The first tetrachromat woman was discovered by researchers at Cambridge University in 1993. This is perhaps the most remarkable human mutation ever detected. The fact that all tetrachromats are female intrigued scientists. Now two scientists, working separately, want to investigate systematically for tetrachromats to clarify more about their existence and how they detect colors.

All mammals descended from nocturnal tree dwellers, which were colorblind, but the line of primates had more advantages in developing color vision for finding fruit food.

Human color vision is based on three forms of iodopsin (color pigments), each sensitive to a different light wavelength and is found in a different cone type. When a different cone type is stimulated, the brain reads it as a particular color.

The three iodopsins respond to red, green and blue; all the other colors are their combinations.

Like all pigments, iodopsins are proteins encoded by DNA genes.

The genes encoding the "red" and "green" iodopsins are located on the X sex chromosome, while the "blue" iodopsin is on a non-sexual chromosome.

That's why color-blindness mostly affects men: 8% of the Caucasian males; while under 0.5 % of Americana women present it.

Women have X chromosomes: one from the mother and one the father, while men have just one X chromosome from the mother and an Y sex chromosome from the father (this one does not contain any

iodopsin gene).

X chromosomes can be a "green" iodopsine or a slightly shifted "green" iodopsine, and a "red" iodopsine and a shifted "red" iodopsine. That's why a woman can carry 5 types of iodopsins: these four plus "blue", while a man just three (a green type, a red one plus blue).

A recent paper by Kimberly Jameson, Susan Highnoteand Linda Wasserman of the University of

When looking at a rainbow, these females can segment it into about 10 different colors, while trichromat (with three iodopsins) people can see just seven: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. For tetrachromat women, green was found to be assigned in emerald, jade, verdant, olive, lime, bottle and 34 other shades.

California, San Diego, showed that up to 50 % of women carry 4 types of iodopsins and can employ their extra pigments in "contextually rich viewing circumstances".

For example, when looking at a rainbow, these females can segment it into about 10 different colors, while trichromat (with three iodopsins) people can see just seven: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. For tetrachromat women, green was found to be assigned in emerald, jade, verdant, olive, lime, bottle and 34 other shades.

Still, the birds' abilities are even superior. Pigeons have five color

receptors (and five types of cell receptors) and can process visual information up to 10 times faster than human beings. While we see a smooth TV image in real movement and color, they will see dull flickering lights.

Tetrachromats species are encountered among birds, insects, jumping spiders, reptiles, and amphibians, but no mammal is known to posses this. Some of them detect UV light.

Color-blindness means the lack of the ability to distinguish a certain color. The term is somewhat of a misnomer, as color perception is diminished, not eliminated. Real color-blindness, wherein a person can distinguish no color at all, requires an impairment of all three types of color receptors, and is found in just 0.003% of the population.

Dr. Gabriele Jordan of Cambridge University tested the color perception of 14 women who each had at least one son with the right kind of color-blindness. In a test, the subjects had to manipulate and blend two wavelengths of colored light to produce any hue they liked, and after that, they had to test their own results a second time.

With normal tricolor vision, several different combinations would match any given hue, with a tetrachromat the visible match would be much decreased. 2 of the 14 subjects showed exactly the results expected from a tetrachromat. One of the two reported having a different sense of color from the people around her, with a better color matching and color memory.

Some suggest that the tetrachromats are born with four types of cone cells. One research pointed out that 2-3% of the world's women may have the kind of fourth cone that lies between the standard red and green cones. Mutation in iodopsine genes is common in most human

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Normally, people have three types of cone cells for daylight, for detecting different colors. But some women can see extra colors as they have four types of cone cell receptors. They are called tetrachromats. Compared to them, we all are color blind.

OPEN LETTER

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10 Questions Shashi Tharoor Must Answer to Come Clean

1. You say your sole aim was to bring an IPL team to Kerala. If so, had you taken into confidence the Kerala Chief Minister, the Kochi MP, the Kerala Cricket Association, or at least your senior Cabinet colleagues from Kerala on your initiative?

2. If you can recall, when did you meet Sunanda Pushkar for the first time? You have mentioned that your acquaintance with her is recent, maybe just months old. If so, was she a friend before her IPL interest was known to you, or is it that your common interest of winning an IPL bid brought you together for the first time?

3. If you keep aside Vivek Venugopal’s 1% paid equity, all other investors including the 75% paid ones and the 25% free ones like Sunanda Pushkar are from outside the state or outside the country. If you acted for Kerala, why didn’t it ever occur to you to stitch together a group of highprofile Keralite or Non-Resident Keralite businessmen?

Who authorized you to act on Kochi’s behalf, and to ‘sell’ Kochi in a way? If a city is this valuable in a national sports franchise arrangement, you surely can’t act without permission, isn’t it?

What makes you so confident that only you can act for the benefit of Kochi in this game?

4. You maintain that your only role here is of mentoring. What exactly is this role? Is it identifying and coaxing wealthy businessmen for investing in this, and identifying your friends and friends’ friends for sweat equity? What was the pitch for all of them – was it that this bid would be backed by Shashi Tharoor?

5. You also maintain that your office of Minister of State for External Affairs was never misused.

But isn’t the very act of putting your name behind a bid, amounting to throwing your weight around as a Minister? Isn’t it very clear that you threw your weight around as Minister to get things done – both to gather this odd community of investors / benefactors, and to barge into this coterie called IPL?

6. How will you react if it was ultimately proved that covert UAE money is behind this deal to win Kochi, at four times that of what Mukesh Ambani paid for Mumbai, and at a sum even an aggressive business house like the Adanis was unwilling to part with?

7. If you knew Lalit Modi was not the most honest sports manager around, why did you choose to deal with him? Almost every other person in the trade has a problem with Modi. Why didn’t you divulge

Modi’s tactics before? Or is it like Modi was ok as long as he was ok with your interests?

8. Who authorized you to act on Kochi’s behalf, and to ‘sell’ Kochi in a way? If a city is this valuable in a national sports franchise arrangement, you surely can’t act without permission, isn’t it? What makes you so confident that only you can act for the benefit of Kochi in this game?

9. Is Sunanda Pushkar an Indian citizen? What is her qualification / experience in sports franchising?

What is the exact service that she rendered in this bid?

10. Who christened the setup as Rendezvous?

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s the verbal spat between Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi intensifies on the Kochi IPL cricket team, and both their professional fates hang in balance, here are ten questions for the Minister to come clean. For the IPL Commissioner, it would take a hundred questions.

CELEBRITY

Can Kumble Overcome Caste?

I'll join politics for sure says ace cricketer.

Bangalore Royal Challengers' skipper keen to make a foray into politics, but the caste card may keep him waiting for some time At the launch of his book Wide Angle yesterday, the 39-year-old Anil Kumble was asked why he was associating himself with politics by hobnobbing with the BJP. Kumble retorted, "I am doing direct politics and am not interested in doing things indirectly."

The cricket icon is the vice-chairman of the state wildlife board with a Minister of State (MoS) rank.

Though Kumble has retired from international cricket, he is the captain of the IPL team Bangalore Royal Challengers.

said a senior BJP leader. "It is very difficult to accommodate him in Bangalore city, as we already have a Brahmin MP and a couple of MLAs from the community. But, we are considering his case and I hope we will derive some formula to tackle this issue."

However, K S Eshwarappa, state president of BJP, has no ambiguity when it comes to Kumble's candidature.

"We must not take the caste factor into

consideration when we are talking about icons like Kumble. He belongs to the sports fraternity and I am happy to have him as our candidate, but we have a lot of time before we start thinking of the next parliamentary polls."

Kumble is on the same page on the timing of his foray into politics. "I will come to active politics that is for sure, but let me play IPL for now," he added. He said he was pro-active as the chief of the wildlife board and he had formulated some gamechanging policies that he would reveal shortly, though he was not attending the government office at Visweswaraya Towers regularly.

"You need not attend office regularly when you are doing your work seriously. What counts in the end is the outcome of the work," he concluded.

Caste politics Rumours of him joining the BJP have been doing the rounds for a while. There was talk of him contesting last year's Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore, something the party later denied.

However, a source in the BJP said that caste politics was the reason Kumble could not contest last year.

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"Kumble wanted to contest from Bangalore Central with a BJP ticket, in the last parliamentary polls. But, caste equations did not allow us to field him," said the source.

H N Ananthkumar, a Brahmin, was running from the neighbouring Bangalore South and Kumble could not be fielded, as he is also from the same caste.

"The problem persists even now,"

“

I am doing direct politics and am not interested in doing things indirectly."

�

HEALTH

A Little Workout, A Little Restraint xperts presenting at the American College of Sports Medicine's 14th-annual Health & Fitness Summit today re-emphasized the importance of both exercise and nutrition for weight loss.

must exceed energy taken in through food in order for weight loss to occur," Donnelly said. "Using both sides of the energy balance equation, food and exercise, to make that happen gives an individual two strategies instead of just one with diet alone."

Joseph Donnelly, Ed.D., FACSM, and John Jakicic, Ph.D., FACSM, were part of a preconference seminar on energy balance and obesity. The two experts say that, despite some media reports to the contrary, exercise is indeed a key component of obesity prevention and reduction.

Donnelly says exercise is especially useful for preventing weight gain from ever happening.

"Energy - or calories - expended

“

Using both sides of the energy balance equation, food and exercise, to make that happen gives an individual two strategies instead of just one with diet alone.

�

Exercising 30 to 60 minutes per day burns 200 to 600 calories - enough for weight gain prevention and even weight loss. Excessive amounts of activity aren't necessary.

"Much of the literature on excessive amounts of exercise for weight management comes from studies that are cross-sectional or use selfreported data," Donnelly said. "This can inflate the amount of exercise necessary for weight management, as individuals tend to over-report their exercise levels."

Moreover, Donnelly said, weight loss through physical activity may not occur immediately, as the amount of activity beginning exercisers or obese individuals can perform is often limited. Weight management is a long-term task and exercise amounts can be gradually increased over time as fitness improves.

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Energy Balance & Weight Loss is a Two-Sided Equation.

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INTERNATIONAL

Why America Should Apologize Is US of A so great that it needn't apologize even if it makes a grave mistake? A section of the US politicians increasingly think so, upset as they are with Obama's apology-if-needed stand. Here, an American comes forward to explain the contrarian position - why America should apologize. Yes, despite September 11, despite defeating communism, and despite entering and winning World War II for the democratic world.

Because, down the centuries, decades, and years, America's liberating battles have sometimes ended up as nothing more than glorified fights intended to serve its big business and bigger ego.

While we've made some mistakes, we have a record of promoting freedom, peace, and prosperity throughout the world. There is a view in Washington that America will be eclipsed by other nations. I think that would have grave consequences for freedom and world peace.

True to form, he did not actually answer the question. He first made a highly superficial concession that we’ve made some mistakes. (Which? How often? How damaging?) He then goes on to blabber about a "view" that other nations might "eclipse" America, something he feels would have "grave consequences." How this is in any way connected to the original question is anyone’s best guess.

Mitt Romney, unsurprisingly, is wrong. He’s not the only one spouting this hollow rhetoric, however. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said recently during his CPAC speech that we should "never, ever, ever" apologize for America. Former

Governor Sarah Palin said last fall that we "should never apologize for our country." George H.W. Bush said, as President, that "I’ll never apologize for the United States. Ever. I don’t care what the facts are."

These shallow and ignorant statements are an affront to any sense of justice, morality, and civic virtue. If, as Romney suggests, America has "made some mistakes," it might just follow that, depending on their severity and damage, we should apologize and/or make reparations. To see where this might apply, and in stark contrast to the superficiality of Romney and his like-minded cohorts, let’s dig a bit deeper and consider a few examples, in no particular order:

Iran Air Flight 655 President Bush’s offensive statement above was no isolated incident. After a Navy missile destroyed an Iranian civilian airplane in 1988, killing all 290 passengers (including 66 children), Bush, who was Vice President and campaigning to become President, said in response to the event: "I will never apologize for the United States – I

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n an interview last week about his new book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, Mitt Romney was asked what he meant when saying that America need not apologize. He responded as follows:

INTERNATIONAL don’t care what the facts are… I’m not an apologize-for-America kind of guy." You can only imagine how the family, friends, and Iranian population at large felt about these remarks by the soon-to-be leader of the so-called free world.

Vietnam war America’s role in Vietnam was not isolated only to the intense and protracted military engagement.

We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation’s only nonCommunist revolutionary political force – the unified Buddhist church. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon.

We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men.

As Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed out in a 1967 speech, our entanglements were both historical and highly damaging.

Though this article’s brevity require I exclude all but a portion, the reader is very much encouraged to read it in its entirety.

They must see Americans as strange liberators. The Vietnamese people proclaimed their own independence in 1945 after a combined French and Japanese occupation, and before the Communist revolution in China. They were led by Ho Chi Minh. Even though they quoted the American Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused to recognize them.

Instead, we decided to support France in its reconquest of her former colony.

Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not "ready" for independence, and we again fell victim to the deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere for

so long. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been established not

by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love) but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists.

For the peasants this new government meant real land reform, one of the most important needs in their lives.

For nine years following 1945 we denied the people of Vietnam the right of independence. For nine years we vigorously supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam.

Before the end of the war we were meeting eighty percent of the French war costs.

Even before the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, they began to despair of the reckless action, but we did not. We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war even after they had lost the will. Soon we would be paying almost the full costs of this tragic attempt at recolo nization.…What do the peasants think as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we refuse to put any action into our many words concerning land reform?

What do they think as we test our latest weapons on them, just as the Germans tested out new medicine and new tortures in the concentration camps of Europe?

Where are the roots of the independent Vietnam we claim to be building? Is it among these voiceless ones?

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We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops. We have cooperated in the crushing of the nation’s only nonCommunist revolutionary political force – the unified Buddhist church. We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon. We have corrupted their women and children and killed their men.

What liberators?

Now there is little left to build on – save bitterness. Soon the only solid physical foundations remaining will be found at our military bases and in the concrete of the

Why America Should Apologize

Fast forward to the event that began America’s commitment of soldiers to war in a distant land. The false-flag Gulf of Tonkin incident served as political fodder for Robert McNamara and others to further involve America in the "cold war" worldwide battle to "contain" communism.

The alleged goal was to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam; after over a decade of American involvement, and the groundswell of public opposition, our government removed its military support from the unsuccessful campaign. One Vietnamese in every ten had become a casualty of war (1.5 million killed, 3 million wounded), and the Vietnamese had been embroiled in resistance to foreign intervention or occupation for 116 years. Almost 60,000 Americans were killed, over 300,000 wounded, and all for an unnecessary military campaign desired by a few politicians.

1953 Iranian coup d’état The CIA helped overthrow the democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, install the authoritarian monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (the "Shah") in his place (so much for "spreading democracy," right?), and train his secret police force.

Eisenhower consider this project ("Operation Ajax") a "successful secret war" though the event is now widely recognized as being a massive failure since the resulting "blowback" heavily contributed to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which overthrew the Shah and replaced his pro-Western monarchy with the Islamic Republic of Iran, certainly no friend of the West.

In 2000, globalist and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated "The

Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons. … But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran’s political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs." (emphasis added) While not an apology, this recognition is at least a petty needle in a voluminous haystack of long-standing imperial arrogance.

1973 Chilean coup d’état On October 16, 1970, the CIA sent a message to its branch in Chile which read: It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup. It would be much preferable to have this transpire prior to October 24 [1970] but efforts in this regard will continue vigorously beyond this date. We are to continue to generate maximum pressure toward this end, utilizing every appropriate resource.

It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG and American hand be well hidden…

Just shy of three years later, and in the alleged name of rooting out Communism, the CIA was successful in helping to overthrow the government of democratically-elected President Salvador Allende through a military coup. The

The CIA helped overthrow the democraticallyelected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, install the authoritarian monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (the "Shah") in his place (so much for "spreading democracy," right?), and train his secret police force.

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concentration camps we call fortified hamlets. The peasants may well wonder if we plan to build our new Vietnam on such grounds as these? Could we blame them for such thoughts? We must speak for them and raise the questions they cannot raise.

These too are our brothers.

INTERNATIONAL military junta that consolidated control of the government was backed by the U.S. government, composed of the leaders of Chile’s various military branches, and headed by General Augusto Pinochet.

death was the most decorated Marine in U.S. history, was highly involved in these wars and later stunned an audience recounting his participation in and assessment of these wars:

Around three months of riots and public resistance to the coup followed, leading to the arrest of tens of thousands of people who were held in the National Stadium.

The Rettig Report determined that 2,279 individuals were killed by the military dictatorship for political reasons or as a result of political violence. The Valech Report stated that 31,947 individuals were tortured, and 1,312 were exiled. Two-thirds

I spent 33 years…being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism….

I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909–1912. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1916. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City [Bank] boys to collect revenue in. I helped in the rape of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street….

In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested….

I had…a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions…. I might have given Al Capone a few hints.

The best he could do was to operate a racket in three cities. The Marines operated on three continents…

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Iraq Guantanamo Bay is the military detention facility where the U.S. government imprisons alleged terrorists, beginning in 1991 when George H.W. Bush used it to round up HIV-positive Haitian immigrants who were forcefully separated from other refugees after the 1991 Haitian coup.

of these instances of brutal oppression occurred within one year of the U.S.assisted coup.

Banana Wars The military interventions into Central America and Caribbean countries in the early 1900s received this nickname because of their primary purpose, which was to preserve American commercial interests in the region (banana production chief among them). The list of countries whose governments the U.S. overthrew and occupied shows the magnitude of military force being used to clear the way for the American corporate prostitution of these countries’ natural resources.

Smedley Butler, who at the time of his

From 1990 to 2003, and initiated at the U.S. government’s behest, the U.N. imposed sanctions on Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. After the Iraqis were forced out, the sanctions began with the U.N. mandating that the country comply with Security Council Resolution 687 which demanded that Iraq eliminate its weapons of mass destruction and that it recognize the nation-state of Kuwait.

Rolf Ekeus, the U.N. representative responsible for identifying and destroying Iraq’s weaponry, had already certified that 817 out of Iraq’s 819 long-range missiles had been destroyed. This report was a political liability for President Bill Clinton, who had his new Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declare that sanctions would continue until Saddam was removed from office – a much different

Why America Should Apologize

Half a million children are estimated to have died as a result of the sanctions – a number which Albright once declared in an interview as being "worth it." In 2000,Christian Aid observed that: The immediate consequence of eight years of sanctions has been a dramatic fall in living standards, the collapse of the infrastructure, and a serious decline in the availability of public services. The longerterm damage to the fabric of society has yet to be assessed but economic disruption has already led to heightened levels of crime, corruption and violence.

Competition for increasingly scarce resources has allowed the Iraqi state to use clan and sectarian rivalries to maintain its control, further fragmenting Iraqi society.

During the dozens years of sanctions, bombs were being dropped on Iraq almost daily, while the sanctions continued a long campaign of human rights violations. The

U.N.’s humanitarian aid chief, Dennis Halliday, resigned in protest, as did his successor, Hans von Sponeck.

Together, they wrote that: The death of some 5–6,000 children a month is mostly due to contaminated water, lack of medicines and malnutrition. The US and UK governments' delayed clearance of equipment and materials is responsible for this tragedy, not Baghdad.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki One cannot think of an action committed by this country’s government that necessitates an apology without having the bombing of these two Japanese cities come to mind. President Harry S. Truman ordered the bombing of these two cities, filled with hundreds of thousands of civilians, in supposed retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, a military installation. The lives of some 200,000 civilian men, women, and children were immediately snuffed out, or slowly and miserably drained through the effects of radiation poisoning, in one of the greatest war crimes this nation has ever committed.

Consider two variants on the action. Would so many Americans cheer the retaliation if

In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested…. I had…a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions…. I might have given Al Capone a few hints.

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purpose than their original one. This led to Saddam refusing to work with the weapons inspectors any longer, leaving only the hopes of Clinton’s administration that heavy suffering imposed on the Iraqi citizens would somehow bring down the despot.

instead of sending the bombs, our military had rounded up each individual in the two cities and murdered them in gas chambers? Or, if Germany had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of our government, would those responsible not have been charged as war criminals and sentenced to death at Nuremberg?

Guantanamo Guantanamo Bay is the military detention facility where the U.S. government imprisons alleged terrorists, beginning in 1991 when George H.W. Bush used it to round up HIVpositive Haitian immigrants who were forcefully separated from other refugees after the 1991 Haitian coup. The first captives in George Bush’s "war on terror" arrived from Kandahar, some 8,000 miles away, on January 11, 2002, and locked up in wire cages. In order to sidestep the rights guaranteed to prisoners of war by the Geneva Conventions, they were labeled "unlawful (and later ‘enemy’) combatants."

Out of 775 total detainees sent to Guantanamo, only 245 currently remain. 420 have been released without being charged for any crime – sent packing with nary an apology or compensation for the years of their lives lost.

And thus far only three (three!) individuals have been charged with a crime: * David Hicks was found guilty under retrospective legislation introduced in 2006 of providing material support to terrorists in 2001.

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* Salim Hamdan took a job as chauffeur driving Osama bin Laden. * Ali al-Bahlul made a video celebrating the attack on the USS Cole (DDG-67). Thus, the fruits of this imperial institution are the successful prosecution of a man who donated some money or supplies, a car driver, and a videographer. The lives of hundreds of individuals have been forcefully altered through the decision of the U.S. government to imprison them without being charged of a crime, all in the name of allegedly providing security for Iraq/Afghanistan and our "homeland."

According to some sources, the government now plans to hold 47 of these individuals in indefinite detention, neither giving them an opportunity to contest the (likely erroneous) allegations made against them, nor releasing them for lack of evidence.

Conclusion The list, unfortunately, could continue. The examples cited above are a mere handful in an otherwise lengthy chronicle of circumstances in which the U.S. government has been directly responsible for denying other individuals the right to their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Should America offer no apology for any of the aforementioned atrocities? Should our government be able to wash its hands so easily of these actions by merely declaring them necessary for "protecting America’s interests," "spreading democracy," or some similarly pathetic response? And should the ignorance and/or arrogance of current politicians be tolerated when they declare that "we should not apologize for America"?

History makes at least one thing absolutely clear: regardless of the stated purposes and proffered justifications, the United States of America has been the cause and source of untold death, destruction, and damage. To say that we should not apologize for these stains on our nation’s standard of liberty is not only a reflection of the individual’s inadequate level of morality, but an indication that he or she might one day participate in similar atrocities.

TECHNOLOGY

Will ExxonMobil and Reliance Go Out of Business?

One of the interesting side effects of last year's stimulus bill was $400 million in funding for ARPA-E, the civilian, energy-focused cousin of DARPA. And in this week's first ever ARPA-E conference, MIT chemist Dan Nocera showed how well he put that stimulus money to use by highlighting his new photosynthetic process.

Using a special catalyst, the process splits water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel efficiently enough to power a home using only sunlight and a bottle of water.

Like organic photosynthesis, Nocera's reaction uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy. However, whereas plants create energy in the form of sugars, this process creates energy in the form of free hydrogen. That hydrogen can either be recombined with the oxygen in a fuel cell to generate electricity, or converted into a liquid fuel.

In about four hours, water treated with Nocera's catalyst can produce 30 kilowatt-hours of energy.

Moreover, the process is cheap. So cheap, in fact, that Nocera has no problem envisioning a day when each house generates its own fuel and electricity from photosynthesis.

Like organic photosynthesis, Nocera's reaction uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy. However, whereas plants create energy in the form of sugars, this process creates energy in the form of free hydrogen.

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With Artificial Photosynthesis, a Bottle of Water Could Produce Enough Energy to Power a House

SELF HELP

Tit for Tat, Trick for Trick

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How to Answer 10 Tricky Interview Questions. They are just shot at you to see how well you think on your feet.

It should, because they are. Here are 10 of the trickiest tricky questions you might be asked at a job interview, with ideas on how to handle them:

1

“TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF.”

DO: Talk about the ways that what you know and what you can do are perfectly suited to this job.

DON’T: Tell the interviewer your life story.

2

“TELL ME SOMETHING BAD YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT OUR COMPANY.”

DO: You wouldn’t apply for a job at a company you disapproved of, would you? So you should be able to honestly answer that you haven’t heard anything negative about this place.

DON’T: Repeat gossip you might have heard.

3

“WHY SHOULD I HIRE YOU?”

DO: Impress your interviewer with how much you know about the company’s requirements and then describe how you are the best person to meet those requirements.

DON’T: Get tripped up by a lack of prior research.

4

“WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?”

DO: Talk about how your specific abilities, training, and experience will enable you to smoothly integrate with this company.

DON’T: Say that you have no idea.

5

“HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF I TOLD YOU YOUR INTERVIEW SO FAR WAS TERRIBLE?”

DO: Recognize that this is a test to see if you get flustered. Say, mildly, that you would ask for reasons why.

DON’T: Freak out. Remember, the interviewer said “if.”

6

“WHAT’S THE L AST BOOK YOU READ?”

DO: Mention a book that reflects well on you. Choose something by a reputable author that your interviewer has probably heard of.

DON’T: Name a book you haven’t actually read.

7

“CAN YOU WORK UNDER PRESSURE?”

DO: Say that of course you can, and then relate a brief story about a time you did.

DON’T: Just say, "Yes I can." Provide a specific example.

8

“WHO’S YOUR HERO?”

DO: Name a person who has inspired you and then describe specifically how this inspiration relates to your work.

DON’T: Get caught off-guard by what should really be a softball question. Come prepared with a good answer.

“HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?” DO: Talk about how you are happiest and do your best work in a company that is amazingly similar to the one you’re applying at.

9

DON’T: Go on and on about how you’d love to be your own boss one day.

10

“IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY, WOULD YOU STILL WORK?”

DO: Be honest and say you’d be thrilled to win the lottery; then add that even if you did you’d still seek out satisfying work, because work is what makes people happy.

DON’T: Say that you’d never work again (too honest) or that you’d just work for free (too BS-y).

Bottom line: It pays to think through in advance how you would handle some of the more common trick questions. In general, remember never to badmouth or blame others, especially past employers. Be careful not to betray your nervousness with jittery body language. Don’t lie or babble, or show frustration, impatience, disappointment, or anger.

The most important thing to remember is that hiring managers who ask these questions are far more interested in how you answer than what you answer. They just want to see how well you think on your feet. So even if a question completely flummoxes you, keep your cool, smile, and look ‘em in the eye.

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oes it seem as though some job interview questions are designed to trip you up?

Porsche

AUTO

Can a Car Deliver 718 BHP and 78.4 Miles Per Gallon?

500-Horsepower Plug-In Porsche Makes Us Swoon. y my my. The boys in Stuttgart have been mighty busy.

It wasn’t enough that they built a super-sexy hybrid race car based on the 911 GT3 R. No, they had to build a plug-in hybrid supercar that might just displace the Audi e-tron as the object of our green car lust.

the seats. No specs on the pack.

Porsche gave the car four modes. EDrive is for tooling around under electricity alone, and you’ve got a range of 16 miles. Choose Hybrid Mode and you’re using gas and

torque vectoring to keep things under control. Flip the switch to Race Hybrid mode and everything is tuned to maximum performance. If the battery’s carrying enough juice, the motors provide a push-to-pass burst of energy at the touch of a button.

Porsche hasn’t offered any details on how it arrived at the 78.4 mpg figure, or under what circum stances it might be achieved if this concept ever sees production.

All the gadgetry sits in a carboncomposite monocoque, and Porsche made extensive use of magnesium and aluminum to keep things as light as possible – 3,285 pounds, which is impressive for a car hauling two electric motors, a battery and the

Porsche lifted the sheet on the 918 Spyder on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show and made some huge claims. A few things got our attention right off the bat — 718 horsepower, mid-engine V-8 and two electric motors. Oh … and a claimed 78.4 mpg. We swoon.

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As we said, Porsche’s making some big big claims with the 918 Spyder, saying it will do zero to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds, top out at 198 mph and lap the famed Nurburgring in 7.5 minutes, beating even the incredible Carrera GT. All that acceleration comes from the aforementioned 500 horsepower V-8 and an electric motor at each end putting down a combined 218 horsepower. That engine, by the way, was pulled from the RS Spyder race-car parts bin and reworked for the 918.

Power from the engine and the rear motor hits the street through a sevenspeed PDK gearbox. The front motor turns the front wheels through a fixed ratio. Juice for the motors is stored in a lithium-ion battery mounted behind

Power from the engine and the rear motor hits the street through a seven-speed PDK gearbox. The front motor turns the front wheels through a fixed ratio. Juice for the motors is stored in a lithium-ion battery mounted behind the seats.

related electronics.

electricity as the circumstances dictate. Sport Hybrid mode tips the gas-electric equation in favor of performance, sending most of the power to the rear wheels and using

A plug-in hybrid Porsche? A hybrid Ferrari? More electric Audis? An electric Mercedes AMG SLS? If this is the future of high-performance cars, we say bring it on.

People will either love the styling or hate it. We like the front three-quarter view, but the back end and wheels look better in the renderings than they do on the actual car. Whatever. Part of the point of a concept car is to get people talking, and this one definitely will.

SCIENCE

Can Moral Sense Be Physically Controlled?

field made the volunteers less moral.

Scientists discover moral compass in the brain which can be controlled by magnets.

The friend uses powder from a jar marked 'toxic' - but as the powder turns out to be sugar, the girls if unharmed.

The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanours or good works.

In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral.

The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.

Dr Liane Young, who led the study, said: 'You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour. To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people's moral judgements is really astonishing.'

The moral compass lies in a part of the brain called the right temporoparietal junction. It lies near the surface of the brain, just behind the right ear.

The researchers at the Massa chusetts Institute of Tech nology used a non-invasive technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt the area of the brain.

The technique generates a magnetic field on a small part of the skull which creates weak electric currents in the brain. These currents interfere with nearby brain cells and prevent them from firing normally.

In the first experiment, 12 volun teers

Another scenario described two girls visiting a chemical plant where one girl asks her friend to put sugar in her coffee.

Volunteers with a disrupted moral compass tended to rate the girl's behaviour as permissible because her friend was not injured - even though she was aware the powder came from a jar labelled toxic.

'You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour.

To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people's moral judgements is really astonishing.'

were exposed to the magnetic field for 25 minutes before they were given a series of 'moral maze' style scenarios.

For each of the 192 scenarios, they were asked to make a judgement about the character's actions on a scale of 1 for 'absolutely forbidden' to 7 for 'absolutely permissible'.

In the second experiment, the magnetic field was applied to their heads at the time they were asked to weigh up the behaviour of the characters in the scenario.

In both experiments, the magnetic

Throughout the experiment, irresponsible or deliberate actions that might have resulted in harm were seen as morally acceptable if the story had a 'happy ending', they reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It's not the first time that scientists have found parts of the brain that specialise in ethics and morality. Last year American scientists claimed to have found a "god spot" - a region of the brain that controls religious belief.

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cientists have discovered a real-life 'moral com pass' in the brain that controls how we judge other people's behaviour.

One scenario described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge he knew was unsafe. The girlihis actions - and judged his behaviour purely on whether his girlfriend survived.

AUTO

Most Sought After Diesel Machines Advancement in technology and continuous rise in petrol prices have helped diesel cars to gain popularity among car buyers. Today, a significant number of Indian car buyers opt for diesel variants instead of petrol ones. So, for any car manufacturer to make a mark in the concerned segment it is important to offer a diesel variant to the buyers. Let us check the five most sought after diesel cars.

FORD FIGO With the launch of Figo the American car maker Ford heated up competition in the hatchback segment with a competitive price tag of Rs 3,50,000. Ford Figo has a 1399cc diesel engine that is capable of producing 69PS power at 4,000rpm and 160Nm torque at 2,000rpm. Ford Figo has four models: LXI, EXI, ZXI and Titanium with flamboyant interiors that are made keeping in mind the Indian market. Ford has localised Figo upto 85 per cent to be able to provide cheaper after sales services. Ford has also increased its dealership network across the country.

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VOLKSWAGEN POLO The first premium hatchback by the Volkswagen group in the Indian market comes with a 1.2L, 1199cc, 3Cylinder diesel engine that produces 75PS of maximum power at 4200rpm with 180Nm of maximum torque at 2000rpm. The mileage of this engine is better than many other diesel variants in the market. The Volkswagen Polo is available in Highline, Comfortline and Trendline trims and comes with features such as the tilt and telescopic steering, green-tinted heat-blocking glass, body coloured bumpers, halogen headlights and galvanized body with 6 years anti-corrosion warranty etc are available.

MARUTI SWIFT Maruti Swift has a 1.3L, diesel engine provided by Fiat and adored by Swift buyers. The engine is a good performer and has made Maruti Swift a much adored car among the buyers. The car is a natural sprinter and accelerates effortlessly.It is easy to handle too. The car maneuvers beautifully even at low rpm and the fuel economy seems is an added advantage. Overall the diesel engine of Maruti Swift makes it one of the most soughtafter cars in this category.

HYUNDAI I20 Hyundai Motors has added two new variants to the existing range of Hyundai i20 models. The two new variants added to the Hyundai i20 model list are Era and Sportz. It comes with a CRDi (diesel) variant capable of producing 90PS maximum power at 4000rpm with maximum torque of 224Nm at 1750rpm. The engines perform well on Indian roads and the overall drive and handling of the car is good. The Hyundai i20 diesel offers about 13 to 16.5 kmpl mileage.

features like centrally mounted MID (Multi Information Display), ABS (Antilock Braking System) and airbags that are usually available in the higher end vehicles. The car is conceptualised to provide stiff competition to the sedans of this segment.

MAHINDRA SCORPIO This is a real favourite of SUV lovers and this lifestyle SUV by Mahindra has been synonymous to style, adventure, luxury and performance. Mahindra Scorpio has carved out a niche for itself in the Indian SUV market and it comes with a SZ 2600 plus DI diesel engine capable of generating 109 bhp power and 26 kgm torque.

Mahindra Scorpio also offers well done interiors, comfortable ride, pleasing style and stable safety features.

MARUTI SWIFT DZIRE This is one of the very popular entry level notchbacks with a 1.3L, diesel engine. The car is competitively priced and is a good performer. It has features such as front airbags, optional side and curtain airbags and optional keyless ignition etc. The other features available with in a Swift Dzire are torsion beam rear suspension that comes fitted with necessary modern safety systems such as electronic brake force distribution and brake assist.

TATA MANZA

TATA INDICA VISTA This is another world class product from the Tata stable.

The Tata Indica Vista comes with a 1.3L, quadra jet, and common rail direct injection diesel engine capable of producing 71PS of power at 4500rpm and 190Nm of torque at 1750rpm. The Tata Indica Vista also comes in a 1.4L, TDI Turbo diesel engine that produces 71PS of power at 4500rpm. The car has been designed like a family car but it is better than its sibling Tata Indica V2. The new grille, striking pedal shaped headlamps, body coloured ORVMs, body coloured rub rails and body coloured bumpers with a strong bonnet give it an upmarket look.

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Tata Manza is a more sophisticated cousin of the successful Tata Indigo compact entry level sedan. The car has a 1.3L, 1248cc, Multijet diesel engine that produces 76PS power at 4000rpm. Tata Manza is trying to lift the Indigo's image as a taxi car and comes with

Too Clever to Go After Riches World's cleverest man turns down $1m

Necessity, Grandmother of Invention

A Russian said to be the world's cleverest man has turned down a $1 million prize for solving one of mathematics' toughest puzzles.

Dr Grigory Perelman, 44, who lives as a recluse in a cockroach-infested flat in St Petersburg, said through the closed door: "I have all I want."

The prize, the equivalent of £660,000, was given by the US Clay Mathe matics Institute for solving the Poincare Conjecture, reports the Daily Mail.

Dr Perelman posted his solution on the internet but failed to turn up to receive his prestigious Fields Medal from the International Mathematical Union in Madrid four years ago.

At the time he stated: "I'm not interested in money or fame. I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo.

"I'm not a hero of mathematics. I'm not even that successful, that is why I don't want to have everybody looking at me."

Neighbour Vera Petrovna said: "I was once in his flat and I was astounded. He only has a table, a stool and a bed with a dirty mattress which was left by previous owners - alcoholics who sold the flat to him.

"We are trying to get rid of cockroaches in our block, but they hide in his flat."

The Poincare Conjecture was more than 100 years old when Perelman solved it - and could help

Grandmother invents foolproof sewing needle

A

grandmother has solved one of life’s most fiddly domestic tasks by inventing a sewing needle that can be thread by the clumsiest of hands.

Rather than having to painstakingly wet the end of the thread and pass it through the eye, Pam Turner’s design is foolproof for even the most inept of seamstresses.

Her Spiral Eye invention is a stainless steel needle with a gap in the metal on one side of the eye.

A loop of thread is draped over the needle and then pulled into the eye before being secured in the normal way.

The 55-year said she was inspired to redesign the sewing needle, which has seen little change over the centuries, after watching her mother struggle threading the traditional style implement.

She claims that her needle, which costs £3.69, allows users to get sewing within a matter of seconds and can be thread with your eyes closed.

Mrs Turner, from Minnesota, said: “I remember laughing as my mum struggled to thread a needle.

Glasses resting on her nose, she trimmed the end of the thread, sucked on it, failed to get it through the eye of the needle and re-trimmed it.

“Sometimes she would curse, ‘Why can't someone invent a better needle? We've been to the Moon for goodness sake’. “Eventually she would break down and ask one of us kids to thread it for her.

“Then, just a few years ago, I realised it was now me that couldn't get a limp piece of thread through a hole I couldn't see.

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“Obviously no one was ever going to invent a better needle. I decided it was up to me. So I did I for mum.”

The mother of two, who has become a keen seamstress thanks to her invention, said that when she first came up with the idea it was like a “flash”.

She has refused to disclose her secret about how she made the needle, but admits that it takes more specialised equipment than the traditional needle-making process.

TECHNOLOGY

Air Fights Water to be the Next Fuel

MAKING CAR FUEL FROM THIN AIR NOW SEEMS POSSIBLE AND NEAR. esearchers from the South West are working on a ÂŁ1.4 million project that could take carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into car fuel.

Scientists and engineers from the University of the West of England are collaborating with colleagues from the University of Bath, who are leading the research, and colleagues from the University of Bristol.

The project aims to develop porous materials that can absorb the gas that causes global warming and convert it into chemicals that can be used to make car fuel or plastics in a process powered by renewable solar energy.

The researchers hope that in the future the porous materials could be used to line factory chimneys to take carbon dioxide pollutants from the air, reducing the effects of climate change.

Dr Frank Marken, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry (University of Bath) said: "Current processes rely on using separate technology to capture and utilise the CO2, which makes the process very inefficient. By

combining the processes the efficiency can be improved and the energy required to drive the CO2 reduction is minimised.

"It will be a massive challenge but we have a strong inter-disciplinary team that includes chemists, chemical engineers, biologists, and life-cycle analysts."

Dr Petra Cameron, RCUK Fellow from the Department of Chemistry (University of Bath), said: "We hope that the use of renewable energy to recycle CO2 will be an effective way to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere."

The Bath-Bristol collaboration brings together scientists from a range of disciplines, including researchers from Bath's Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment (I-SEE), the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) and School of Life Sciences at the University of the West of England.

Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, (BRL), said, "One of great advantages of this

project is that it will exploit the natural abilities of microorganisms to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and at the same time produce electricity or hydrogen, as required."

Dr David Fermin from the University of Bristol said: "Currently, there are no large-scale technologies available for capturing and processing CO2 from air. The facts are that CO2 is rather diluted in the atmosphere and its chemical reactivity is very low. By combining clever material design with heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis and biocatalysis, we aim at developing an effective carbon neutral technology."

The project, funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is in its early stages, but the researchers predict the new technology could make a real difference in the fight against climate change.

The project is part of Research Councils UK (RCUK) crossCouncil programme 'Nanoscience: through Engineering to Application'.

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R

SCIENCE

Are Women More Neurotic Than Men? Women, anyway, feel more guilt than men.

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N

o wonder why you were hating yourself so much after forgetting your wedding anniversary date while your hubby was blissfully guilt-free: According to experts, women feel racked with guilt more often than men.

In a study, researchers in Spain quizzed 360 men and women from three different age groups, asking questions designed to measure level of guilt in certain situations, such as "You have forgotten that today is one of your friends' or relations' birthday and you know that this type of thing is very important to him/ her, and that he/she likes people to remember."

Women in two groups, the adolescent age group and the 25-33 age group, reported a higher level of expected guilt than the men.

However, in the older age group, men were more likely to demonstrate guilt levels equal to that of the women, reports The New York Daily News.

Elizabeth Shirtcliff, a psychologist and behavioral endocrinologist at the University of New Orleans, told MSNBC this trend can best be described as "men as slow learners."

When men settle down, their tes-

tosterone levels go down and their oxytocin levels rise, making them more prone to empathy, which goes hand in hand with guilt.

Later in life, the study suggests, men will exhibit a range of emotions more similar to females.

"We do not want to say there are differences," Shirtcliff told MSNBC, "but that does not take away from the fact that gender differences are staring us in the face."

Cambridge University neuroscientist Simon Baron-Cohen writes in his book, "The Essential Difference," "The female brain is predominately hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominately hard-wired for understanding and building systems."

Price of Price Innovation Another Tata Nano catches fire in Gujarat.

The going seems to be getting tough for the world's cheapest car, as a Tata Nano caught fire on Wednesday (March 7) near Boriyavi village in Anand on the way to be delivered in Vadodara. This is in quick succession to the incident in Mumbai last month when another brand new Nano was reduced to ashes after its buyer just drove it out of the showroom.

A brand new silver Tata Nano, heralded as the world's cheapest car, stands in flames on the suburbs of Mumbai, India, Sunday, March 21, 2010.

A fleet of eleven Tata Nanos were being driven to be delivered in Vadodara when the incident took place in National Highway 8 earlier during the day.

A newly purchased Nano had reportedly caught fire last year in September while it was parked near Rajpath Club on Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway.

Sarkozy Lifts Veil Off Pandora's Box Nicolas Sarkozy has said that France will ban the full Muslim veil.

The move would protect the dignity of women, the president added.

“The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women,” he said. “The response is to ban it. The

The president gave no further details during his address to the nation following a heavy defeat in regional elections for his ruling Union for a Popular Movement party.

Speaking from the Elysee Palace Mr Sarkozy gave no indication as to how an outright ban would be imposed and policed.

France is home to six million Muslims.

France to ban veil says Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Government will table a draft law prohibiting it.”

TECHNOLOGY

Mobiles to Have 3D Before TV, Computers Now, you can watch 3D images without glasses. harp's latest 3D displays deliver bright, clear imagery without the cumbersome glasses usually required for such technology. Now the bad news: They only work on a 3-inch (7.5centimeter) screen held one foot (30 centimeters) from the viewer's face.

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Sharp Corp. demonstrated liquid crystal screens on Friday for mobile devices that showed 3D animation, touch-panel screens that switched from one 3D photo to another and a display connected to a 3D video camera.

Movies and TVs in 3D are no longer surprising. Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. of Japan, as well as South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics, already sell or are planning 3D TVs.

The drawback until now has been the need for special glasses, which show different images to the right eye and the left eye. Sharp's 3-D technology doesn't require them because the displays are designed to shoot different images to each eye.

The technology may be applied to TVs in the future, said Executive Managing Officer Yoshisuke Hasegawa. But he acknowledged it now works better when the distance between the viewer and the screen is fixed.

The smaller displays, shown Friday, are intended for mobile devices such as cell phones, game machines and digital cameras.

The 3-D animation on the handheld screen looked like a miniature version of the 3-D animation we are

used to seeing on larger TV screens, though images were less convincing than those seen in a darkened cinema.

Photos on the touch screen were less clear and even a bit blurry from certain angles, though Sharp said its latest technology does away with such "ghosting" effects.

Still, the system promises gaming and technology fans the potential for pop-up e-mail messages and taking 3-D photos of friends.

The technology is likely to show up in the next DSi portable game machine, which Nintendo Co. says will be 3-D. Sharp refused to

A Mail Job The top-five terse Steve Jobs email replies.

Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, doesn't often answer emails from his customers but when he does his replies are short and blunt. Here's our top five.

1. "No." Asked whether the forthcoming iPad would support 'tethering' to an iPhone, which would allow customers to use the iPhone as a modem for their iPad. 2. "Not to worry."

Sharp expects 3D to replace twodimensional displays the same way colour replaced black-and-white in movies and television.

"The arrival of mobile 3D is just around the corner," Hasegawa told reporters.

Sharp tried to sell 3D products in the past but failed, largely because of poor image quality. This time, the Osaka-based company has made breakthroughs for displays that are twice as bright and clear as existing 3D displays.

The displays can continue to show 3D images when they are turned to the side, a key feature for smartphones, according to Sharp.

Mass production of the 3-D LCDs is set to start in the first half of fiscal 2010, which began April 1, it said.

5. "This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage. They are pro machines and they don’t like water. It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself."

Jobs offers a slightly more comprehensive response to a customer who wrote to complain that Apple wanted him to pay just to see whether it would be possible to repair his waterdamaged laptop.

3. "No but iPhoto on the Mac has much better Faces and Places features."

Jobs can't resist a dig at Google in reply to a customer who asked whether the iPad would support Google's Picasa library format.

4. "Change your app's name.

Not that big of a deal."

Replying to John Devor, whose company, The Little App Factory, made a product called iPodRip. Apple's lawyers asked him to stop using iPod in the name of his app because it's an Apple trademark. He got little sympathy when he emailed to tell Steve Jobs of the situation.

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confirm the names of companies it was supplying.

In response to a customer who wrote to express his disappointment that Apple has not updated its MacBook Pro and Mac Pro range of computers for a while.

iPodRip is now called iRip.

HEALTH

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Fitness Clothes Not Just a Feel Good Fad

Exercising?

Get your clothes right

"Wearing appropriate workout clothes can enhance and optimise your workouts and thereby increase your benefits," Vinita Shetty, a Reebok fitness trainer, told IANS. "Right clothes give you the comfort and support that is greatly needed in addition to helping you maintain an optimum body temperature during intense workout sessions. "Well-fitting attire can also help accentuate your form and posture so as to be monitored better.

The feel good factor of right clothing cannot be underestimated either. All these factors contribute to getting a better performance out of the participant," Shetty added.

According to Delhi-based yoga expert Yatharth Sehajpal, uncomfortable clothes are a big no-no for a workout session. "One should avoid stiff and uncom fortable clothing because a session requires performing different and difficult body postures, so one should go in for loose and comfortable clothing that absorbs sweat," he said.

Earlier, people used to wear anything for a workout session and there was less awareness about the right clothes for exercising. However, with changing times more people are getting hooked to the latest fitness outfits available in the market.

"People are becoming conscious about

fitness and are adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Therefore, the demand for sportswear has increased," said Andreas Gellner, managing director, Adidas India.

Also, a fact that has been noticed is that men use fitness clothing more than women.

"Typically, men indulge more in fitness shopping as they are more involved in sports and related activities.

But slowly the trend is changing as more and more women are becoming conscious about their fitness regime and do not mind spending on fitness clothing," added Gellner.

Colours also play an important part while you select your clothes for workout sessions. "Light colours like white, beige, pink etc are ideal for a yoga session since they are pleasing to the eyes and absorb less heat," said Sehajpal.

Manufacturers of fitness wear also say that colours like black, blue and white are the basic popular colours, but the demand for bright colours is on a high too. As far as suitable fabric is concerned, the winner is cotton.

Trainers and fitness experts swear by it for a workout session. "It's very important that the clothes you wear while exercising are cotton or semi cotton and not synthetic at all because when you sweat you need to wear something that absorbs the sweat.

That is very important," Leena Mogre, fitness expert and director Leena Mogre Fitness, told IANS. Mogre has trained Bollywood actresses like Katrina Kaif, Kangana Ranaut and Sameera Reddy among others.

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ear loose cottons while doing yoga. Put on wellfitting, comfortable attire for gym workouts. For, what you wear while exercising can accentuate the posture and the feel good factor, say fitness experts.

CYBER

Behind India's Love for Facebook

The social-networking giant has opened its first-ever office in Asia—in the country where being all up in one another's business is practically a birthright.

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I recite these points because Facebook has just announced that it will shortly open an office in India—its first in Asia—in the southern city of Hyderabad.

he social-networking giant has opened its first-ever office in Asia—in the country where being all up in one another's business is practically a birthright.

Facebook and Indians have a magnetic connection. Everyone in my family in India except my father—who, at 77, is entitled to his suspicions of the medium—is a Facebook user. Every single friend of mine in India—except for an eccentric Bengali writer who idolizes a 19th-century British viceroy, Lord

Curzon, for which reason he cannot be said to have come to terms with the modern world—is a Facebook user.

Every single friend of mine of Indian origin, anywhere in the world, is a Facebook user. And a great number of my Facebook "friends" are Indians who, having read my journalism, or seen my name on a sibling's or (genuine) friend's page, have sought me out and "friended" me as a reflexive act of connection; and being of Indian origin myself, I've always found it infernally hard—if not virtually impossible—to say "no."

I recite these points because Facebook has just announced that it will shortly open an office in India— its first in Asia—in the southern city of Hyderabad. As an act of outsourcing, the news is unremarkable: Google, Dell, Oracle, IBM, and numerous others have already set up shop in Hyderabad.

What catches the eye is that Facebook is, in some inchoate yet compelling way, "coming home"— to the land that embraces it most avidly, to that land where it truly belongs.

My argument is anecdotal and

Facebook is now also available in six Indian languages-Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam

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Every single friend of mine of Indian origin, anywhere in the world, is a Facebook user. And a great number of my Facebook "friends" are Indians

CYBER instinctive, as the numbers don't yet impress entirely. Of Facebook's 400 million users, only 8-and-a-bit million are in India. But consider the growth, and the context: There were only 1.6 million users in early 2008, and 3.5 million in early 2009; this in a land where there's little reliable Internet connection outside urban areas, and in which most computer users share a machine with several others. That the number of Facebook users has more than doubled by early 2010 is due largely to Facebook's concentration on mobile phone applications—a deeply shrewd move, given that there about 275

Why India Loves Facebook million cellphone users in India, a number projected to grow to a gargantuan 600 million by the end of 2011. Facebook is now also available in six Indian languages—Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam (the language beloved of palindrome-lovers)—leaving it poised to penetrate deeply into those mofussil, or up-country, parts of India far removed from the English language and broadband.

But this story—and Facebook's continued growth in India—is not a prosaic one of devices, apps, and Internet penetration alone. It is about the Indian nature and temperament.

Social Extremes

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Facebook blamed for soaring sex diseases

Popular social networking websites such as Facebook have been blamed for the rise in cases of syphilis as members go for unprotected sex with partners they meet on the Internet.

Official figures showed a fourfold increase in the UK in cases of potentially-lethal syphilis.

"There has been a four-fold increase in the number of syphilis cases detected, with more young women being affected," The Sun quoted Professor Peter Kelly, director of Public Health for NHS Tees, as saying.

Prof Kelly continued: "I don't get the names of people affected, just

figures. And I saw that several of the people had met sexual partners through these sites.

"Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex. There is a rise in syphilis because people are having more sexual partners than 20 years ago and often do not use condoms."

The highest rates were observed in women aged 20 to 24 and men aged 25 to 34, the paper said.

A spokesperson for Facebook said users should take "precautions" and be on their guard while meeting with anyone they encountered online.

India is a land of the "open crowd"— to use Elias Canetti's idea from his landmark Crowds and Power—the type of crowd which, as soon as it comes together, "wants to consist of more people." As if in fulfillment of a social-media dream, "the urge to grow is the first and supreme attribute of [this] crowd… there are no limits whatever to its growth; it does not recognize houses, doors or locks and those who shut themselves in are suspect." (How else to explain the hurt notes, the messages of reproach, that one gets from Indians when one does not agree to "friend" them?

"Sir," one man wrote to me, "I am really unhappy that you will not respond [to] the friendship request. I have admired your writing for several years. Also, I think we both hail from Tamil Nadu state. So please reconsider.")

Not wanting to rely entirely on the insights of Canetti, a BulgarianGerman who never set foot in India— and who died long before Facebook came to be—I consulted a couple of Indian experts on the subject. Prem Panicker, managing editor of Yahoo!

India, said that Facebook's success in India had to do with "the whole 'community' thing. We, as a race, tend to herd together. This works two ways: hearing constantly that the world is on Facebook makes us want to be part of that herd. Secondly, we are sold on the idea of being able to rope in friends, even relatives, into a social circle with constant contact."

Social media was invented for Indians, says Sree Sreenivasan, a digital media professor at Columbia and co-founder of SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association. "They take to it naturally and with great passion. It allows them to do two things they love: Tell everyone what they are doing; and stick their noses into other people's business." (The gregarious Prof. Sreenivasan, when last I checked, had 4,995 Facebook friends; he, his wife, and his father—

It Happens Only in America, Only on Facebook "Should I wax or thread?" another asked, provoking, like the first questioner, a torrent of responses that other cultures might regard as intrusive or presumptuous.

A 16-year-old boy from Arkansas is suing his mother for harassment, claiming that she hacked his Facebook account and posted slanderous remarks, according to Arkansas TV station KATV on Thursday.

The mother, Denise New, denied the charges, claiming that her son left his Facebook page open on her computer and that she was entitled to take over his account because he had posted incriminating information on his Facebook page.

According to the boy, who was not named because he is a minor, his mother hacked into his Facebook and email accounts, then changed both passwords so he could no longer access them. She also allegedly posted remarks that involved slander and information a retired Indian ambassador to the U.N.—are all my Facebook friends.

My wife and brother are the professor's friends, too. Q.E.D.) Recent psychoanalytical writing would also appear to shed light on the Indian Facebook phenomenon. In "The Indians: Portrait of a People," Sudhir and Katharina Kakar dwell on the themes of separation and connection in the Indian psyche: "From religious rites to folk festivals, from the pious devotion of communal singing in temples to the orgiastic excesses of holi, the festival of colours, there is a negation of separation and a celebration of connection." This greater "relational

about his personal life.

According to the report, the mother was upset about a post that suggested he had driven home one night at 95 mph (152 kph) because he had been upset with a girl. She plans to fight the charges, as she believes she was fully within her legal rights as a parent to monitor her son's online behaviour."Oh yeah, I'm going to fight it. If I have to go even higher up, I'm going to. I'm not gonna let this rest. I think this could be a precedent-setting moment for parents," she told KATV-TV. "You're within your legal rights to monitor your child and to have a conversation with your child on Facebook whether it's his account, or your account or whoever's account."

orientation," the Kakars point out, can be seen clearly in Indian art: "In traditional Indian painting… man is not represented as a discrete presence but absorbed in his surroundings; the individual not separate but existing in all his myriad connections."

So should we think of Facebook as yet another canvas on which the Indian etches himself into an entwined crowd? One can see this art of connection on display on many Indian Facebook pages, where seemingly private conversations are conducted in a wide-open space. "I sacked the maid," an Indian "friend's" recent status update said. "Anyone know how I can find another fast?"

Prof. Sreenivasan of Columbia, no slouch on Twitter himself, says "I tell folks in the U.S. that you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till Indians really combine their love of the cellphone with social media. Then, Facebook, Twitter, etc, will really explode.

"Take the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008, for example, when so much fuss was made about how Twitter had 'truly arrived' with the way it was used during the attacks.

Back then, Twitter worked in India only via smartphones and Web browsers, of which there was only a small number. Today, there are hundreds of millions of cell \phones.

Imagine if they could all easily Facebook and Twitter via text message!"

Is it any wonder, then, that Facebook has gone to India—gone, I'd say again, to the place where it belongs?

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SON SUES MOTHER FOR 'HACKING' FACEBOOK ACCOUNT.

Orkut, Google's social-networking service, may have flopped in the U.S., but it is thriving among the young in India—even as it starts to lose ground to Facebook, whose users cut across generational lines. (My mother is on Facebook, for example, but has not bothered with Orkut.) Twitter has exploded in India, too, especially as it allows users to follow absolutely anyone they please, from film stars to politicians—unlike Facebook, which requires acceptance. Shashi Tharoor, the country's junior minister for foreign affairs, has become a major national celebrity thanks to his tweets, the candor of some of which has got him into trouble with the fustier, unwired elements of the cabinet to which he belongs. Tharoor has nearly 700,000 followers, putting him in the top 10 of the world's tweeting politicians. (He is almost certainly the only one who writes every tweet himself.)

CYBER

O

n Thursday, Apple will unveil iPhone OS 4.0. It’s not the only thing the company is expected to reveal, though. As we wrote last week, Apple is slated to launch its iAd mobile advertising platform, based off of its acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January.

If true, the move would place Apple into direct competition with Google (Google), whose acquisition of AdMob is still pending regulatory

approval. Online advertising is Google’s bread and butter. It has millions of advertisers, endless streams of data and seasoned advertising talent at its disposal.

So does Apple, whose specialty isn’t advertising, stand a chance in a duel with the Google juggernaut? The answer is a surprising “yes,” depending on what shape iAd takes and how the iPhone vs. Android (Android) battle plays out. Apple is

Jobs Too Intelligent This Time

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Thirty years back he lost the chance of a lifetime to Bill Gates. This time around he knows whom he should fear. Could Apple Actually Beat Google in Mobile Advertising?

fighting a more experienced com petitor, however.Apple Has a Head Start While Google may have the talent and the experience in advertising, Apple has the head start in mobile, which could make all of the difference in this battle.

While very few details have been revealed concerning iAd, there are a few assumptions we can logically make. First, it will be designed for the iPhone OS — at least initially.

Second, it will incorporate features that made the App Store (App Store) a smash hit, such as a 70/30 revenue split or something similar. Finally, it’ll incorporate a great deal of Quattro Wireless’s ad delivery technology.

What does that mean, though? It means that Apple has a larger user base for launching its mobile platform and has greater access to mobile advertising technology than Google. The search giant can’t utilize its AdMob acquisition yet, while Apple’s had several months to integrate Quattro’s technology into its own platform. And while Android is growing, the iPhone still has greater market share.

If and when the AdMob deal is finalized, Google will have a lot of catching up to do. It also won’t have the scale of the iPhone for its launch.

How Will Google Counter?

Google threw the first punch by acquiring AdMob, but now Apple has thrown a nasty left hook and an uppercut with its Quattro Wireless acquisition and the likely launch of iAd this Thursday. How will Google counter these blows?

First things first: Google needs to convince the FTC that its acquisition of AdMob isn’t anti-competitive. The result of the FTC’s review is anybody’s guess.

Second, Google needs to move quickly to create an advertising platform for apps based off of AdMob’s technology.

Finally, Google needs to use both its technology and AdMob’s technology to create a stronger web-based advertising platform. Whoever gets ad optimization for iPhone, iPad and Android right is going to be in a far better position than its competitor.

A Mouse That Needn't Climb on the Table Flip Flop Mouse Designed to Be Operated by Feet

T

echnology has already introduced the ergonomic computer mouse to the market. Their primary purpose is to relieve stress and prevent further health risk. Now get ready to see the latest invention, a mouse for physically impaired user.

People with upper body disabilities can now hold and operate the computer mouse by their feet!

This has always been a challenge to make physically disabled people rise beyond the adversities.

Voice recognition software helps people to input data without using the keyboard- here the words get typed on the screen as user orates.

Touch screen display has also made cursor monitoring easier, where the users can give their input by hold-

ing a pointer in the mouth.

After the conventional model of ergonomic mouse, trackballs, fingertip joystick and pucks, the tech support engineers at Yanko have come up with a brilliant design of Flip Flop Mouse.

Flip Flop mouse is a wireless input device that can be gripped between the two fingers of the toe, just the way we wear a sandal. It will work on optical sensors and give the full mouse-monitoring ability through a pair of buttons placed on it.

The brilliant designing will never force the user to sit in awkward posture. It has been carefully designed to give a soothing experience of computer access. Do you have a thought on this design?

Google’s greatest advantage against Apple is that it has more relationships and experience with web-based advertising, and it already has the technology to back it up (in fact, AdSense has been mobile for years).

It’s unclear how aggressive Apple’s iAd platform will be, but my bet is that it doesn’t really focus on webbased advertising, at least initially.

If tomorrow Apple launched an ad platform for iPhone and Google launched a comparable one for Android, Apple would win simply because it has a larger base of iPhone and iPad users to advertise against, making it more enticing to developers and advertisers alike. That advantage cannot be understated.

That doesn’t mean Apple will win,

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So, Can Apple Win? Absolutely. But Will It?

Sign of Times to Come As Apple replaces Microsoft in the tech war with Google, enemy's enemy can turn into a friend. In an unprecedented move, Google has invited Microsoft to tell it what went wrong with Buzz.

The furore over Google's social network Buzz was explained so well by Microsoft's Danah Boyd that now Google's Buzz team want to hear it for themesleves.

Danah Boyd, the Microsoft researcher who criticised the privacy failings in the launch of Google Buzz, has been invited to talk to the Google Buzz team.

Todd Jackson, Google’s product manager for GMail and Google Buzz, said he accepted Boyd’s criti-

we could have done better was dead on,” Jackson told the Telegraph yesterday. However, he emphasised that Google had moved quickly to correct its mistakes and that users were now much happier with the service.

New features are being added all the time: fine-tuned email settings which determine how often Buzz users are messaged by the service were added last weekend.

Jackson said that Buzz began when the GMail team noticed that there was no way to reply to the status updates that users were adding within the service. When they started thinking of ways to improve the situation they realised that they could build something that allowed sharing and conversation from within email.

Touchskin Follows Touchscreen Skinput arrives because touchscreens never felt right anyway.

Microsoft looks to be on a bit of a hot streak with innovations lately, and though this here project hasn't received much hype (yet), we'd say it's one of the most ingenious user interface concepts we've come across. Skinput is based on an armband straddling the wearer's biceps and detecting the small vibrations generated when the user taps the skin of his arm. Due to different bone densities, tissue mass

He said the service now has millions of active users and that they “have figured out that there’s a way to be both private and public with Buzz”.

cism. “I’d love for her to give that talk at Google,” Jackson said.

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Delivering the opening remarks at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, on Saturday Danah Boyd said that Google had violated its users’ trust when it launched Google Buzz, a social networking tool that sits within GMail.

Boyd said that users were confused about what Buzz was, how to turn it off and just how much of their data had been made public.

“The way that she described what

There are more features planned for the rest of the year and Jackson suggested that Buzz could become more closely integrated with Google Latitude, the search company’s locationbased mobile service. He said: “The two systems share a lot of the same infrastructure.”

Jackson said that Google Buzz was not an attempt to challenge Facebook or Twitter. He said: “We want, as much as possible, for social networks to interoperate.”

He added: “In order for Buzz to grow I don’t think other networks have to decline.”

and muscle size, unique acoustic signatures can be identified for particular parts of the arm or hand (including fingers), allowing people to literally control their gear by touching themselves. The added pico projector is there just for convenience, and we can totally see ourselves using this by simply memorizing the five input points (current maximum, 95.5 percent accuracy), particularly since the band works even if you're running.

Make your way past the break to see Tetris played in a whole new way.

SAFETY

Supertaskers That Can Drive and Talk on Phone are Rare.

A very small percentage of the population can safely drive while talking on their cell phones, but chances are high that you're not one of these "supertaskers."

In a new study, psychologists have identified a group of people who can successfully do two things at once, in this case talking on a cell phone while operating a driving simulator without noticeable impairment.

Supertaskers only make up about 2.5 percent of the general population, however, said study team member James Watson of the University of Utah.

"Given the number of individuals who routinely talk on the phone while driving, one would have hoped that there would be a greater percentage of supertaskers," Watson said.

"And while we’d probably all like

to think we are the exception to the rule, the odds are overwhelmingly against it. In fact, the odds of being a supertasker are about as good as your chances of flipping a coin and getting five heads in a row."

In the study, the researchers assessed the performance of 200 participants over a single task (simulated freeway driving), and again with a second demanding activity (a cell phone conversation that involved memorizing words and solving math problems). Performance was then measured in four areas: braking reaction time, following distance, memory, and math execution.

As expected, the driving ability of most of the participants suffered if they simultaneously talked on their cell phones.

It took them 20 percent longer to hit the brakes when needed, and

following distances increased 30 percent as the drivers failed to keep pace with the simulated traffic.

Memory performance declined 11 percent, and the ability to do math problems fell 3 percent.

However, when supertaskers talked while driving, they displayed no change in their normal braking times, following distances or math ability, and their memory abilities actually improved 3 percent.

“There is clearly something special about the supertaskers,” said study co-author David Strayer, also of the University of Utah.

“Why can they do something that most of us cannot? Psychologists may need to rethink what they know about multitasking in light of this new evidence. We may learn from these very rare individuals that the multitasking regions of the brain are different and that there may be a genetic basis for this difference."

Watson and Strayer are now studying expert fighter pilots under the assumption that those who can pilot a jet aircraft are also likely to be natural supertaskers.

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Comps, Phones, & Even Cars Can Multitask. But Not...

INTERVIEW

SPORTS Good for Career, Bad for Education Gopichand says our education system needs flexibility. ormer all-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand has been honoured with all the major sports awards -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna , Arjuna and Drona charya. His experience taught him a lot and today, he coaches badminton champ Saina Nehwal.

Gopichand tells Urmila Rao of Careers360, how his career took shape:

have for children pursuing sports in this country. And it was largely true, speciallytill the 1990s, when it was not easy to pursue a career in sports.

The Indian education system is such that it does not allow flexibility for sportspersons. Classes 10, 11 and 12 are critical, and this is a crucial period for a sportsperson. That is the time he or she has to decide whether to pursue sports or not.

to participate in tournaments, so I was not popular with some teachers.

Overall, school was good but not really a favourite. However, on occasions when I won tournaments and had public receptions, it made me happy.

Any suggestions for the system?

Was badminton always your career goal?

If our system allowed a student to go out and give his best shot to sports and come back to academics to become, saya doctor, it would have been different. Unless students get the opportunity to get back into the mainstream, the decisionto put academics on the backburner will not be easy. But things are changing and today you can think of a decent living by pursuing sports. With better administration, Indian sports will produce not only more champions, but also give employment to a lot of them.

With all our disability, I still say sportspersons in India are really blessed. Today, I work as a senior manager in Indian Oil Corporation, and all my other fellow sportsmen too got jobs somewhere or the other.

So the next 40 years of your life, you are assured of a job. We have a quota system where a sportsperson can get a job with the railways or banks or a public sector unit after he retires from active sports.

F

I would have become an engineer rather than a player had I cleared the IIT entrance exam. My elder brother, who was as good a badminton player as me, was lost to the game as he had cleared the same exam a year earlier.

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Were your parents okay with the idea of your playing?

My mother got very worried when I decided to take up badminton fulltime. She began applying to various organisations on my behalf and I got a job with the Tatas when I was just past 18.

How did you react?

It reflects the kind of concern parents

How was your school life?

I always wanted to get away from classes to be on the badminton court.

I bunked classes and skipped exams

You maintain that sportspersons in India are better off when compared to those in some other countries?

What mantra do you live by?

Pick a profession that is fun for you.

For me, discipline is fun, purpose is fun. Without purpose there is no fun.

The other important thing is not to get too excited with successes or too depressed with failures. It's a cycle.

So stay calm. The important thing is to live passionately.

SOCIETY

Guess From Where Low Waist Took Birth?

Raise your pants, and raise your image, says US Senator.

A US state senator has launched an advertising blitz telling youths to "raise your pants" as the growing sagging trend, originated from prison culture, is giving them a bad image.

The 'Stop The Sag' campaign by Eric Adams, a senator from Brooklyn, already on billboards in the city, shows two men in jeans that hang low enough to display their underwear.

The ad which also has a phrase — "Raise your pants, raise your image" — targets the pants-sagging trend popular with many young men in the country. "It's part of a larger campaign ... to tell our young people and our community as a whole, we are better than this," Adams told CNN, adding that the sagging trend originated from prison culture. According to the former New York police captain, "I policed all over the city... The first indicator of whether a young person was in trouble was the way they dressed."

He plans to reach out to school boards to establish a standard dress code in classrooms and is also looking to media outlets, the internet and endorsements to spread the word. Adams' effort is not the first such campaign against sagging pants.

According to the report, a high school in Hampton, Virginia, has also launched a similar campaign saying, "Your swag is as low as your sag."

According to Mark-Evan Blackman at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, the trend is adapted from the unbelted and sometimes over sized look of prison uniforms.

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Rasheed Parker, the school's president, said he came up with this campaign after witnessing the trend growing faster at his high school. "If there's one guy looking nice and one guy sagging his pants, they're going to hire the guy looking nice," Parker said, advising students to wear smartly to promote themselves.

RECIPES

Two-minute feel good food!

Teenagers and women living alone have one thing in common when it comes to food habits. They all want a quick fix snack. Either they’ll turn to Maggie and fix themselves a strong cuppa coffee or they’ll make some jam/chutney sandwiches and have it with hot ginger tea.

If you're one of them (& even if you’re not) and you are TIRED of eating the same damn things, then let us rescue you.

We give you some DELICIOUS feel good recipes which can be made as quickly as instant coffee… and its HEALTHY!

Strawberr y & honey

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Time: 2 Minutes Ingredients: es 1. cup strawberri 2. Honey Directions: wberries (however 1. Chop the stra as much honey you like) and add as you want! loaded with Yummy fact: It’s so contain vitamin C. They al phytonutrients significant levels of which fight free and antioxidants, radicals. immunity system Honey is a great a natural energy builder. It is also booster.

Green cocktail Time:

5 minutes Ingredients: 1 kiwi, peeled an d chopped 1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced 60 ml water 1 tbsp lemon juice Crushed ice Directions: 1. Combine all in gredients in blen der until smooth Yu m m y fa ct : Ki w i fr ui t co nt ai ns a remarkable amount of Vitamin C, E an d A. It ’s al so ric h in fla vo no id s an d minerals.

Cu cu m be r is hi gh in ca lc iu m an d potassium. It’s al so the best natu ral diuretic known, se creting and promot in g the flow of urine.

Pestoeadd stiicpks] [Have with br

Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: o 1/2 cup basil pest lla cheese re za 1/4 pound moz rmesan cheese 1/4 cup grated Pa Directions: to 400 degrees F. 1. Preheat oven 2" rella cheese into 1/ 2. Cut the mozza g in rv se oven safe cubes and place in dish. tes grees for 4-6 minu 3. Bake at 400 de . elt gins to m or until cheese be and drop pesto en ov m 4. Remove fro er cheese. by teaspoonfuls ov esan cheese and 5. Top with Parm 1 minute. return to oven for or bread sticks.

Eat it with chips Yummy fact: considerable Cheese contains , vitamin D and amount of calcium amino acids

Time: 10- 15 minutes Ingredients: 3/4 kilo Russet potatoes (Red, white or yellow-fleshed potatoes can be substituted) 1/2 cup each: non-fat plain yogurt and fat-free milk 1 1/2 tablespoons butter spread 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic or seasoned salt) Freshly ground pepper to taste Directions: 1. Place whole potatoes into microwavesafe dish.

2. Cover the dish.

3. Microwave on high for 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove cover and mash well.

5. Stir in yogurt, milk, butter spread and seasonings. (Cook for a minute or two if necessary.)

Yummy fact: Potatoes (with the skin) are a good source of potassium.

Cracker toppings Time: 5 minutes Ingredients: 1 Tomato, peeled and sliced Salt or olive oil Feta cheese Directions: 1. Mix tomatoe s with a little salt or olive oil.

2. Sprinkle feta cheese.

Yummy fact: Tomatoes are good source of Vitamin C and A.

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Mashed Potatoes

Holi 2010 On March 1st people in India and other countries with large Hindu populations celebrated Holi, the Festival of Colors. A welcoming of Spring, Holi is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil. Hindu devotees and others enthusiastically drop their inhibitions, and chase each other in temples and through the streets, playfully splashing colorful paint, powder and water on each other. Collected here are a handful of images from this year's Festival of Colors.

INDIA

HOLI 2010

FUTURE

Waterworld Can be Futuristic Concept Waterscraper Brings Monumental Architecture Into The Open Sea or the last five years, eVolo Magazine has hosted a futuristic skyscraper design competition.

Usually, the entrants imagine giant buildings taller than anything under construction today.

However, the most impressive entry in this year's competition goes the opposite route, by dropping the building straight into the sea. This floating building would generate its own electricity and food, house thousands, and plunge deep beneath the waves.

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Designed by Sarly Adre bin Sarkum of Malaysia, the waterscraper would be about as tall as the Empire State Building, but with only a couple of stories exposed above the surface. The whole building would be a self-sufficient, floating, arcology. Wind, solar, and wave power would provide energy, hydroponics and the green space at the top would provide food and oxygen, and the structure would provide housing, work spaces, and areas for recreation.

Ballast tanks would keep the structure level, like in a submarine, as would the tentacles. The tentacles would also move around in the ocean tides, generating electricity from kinetic energy.

Adre bin Sarkum deliberately designed this building

to contrast with the skyscrapers that dominate the rest of the competition, and to highlight sustainable architecture.

Obviously, no one has any plans to build anything remotely like this. But if global warming throws us into a WaterWorld like future, Adre bin Sarkum's aqua-condo looks like much sweeter digs than a rickety boat captained by a urine-drinking fish-man.

Walking on Water Down in the ground ... it’s a pool, it’s a floor, it’s a Hydrofloor.

Designed to reclaim the surface area of a swimming pool that is wasted when the pool is not in use, the floor height of the pool can be lowered mechanically to reveal the already full pool or raised to cover the water and provide some extra floor space.

The Belgium-based developers of the Hydrofloor say the system is near invisible and totally safe and secure for children to use when the floor is in the raised position, complying with relevant national safety standards.

Another advantage of the Hydrofloor is its flexibility. Since the floor height of the pool can be elevated to any pre-selected height, the water depth also can be adjusted – for example, wading depth for children or a depth suited to those with special needs.

Additionally, the company says that Hydrofloor fully encloses the pool and helps reduce heat loss from the water, thereby cutting energy costs.

As each movable pool floor is custom-built, the cost of installing one will depend on the particular circumstances of the job. But there’s no denying – this thing is cool and functional.

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ydrofloors are vertically movable floors that mean you’ll literally be able to walk on water.

STRANGE

Ian's Chinook helicopter

British helicopter pilot shot between the eyes but keeps flying to save 20 soldiers.

Difficult to Down Him A BRITISH Chinook helicopter pilot was shot between the eyes by a Taliban bullet - but flew on and saved all 20 aboard, The Sun reported.

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But as he flew in the helicopter came under attack - which continued as casualties were being loaded.

Then, as he lifted off, Flt-Lt

But with blood pouring into his eyes, Flt-Lt Fortune battled with the controls to stop the chopper from spiraling out of control Then with the aircraft lurching from side to side he continued flying for eight minutes before landing at Camp Bastion.

He was taken to the field hospital and treated for his wound.

Flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune, 28, had flown in to pick up casualties as a firefight raged between American and Afghan forces and heavily-armed rebels near Garmsir in Helmand Province.

Flt-Lt Fortune - who had TV presenter Mike Brewer on the aircraft filming a documentary was advised to hold off on approach to the battle as it was "too hot" on the ground. He circled until troops reported incoming fire had calmed down.

More bullets followed, hitting the Chinook's controls and shutting down the stabilisation system.

It is the first time in the nine-year war in Afghanistan a pilot has been shot while in the air.

One senior RAF source said: "This could have become one of the worst incidents of the conflict.

"If the bullet had hit the pilot a millimetre lower, those on board wouldn't have stood a chance.

Fortune was shot. A bullet hit a metal rail on the front of his helmet which is used to attach night vision goggles.The round then penetrated his helmet hitting him between the eyes. It knocked his head back and caused severe bleeding.

"And had it not been for the skill of the pilot the result would have been the same."

Brewer, 41, who was with a crew from the Discovery Channel, said: "The courage and heroism of the pilot was beyond belief."

Kochi , India, based Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, the firm behind the herbal formulation Musli Power XTra that has managed to get a buzz as well as controversies around it recently, has informed that it has been selected for an international innovation award by a management association based in Paris, France.

Awardees including Kunnath Pharma were selected by a jury from over 850 international nominations received this year.

The award giver, Otherways Management Association Club (OMAC), is a member of noted international management organizations like American Management Association and American Marketing Association.

Founder and Managing Director of Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, KC Abraham, will attend the award ceremony scheduled on 12th July 2010 at Hotel Le Meridien Etoile, Paris.

The award is officially titled ‘The New Era Award for Technology, Quality, & Innovation’. Speaking to Seasonal Magazine on the development, KC Abraham said, “It is heartening to know that the efforts of Kunnath in fostering modern herbal extraction technologies, product efficacy and quality, and

above all, innovation were recognized by an international body.

Our flagship product, Musli Power X-Tra’s success is largely based on these three values.”

Earlier in this year, Abraham had won an award for entrepreneurship given off by Indian President, Pratibha Patil at the Presidential Palace, Rashtrapati Bhawan.

KC Abraham, a first generation entrepreneur from the picturesque Indian state of Kerala, started out as a farmer and was forced into

KC Abraham

Musli Power X-Tra was dogged with controversies from its start, but Kunnath has been able to survive most of them till now. Detractors of the medicine, that include some of the drug regulators of a few Indian states, have repeatedly tested samples of Musli Power X-Tra for traces of allopathic molecules, but has so far failed to unearth any. Even recently, the formulation was found to test negative for Sildenafil and Tadalafil, the active ingredients of Viagra and Cialis, as well as synthetic steroids.

Abraham, however, has a curious take on such inquiries. “It is the efficacy of Musli Power X-Tra that is making them suspicious.”

Meanwhile, the sale of the drug has grown systematically, with it being available across many countries, and drug approvals sought by Kunnath in many more.

Another controversy regarding the herbal drug has been that it was first marketed as a medicine for male impotency, then also for female sexual dysfunction, then for male and female infertility, and now also for general health and vitality. While detractors say this is only to dodge stricter regulations for selling sexual remedies and to increase the target market, Kunnath maintains that it was originally intended for male impotency, and that they too had stumbled upon the wider uses over a course of three years. Says Abraham, “One clue to the riddle is that in Ayurveda, sexual health can only be bettered by bettering overall health.”

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Kunnath, Creators of Musli Power X-Tra, Bags French Innovation Award

entrepreneurship when a huge crop of ‘safed musli’ (a herb thought to reverse erectile dysfunction) found no takers. He experimented many formulations with safed musli for efficacy and finally hit upon the formula for Musli Power X-Tra, which has nine different herbal extracts and minerals.

Musli Power X-tra Doesn’t Contain Viagra, Cialis, Synthetic Steroids: Test Result Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Musli Power X-Tra, a herbal formulation for impotence and infertility has disclosed that it has received communication from the Office of the Drugs Inspector, Idukki, Kerala State that the drug’s samples that were confiscated for testing has yielded negative results for the presence of Sildenafil Citrate (active ingredient of Viagra), Tadalafil (active ingredient of Cialis), and synthetic steroids.

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Kochi based Kunnath Pharma’s premises were raided and a case registered against them some weeks back by the authorities on suspicions and allegations that Musli Power Xtra’s popularity is due to adulteration using these proven allopathic

“How can they find something that is not there? We are 100% sure that we never add any synthetic hormones or additives to our medicines. We have a highly capable lab of our own, and we regularly test each batch of our medicines.” molecules. However, in tests carried out subsequently on the samples by Government Analyst, Drugs Testing Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram have failed to detect the presence of these synthetic chemicals.

Speaking to Seasonal Magazine on the development, Kunnath Pharma’s Founder and Managing Director KC Abraham put it this way, “How can they find something that is not there?

We are 100% sure that we never add any synthetic hormones or additives to our medicines. We have a highly capable lab of our own, and we regularly test each batch of our medicines.”

This is not the first time Musli Power X-tra has been viewed suspiciously for its ingredients. Even now, it is learnt that its samples are under similar tests in states like Maharashtra. Commenting on it, KC Abraham told, “The fact that they are suspicious of our brand is our greatest testimony. Our medicine is so effective, that too in the shortterm, that they fear we are relying on allopathic molecules or synthetic hormones. But multiple tests carried out in premium labs in Delhi, Hyderabad, Thiruvanathapuram, and a few other cities too have cleared us.”

NIRMAL LIFESTYLE

evelopers are breaking new ground in pushing the limits of luxury, and Nirmal Lifestyle has launched the unbelievable in the emerging domain of sports lifestyle complexes. The noted Mumbai based developer has tied up with none other than United States Tennis Association (USTA) to bring home US Open themed apartments. The first in this series titled ‘Nirmal Lifestyle US Open’ has been launched at the city suburb of Mulund. The planned sports lifestyle elements of US Open are indeed impressive. The 46 storied complex has on the 46th floor a huge terrace with a high glass dome aptly titled ‘Fitness 46’. The sports facilities there include a jogging track, cycling track, a stateof-the-art gymnasium, and spa. The idea is, come rain or sun, your daily fitness routine is not affected. Games facilities at US Open include a swimming pool, basketball courts, badminton courts, and, of course, a tennis court. Even deeper integration with US Open will be there when Nirmal Lifestyle extends the theme to their future US Open themed townships. The Mulund complex will have 2 & 3-BHK apartments, starting at Rs. 63 lakhs.

Nirmal lifestyle is proud to announce its alliance with the US open. This new association presents to you India’s first Sports Lifestyle Apartments. A lifestyle that bridges the gap between superior living standards and healthy living. From now on, you will be able to experience world-class sports amenities

from the comfort of your own home.

Come with us as we walk through this unique branded lifestyle living, complete with US open themed construction and exclusive features.

Walk into the US Open Apartments and experience a fascinating mix of aesthetics and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Touch and feel your fit-

ness centre, jogging & cycling track, baseball court, swimming pool, and badminton court.

The US Open Apartment pampers you with a state-of-the-art fitness center on the 46th floor. If you ever wished you could lead an active life, consider all your wishes granted.

This gigantic terrace with a high dome glass called Fitness 46 accommodates some of the world’s best facilities. Now, be it rain or sunshine, you’ll be able to stick to your daily regime. Featuring a Jogging Track, Hi Tech Gymnasium, & Spa. In-home amenities to meet your every desire: Full granite flooring, Premium Quality Bathroom Fit-

Dharmesh S. Jain. MD

tings, Plastic Paint, POP Finished Walls, Anodized Sliding Windows, Video Door Phone with Camera in the Main Entrance Lobby, Internal Wooden Doors with Laminate, Black Granite Platform in Kitchen, Exhaust Fan in Kitchen, Water Geysers and Designer Tiles in Bathroom, Pipe Gas Connection, Premium and Branded Electric Fixtures.

SITE ADDRESS: Citi of Joy, Ecstacy Commercial Building, ACC Compound, J.S.D Road, Mulund (W), Mumbai - 400 080. MAHARASHTRA (INDIA) CONTACT Tel: 022-25937222 / 32232212 / 25 / 27 Fax: 022-25937200 :usopenapartments@nirmallifestyle.com

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US Open is Also an Apartment Now

IMPERIAL HEIGHTS

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7 Star Luxury in Mumbai Living

Vijay Associates (Wadhwa) Developers has been a name synonymous with landmarks that stand apart in Mumbai. Their latest project, Imperial Height takes this stand-apart philosophy to new heights with a claim on 7 Star living. Four iconic 44-storey towers above a 4 level podium for car parking is a distinguishing feature of the project. This luxury project at Oshiwara excels in providing panoramic views to all around. A green project to the core, Imperial Heights has unimaginable features like a 1,20,000 sq ft measuring car-free environment deck.

Over 40 years the group has built for itself an unshakable reputation for quality, efficiency, trust, meticulous planning, top quality amenities, superlative designs, timely completion, guaranteed possessions and handing over of society formation process at the earliest.

Imperial Heights features luxurious, cross-ventilated 2+ study, 3, 3+ study, 4 BHK homes, duplex and triplex penthouses with beautiful panoramic view from each flat; four iconic 44-storey towers above 4 level podium for car parking; fully equipped club house with gymnasium‚ steam‚ sauna‚ Jacuzzi‚ extensive lap‚ plunge and children’s pools‚ water bodies‚ wet and dry play areas; internationally designed car-free environment deck of 120‚000 sq. ft.; recreation deck; 4 level podium for parking with driver’s rooms and other facilities; access control system for residents in the car park; 4 high speed lifts with additional service /stretcher lift for all towers; Pooja/ Prayer room in 4BHK apartments; Italian Marble & wooden flooring; Imported sanitary fittings; Ducting / piping to all rooms for Air conditioning along with AC; units ledges provided for placing compressor units; Video door phones; Separate maid’s room (with independent entry) in all 3.5 & 4 BHK apartments; integrated property management services to be provided by team of professionals.

From residential apartments to now being one developing and managing Malls and Multiplexes, Commercial Office Space, Hotels and IT Parks it is now

going into backward integration of manufacturing futuristic high quality construction and finishing materials with international collaborators.

Special emphasis is laid on climatology to maximize dependence on natural light and ventilation rather than artificial mechanical and electrical aids. Moving into a group project is like a whiff of fresh air with apartments having huge picture frame window openings, higher ceilings and cross ventilation as some of the small but critical parameters which go a long way for a healthy living.

In every project there is an attempt to bring nature inside with practical planning, huge emphasis on user friendliness with the concept of ‘Form follows Function’. Wastage of areas is avoided and privacy maintained. Best use of louver glass is made to make green buildings by which one gets the sunlight but no sunrays. It’s these small but important thoughts which make a big difference in the living conditions inside the house besides the finesse of choicest of Italian marble, centralized air-conditioning, latest in bathroom - kitchen fittings, fixtures, open decks, service spaces, lavish lobbies, sensible elevations, etc.

The Commercial - Offices, Malls-Multiplexes, Hospitality, Information Technology projects are built with strong multi-layered design inputs, strong infrastructure, timeless designs and futuristic ideas to create a status symbol, by highly experienced Indian and international architects, structural consultants, planners, landscapers and consultants – all masters and achievers in their respective fields.

One has to experience the aura of a Vijay Associates (Wadhwa) Developers project, all ‘Signature’ projects and standing out from the rest as ‘Landmarks Created with Passion!’

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Vijay Associates (Wadhwa) Developers are synonymous with first rate path breaking construction projects in the choicest of locations across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and now Mathura. A lot of thought process, knowledge, experience and expertise in design process, planning, construction and executing the same are put in with passion to deliver human friendly projects.

SJVN IPO:

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Do Strengths Beat Weaknesses?

At around Rs. 30, this is a value buy for the long haul, but will the SJVN management be able to do enough so as not to fall into the rut that NHPC and JP Associates find themselves in?

he prospects of the power sector, especially in rapidly growing economies like China & India, is generally considered to be bullish.

In this backdrop, several stateowned and private power companies in India had floated their IPOs during 2007-08, 2008-09, and to a lesser extent in 200910. Continuing in this trend is Shimla headquartered PSU Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd’s IPO starting on April 29 2010.

Investors have always been divided over the possible returns from investing in power IPOs, as they are relatively new entities in the country’s capital market.

SJVN is also on a significant expansion spree, geographically, capacity wise, capex wise, and technology wise.

Secondly, unlike many power companies that went for their IPOs, SJVN is already a regularly profit making entity. For the nine months ended December 2009, it registered Rs. 775.37 crore in profits on an income of Rs. 1510 crore, and in this context is comparable to Government’s other hydroelectric company, the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC).

SJVN is also on a significant expansion spree, geographically, capacity wise, capex wise, and technology wise. The company which currently has an authorized share capital of Rs. 7000 crore needs around Rs. 29,000 crore for the full expansion.

Out of this, the first target is to raise around Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 16,000 crore to take the capacity from the present 1500 MW to 6500 MW. SJVN has already transformed itself from a one-project company to a multi-project one with another 10 hydroelectric projects in different stages of planning and execution in different north and eastern states. It has even gone abroad with one hydroelectric project in Nepal and two in Bhutan.

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SJVN is headed by its Chairman & Managing Director HK Sharma, an award-winning bureaucrat noted for his turnaround skills.

While many of the power companies that floated IPOs during the past couple of years were new players with no completed projects then – like Reliance Power and Indiabulls Power – SJVN is an established player in the industry. Though it has only one completed project, the Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Power Station (NJPC) in Himachal Pradesh, it is rather huge, even by the standards of mega power projects. While hydroelectric projects are classified as mega starting from 500 MW of installed capacity, the underground NJPC project is around three times this, having 1500 MW capacity. In fact, at these levels it is comparable to mega thermal power plants.

Unlike many power companies that went for their IPOs, SJVN is already a regularly profit making entity. For the nine months ended December 2009, it registered Rs. 775.37 crore in profits on an income of Rs. 1510 crore,

the downsides should also be considered before deciding on a buy.

investors’ standpoint, there is also the upside of avoiding equity dilution.

From being a pure hydroelectric player, SJVN is also diversifying into green technologies like solar and wind power, which enjoy good prospects in the coming decades.

Looking from the company’s standpoint, the main disadvantage from this IPO is that the Rs. 1200 crore it hopes to collect from the primary market will fully go to the major shareholder Government of India and won’t come into meeting the financial requirements of SJVN. This is because this IPO is pure disinvestment and does not involve issue of new equity. Currently, Government of India (GoI) holds 74.50% equity and Government of Himachal Pradesh holds the remaining 25.50%. Only a 10.03% stake of GoI is being disinvested now, so that it comes down to 64.47%, post-Issue.

But with no money coming in to service the current debt, it will be left for SJVN to do it from profits and internal accruals, which in turn can strain its bottom-line. However, being funded by the likes of World Bank, a syndicate of European banks, and domestic majors like LIC, Power Finance Corporation, and Rural Electric Corporation, the company is confident of retiring debt on schedule and garnering capital for further expansion.

The pricing of SJVN’s IPO is around Rs. 30, and there is no doubt that it comes across as reasonable for both retail and institutional investors. Still,

However, on the upside, this pure disinvestment will enable the company to get itself listed and thus get its value unlocked. From

The prospects for hydroelectric power is significant in India with the country estimated to have utilized only 20% of its full hydroelectric potential. Worldwide, while 24 countries meet 90% of their power requirement using hydroelectric power, another 66 countries meet 50% of their requirement through hydro generation.

Power projects have longer gestation periods, hydroelectric projects more so, and that is thought of as the main reason why scrips like NHPC and JP Associates have been lacklustre performers until now. This can hit SJVN too, and it should take good efforts from the management not to fall in this rut. Investors should anyway be prepared for a long haul, where this value-buy should deliver handsomely.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SJVN is headed by its Chairman & Managing Director HK Sharma, an award-winning bureaucrat noted for his turnaround skills.

The other risk for hydroelectric projects viz. destruction of environment, villages, and livelihoods due to submersion, is something that SJVN has been attending to properly until now.

Neptune IPO: Invest or Avoid?

The profile of Neptune Developers and that of their Mumbai projects signal that their Rs. 495 crore IPO is worth considering.

But this new generation Mumbai developer’s books are complex and will require equally complex analysis to arrive at the answer to that crucial question – invest or avoid. new to the realty sector, with sector leaders like DLF and Unitech juggling their projects and investments across tens or even hundreds of companies.

Secondly, the company has a subsidiary Neptune Realtors Private Ltd, which is building ‘Evolution’, its largest commercial project near Bandra Kurla Complex, and in which Neptune Developers want to increase stake using a part of the IPO proceeds. And to complicate matters further, NRPL has four classes of shares presently – Class A, B, C, & D, with IndiaREIT having a 30% stake in this subsidiary too.

Much will depend on at what rate Neptune will be offering their equity, with some analysts estimating the fair price at Rs. 155 to Rs. 163.

But such cross-holdings are nothing

Neptune Developers has seven ongoing projects including residential and commercial, with a total saleable area of around 65 lakh sq ft and another proposed project with a developable area of 7.66 lakh sq ft. The company seems to enjoy good margins with a net profit of Rs. 9.16 crore on a total income of Rs. 15.92 crore for the last financial year.

This developer with only three completed projects to its credit, however, has a debt of nearly Rs. 320 crore.

Neptune’s main promoters are Nayan Bheda and Sachin Deshmukh, both in their late 30s, and who were earlier with city based unlisted developer Nirmal Lifestyle.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Firstly, Neptune has still not disclosed the share price at which the Piramal Group PE realty fund IndiaREIT took stake in the company a few years back.

COAL INDIA LTD

WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER INDIA’S LARGEST EMPLOYER

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Isn’t Coal Feeling

Partha S Bhattacharyya, Chairman

PROFITS GROWING AT 300% NOW, THE LARGEST IPO / ESOP.

Yes, this sector and this monopoly of a company are hot. But will the IPO be as hot? This one is going to bigger than India’s Top-10 IPOs ever including Reliance Industries, ONGC, TCS, DLF, & even Reliance Power. At plans to collect Rs. 12,000 crore, Coal India’s IPO may remain the largest in the near future too, with BSNL’s Rs. 40,000 crore IPO proving too difficult to materialize and LIC having no plans for now. An aggressive player in capex down the years, Coal India is now extending its capex to overseas with stakes in international majors like Peabody & Rio Tinto against supply of high quality coal. In some ways, it had to resort to such aggressive plans, as the new Coal Policy mandates that it is duty-bound to ensure steady supply of the vital fuel to this planet’s second fastest growing coal guzzler – India’s power sector. It seems the news of coal’s

death was heavily exaggerated. Even while solar and wind power continue to make inroads, there is no doubt that massive and robust power generation system are still coal powered. This Navaratna is not just the country’s or continent’s, but the world’s largest coal producer. The superlatives don’t end there. Coal India has a claim to be the country’s largest employer, being home to 4 lakh employees. And the 10% stake sale through IPO includes 1% to this employee base, which is expected to create windfall profits for them if everything goes as expected. Chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya has been a Coal India veteran, and has proven his mettle as a turnaround specialist in some of Coal India’s subsidiaries. The consolidated yearly results are in with PAT up 300% over last year, and with all its subsidiaries back in green.

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Like Hot?

COAL INDIA LTD On 15 October 2009, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister, presented the SCOPE Gold Trophy 2007-08 to Coal India for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution in Public Sector Management in the Institutional Category. The fact that Coal India stood tall amongst so many PSUs of India resonates our corporate mission of meeting the country’s energy demand with commitment and confidence. In another positive development Coal India was selected as one of the five finalists in Platt’s Global Energy Awards 2009 in the ‘Energy Producer of the Year’ category. These are clear indicators of Coal India’s growing stature in national and international arena.

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Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world producing over 400 MTs annually. CIL produces 82% of India’s overall coal production and meets 42% of

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister gave away the award to Mr. Partha S Bhattacharyya, Chairman CIL in an official award ceremony “Mou Excellence Awards & SCOPE Excellence Award” held in New Delhi

the country’s primary commercial energy requirement compared to 39% by gas and oil sectors combined. CIL commands 74% of the Indian coal market share and feeds 76 coal based thermal power plants accounting for 75.5% of total thermal power generating capacity of the Utility sector. CIL supplies coal at prices deeply discounted (50% to 60%) to international prices and insulates Indian coal consumers against price volatility. Thus, Coal India is at the center of India growth story and plays a crucial role in India’s core industry making India incor porated globally com petitive.

But with rapid indus trialization and especially intensification in capacity expansion of power

sector, it is becoming incre asingly evident that the domestic demand far outstrips the indigenous production. Coal demand is not only in excess of availability but also rising at a pace faster than the rate of growth in coal production.

Considering the need to augment coal production Government of India perceived involving private players and coal blocks were allotted. So far, 208 coal blocks with 48 Billion Tonnes reserves have been allotted. In other words coal demand will be met from three sources – Coal India; private coal blocks and through imports. This segment is expected to increase coal production at a faster pace from current level of 493 Million Tonnes (all India) to 1055 Million Tonnes by the end of XII Five Year Plan (2016-17). Reserves of metallurgical coal, used in steel making, are scarce in the country and are concentrated only in Jharia Coalfield. These reserves are not

sufficient to fulfill the demand of domestic steel industry. So import of this quality of coal is a necessity.

Though India is endowed with large reserves of non-coking coal, that is thermal coal mostly used for power generation, it has high ash and low calorific value. This necessitates import of thermal coal having low ash and high calorific value to blend with Indian coal.

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Conscious of this need Coal India is focusing on mine acquisitions abroad. Mozambique, Australia, South Africa and Indonesia are in the scanner. CIL is also exploring possibilities in USA. Recently, CIL has been allocated two virgin blocks in Mozambique. The blocks, covering around 224 Sq.Kms, are likely to have both coking and non-coking coal, which can be used in our domestic power and steel plants. The overseas mine acquisitions will help CIL add value to its supplies in overcoming shortage of domestic coal.

OBEROI CONSTRUCTIONS IPO

A Realty IPO Worth Considering?

When Vikas Oberoi finally takes his realty firm public in the coming days, it will be in style, much like whatever he does. Like how he is acquiring the ‘The Beach’ in Goa now, how he cruised into Forbes’ 15 Youngest Asian Billionaires in 2008, and of course his Las Vegas engagement and dream wedding to former model and actress Gayatri Joshi. The IPO gets its style and substance from a 4/5 rating from CRISIL that indicates above average fundamentals. These days it is not sure whether even such a rating is enough to save a realty IPO, but one thing is sure, this rating is not common. Some of the reasons cited by CRISIL sound true. Oberoi Constructions had always steered clear of the developer’s practice of amassing huge land banks, which when the market goes southwards, can create life-or-death issues as now witnessed by DLF, Unitech, Parsvnath, and many more. At the same time

Vikas has sometimes shown remarkable guts to outbid developers multi times his size, when he knows he is into something big. The best example is how he bagged GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate headquarters in Mumbai for $24 million. Secondly, Oberoi Constructions had made a name for itself in quality through their earlier projects. While those projects are nowhere in scale to what the firm is trying to do nowadays, that premium quality tag has enabled the firm to maintain one of the best margins in the industry. Our guess is that the name Oberoi has also been a major factor. Mumbai headquartered Oberoi Hotels & Resorts has had such a fine name in Mumbai for many decades.

Though Oberoi Constructions has nothing much to do with EIH that runs the luxury hotel chain that includes Nariman Point’s Oberoi and Trident, the name must have surely helped. Anyway, that is a non-issue as the surname Oberoi has become

even more popular with the with focus on hot suburbs like emergence of Bollywood Juhu, Andheri, Khar, & actor Vivek Oberoi who is Goregaon. To allay any fears incidentally a close friend of about competition among group Vikas ‘Vikki’ Oberoi, like entities, Vikas Oberoi has signed another close friend Akshay non-compete agreements prior to Kumar. Vikas Oberoi’s family the IPO that he won’t construct was traditionally in the highly any project under the Oberoi profitable saffron trading brand, outside of this company, business, and it was from except in already identified that his father diversified projects. Vikas, who has been Vikas Oberoi into the construction scene mulling this IPO for some years, by staring Oberoi plans to divest 12% promoter Constructions in 1985. The now 39-year old Vikas stake through the IPO route. The IPO size has come took the helm of Oberoi Constructions around two down from the earlier Rs. 4000 crore, and the decades back, but ever since that it has been a Group is now limiting its focus only to Mumbai & round of exceptional growth. One of the highlights Pune. The highpoint of this Issue will remain this of his stewardship has been attracting investment young promoter’s exceptional drive and trackfrom Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley Real Estate record. Vikas is ranked 717 in Forbes’ 1000 had invested Rs. 6,750 million in January 2007 Worldwide Billionaires with an estimated networth for a 10% stake in the company. Oberoi of $1.4 billion in 2007.

Constructions is active in all segments of branded real estate – residential, retail, commercial, hospitality, and social infrastructure. The promoter and promoter group of Oberoi Realty have developed nearly 4 million sq ft across 30 projects,

JAYPEE INFRATECH IPO:

Why the Dull Response?

At 5:45 PM on 29th April, the first day of Jaypee Infratech’s IPO, the issue was subscribed only 0.84 times. This was in stark contrast to the bullishness of several brokerages and analysts, and the heavyweight nature of Jaypee Infratech’s main promoter Jaiprakash Associates.

Many were expecting oversubscription by at least a few times.

There are several probable reasons for the dull investor response on the first day, and why it may continue.

Firstly, though Jaypee Infratech

was presented as an infrastructure company in its name and core activity, investors seem to have realized that it is not a pure play on the lucrative infrastructure sector, but heavily dependent on real estate development.

The more than half contribution expected from the real estate segment is probably weighing down this IPO, as most of the recent realty IPOs have ended up in loss for the investors.

Secondly, investors seem to be worried over the business environment of Uttar Pradesh (UP),

the Indian state in which the Jaypee Infratech’s core project, the Yamuna Expressway is coming up. Not regarded as an industrially progressive state like Maharashtra, Gujarat, or Tamil Nadu, this also seems to have weighed down on this IPO. Even worse, while some of the UP locations where Jaypee Infratech will get to develop real estate are having an oversupply of residential space, some others have not much demand for branded housing, and almost nil demand for commercial space.

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The longer gestation period of the project also means that Jaypee Infratech will continue to have negative cash flow for many more quarters, if not years.

Still, of the 2500 crore of IPO proceeds, nearly 1650 crore wouldn’t come to Jaypee Infratech, as it will go directly to Jaiprakash Associates which is diluting its stake in the smaller firm.

At the same time, such factors have not prevented the company from fully pricing the IPO. Some Manoj Gaur

analysts point that at the upper end of the price band, that is at Rs. 117, Jaypee Infratech will have a P/E of 24, which is more than fair for the company, and doesn’t leave much money on the table for retail investors.

Though the Yamuna Expressway project is now ahead of schedule, mainly due to the Group’s good execution capabilities, the fact that it will be a money earner only on full completion and commencement of the toll is a bit worrying.

However, the track-record of the promoters is a plus for this IPO as Jaypee Infratech’s main promoter Jaiprakash Associates is a major listed company that is a constituent of the country’s ma-

jor stock indices like Sensex and Nifty. Jaypee Infratech is the subsidiary of another listed group entity, Jaiprakash Power Ventures.

For those looking only at priceperformance, however, these Jaypee Group scrips haven’t been of much benefit as they have lagged both their peer group stocks as well as the indices, for the past several months.

Investors might be fearing that Jaypee Infratech too may enter the same lacklustre trajectory once it is listed.

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Another major concern of investors seems to be that Jaypee Infratech is a one-project company and as such any socio-political or economic delays can not only stall the project, but stall the entire company. One such probable high-risk is the public’s aversion towards toll collection by build-operatetransfer (BOT) projects, which will be the mainstay of Jaypee Infratech.

AMBIENCE LTD IPO

The Ambience is

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Very rarely do we admit that a place’s ambience is good. Now here is an IPO which should transport the investor to an other-worldly ambience. The upcoming IPO from NCR-Delhi based Ambience Limited has all the trappings of a winner, but unfortunately, some strange downsides too. The realty major’s principal claims to fame are their projects themselves.

How about India’s largest currently operational shopping mall?

Gurgaon’s Ambience Mall with over 1 km of shopping space on each floor is a lot more than a mall; for the past couple of years it has been one of the most popular modern tourist destinations in the country. The ambition to

build this kind of a project is what separates the men from boys, when it comes to IPO success. Ambience Island, a mix-use township which includes this mall, apart from a Leela Kempinski and several premium apartment complexes stands testimony to the Group’s planning, designing, and construction competencies. In fact, Ambience is one of the largest developers with their own construction infrastructure. Secondly, Ambience is active in all facets of real estate development from residential to commercial to office space to SEZ. Next should come the company’s sharp focus on the largest and hottest real estate market in India – the one

and only National Capital Region.

It is no mean feat that Ambience has been able to stitch together a prime land bank of over 800 acres in NCR hotspots, out of which nearly 75% is licensed land, which means it is readily developable, unlike the usual agricultural land. The credentials of the promoter is also impeccable.

Chairman Raj Singh Gehlot is no run-of-the-mill broker-turner-developer. A Chartered Accountant by training, he has been noted from the very beginning for a unique philosophy in development – that Ambience will develop only projects that are either of these three – large, premium, or innovative. The main downside for this IPO is the debt

Good

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without. Despite Nifty & Sensex the company has accumulated racing ahead, realty indices are over the years. At 2500 crore, still down. Ambience had filed this debt is a bit troubling for the its Red Herring on the last day analysts. Of the Rs. 1300 crore of September last year, the IPO proceeds, Rs. 475 crore will same day as Lodha and Reliance go straight to service this debt.

Raj Singh Gehlot, Chairman Infratel, and one day before That is not a grave sin as such, Emaar MGF and Sahara Prime City. All of them but the debt that will remain still on the books can be troubling. Secondly, the company breathes and are yet to open their offers. To stand out among lives luxury, a realty paradigm that even when it this crowd, Ambience is scouting for a high-profile refuses to die, is going through a deep crisis. Am- anchor investor and also working out the offer bience is more comfortable creating townships price. with golf courses, rather than suburban condominiums with no garden. The company is yet to have a sound strategy to address the affordable segment comprising of middle-income homebuyers. However, this is not something unthinkable for the firm as it has its roots in constructing more down-toearth apartments in New Delhi suburbs in the 80s and 90s. The main hurdle for this IPO would however come not from within the company but from

MEDANTA

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Medicine’s Last Word he ambition is in the name.

If Vedanta is the last word in Vedic knowledge, Medanta, the Medicity, wants to be the last word in medical wisdom. Too tall an ambition, for a new hospital complex in Gurgaon?

But when you don’t have a multi-million dollar Manhattan cardiac practice in your ambition, but in your history, it seems imaginable. If you had thrown that decade-long practice into the Hudson River for a passion called India, more than 20 years back, it starts seeming that India could be more than just the last word in

Vedas. If none of the Indian hospitals would have done for you then, and you had the clout to custom order an industrialist to build Escorts Heart Institute for you, this ambition to be Medanta seems plausible. If your cardiac surgery patient list reads like the who-is-who of Indian politics and business, and if you wielded the kind of influence to escort them from Escorts to Apollo when you were wronged, you are one damn good surgeon who can surgically correct not only hearts, but whole hospitals. Dr. Naresh Trehan is not arrogant enough to place his baby above Harvard, John Hopkins, &

will have stake in the project, and Dr. Trehan has been able to keep the initial costs down, thanks to equity participation by Punj Lloyd which created the impressive infrastructure, Siemens which supplied the state-of-the-art medical equipment, and USA’s Avenue Capital which is a private equity partner. But this Padmabhushan and Padmashree winner wants Medanta to be content with just 10% profits against industry’s 30%, as he is providing free treatment for 5% deserving patients and subsidies for 20%.

The regular surgical costs are also lower by around 15-20%.

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Mayo – his role models - but audacious enough to claim that Medanta can surpass them one day. Skill-wise, he is not bad – thousands of beating heart surgeries are behind him, a procedure which is still considered challenging in US, and he was way ahead of American surgeons in mastering robotic heart surgery. And he is not naïve enough to believe that 43 acres, 20 super-specialities, 45 operation theatres, and 1500 beds are all that is needed in his arsenal. Medanta is structured as eight fully independent speciality institutes, with Trehan-like global Indian talents heading each. Key doctors

Dr. Naresh Trehan in conversation with Seasonal Magazine: Infrastructure wise and equipment wise we understand that Medanta will strive to be world-class. But protocol wise and philosophy wise what will be the difference from just another swanky hospital?

In all ways Medanta will be a fountainhead in medicine, much like how Mayo, John Hopkins, and Harvard have come to establish themselves.

And going one step ahead of this futuristic medical practice, we will have our own DNA comprising of additional values that reflect the society around that we strive to serve.

You were an integral part of Escorts and Apollo, as also of the hospitals you worked in US. Can you point out a couple of corrections / modifications from these practices that you would be pursuing at Medanta?

To use another simile, our aim is to be the Mount Everest of medicine.

The hospitals that you mentioned are all peaks in their own right, but there will be only one Mount Everest. Our ambition, planning, and execution are to that superlative level. Once being an intrinsic part of those hospitals, I can rightly say so. We will be way ahead. Yesterday, Escorts was the best, tomorrow our efforts will elevate us much higher, making them only the second best.

The infrastructure of course helped, but the pay was not obnoxiously high.

What really helped was the autonomy that we offered by way of creating eight independent institutes. This model will continue and in the future we expect whole departments that are highly successful in other hospitals moving in here for this autonomy and independent decision making.

These eight institutes cater to eight super-specialities, or are there more specialities? How is it all structured?

Well, as of now we have twenty super-specialities and they will either fall under one of these eight independent institutes, or be shared between two or more institutes. In the future, we may go in for both more institutes and more super-specialities.

On the business side, can you tell us what would be the approximate split-up between you the promoter, Punj Lloyd, Avenue Capital, & Siemens? Will any of them be part of the promoter group in Medanta?

Hey, can’t I keep at least a few se-

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What exactly is this edge? Is it about infrastructure, the remuneration, or something else?

Yes, and you mean to say Dr. Trehan will hold absolute management control?

Yes, Dr. Naresh Trehan & Associates.

And that reminds me to tell you about two unique aspects of Medanta – this is a hospital that is led and managed by doctors, and secondly, Medanta will be patient-driven and not targetdriven. Do I make myself clear on this front? I have made it clear also to all our equity partners.

Does this have anything to do with the values / DNA you mentioned in the beginning?

Yes, affordability will be one of those five values. As medical care professionals, our vision is to provide health care to all, and not just society's select few. We endeavor to offer the best medicare available at a reasonable, realistic cost. The overriding objective is to ensure that quality care is on offer to the widest possible strata of the community.

But is this objective realistic?

How far has Medanta progressed in identifying key medical talents for its eight speciality institutes?

We have already identified almost all the leaders, and all the Institutes are operational. In fact, the response from worldwide medical talent, both Indian and of other nationalities, just overwhelmed us. It seems talented physicians and surgeons could detect that what we offer, I mean the complete experience, was going to be superlative.

crets? Do you press people have to know each and every little detail?

(Laughs). Anyway, I will tell you what I can. All of the entities you mentioned will have approximately equal share, but with Dr. Naresh Trehan & Associates holding a majority. To answer your second part, well, except for Siemens, all else will be part of the promoter group in Medanta. Does this satisfy you?

As medical care professionals, our vision is to provide health care to all, and not just society's select few. We endeavor to offer the best medicare available at a reasonable, realistic cost.

It is, but only if you are willing to work for 10% profits, and not the industry norm of 30%. This is what I told I have communicated to my partners. You can be part of the finest hospital project, but don’t expect quick or heavy windfalls from this.

We will be financially feasible, we will breakeven, there are no doubts on that front.

But it may take longer?

Maybe, may be not. Already with our kind of surgical rates, which is lowest among the metros, we are attracting greater volumes than we expected. So breakeven might happen soon-

er than originally expected, but the bigger change is that we should work with 10% profits, which I feel is not great, but quite comfortable and healthy for a noble cause like Medanta.

Just now you mentioned lower surgical rates. What are the other ways in which Medanta is going to be affordable?

So that is about affordability and futuristic medicine. Which are the other three defining values of Medanta’s DNA?

outcomes. Many hospitals fail on this crucial front. But we have decided that we will stick to it come whatever may, as it is the right thing for the patients as well as the doctors. By keeping transparent outcomes, Medanta will ensure that only consistently superior medical talent will thrive and occupy the top spots across institutes and specialities.

In fact those three are the first three – integrity, compassion, & transparency. Affordability and futuristic practice comes after them. At Medanta, we want doctors to be able to live by their principles. Team Medanta will work together to ensure that the highest principles are adhered to.

We live by our integrity, we work by it. Our medical care professionals are people of compassion and empathy.

Patients are not treated as numbers; they are referred to by name. Medanta staff cares about the patient's recovery and wellbeing.

However huge the infrastructure is for a new hospital, the wider reach is going to be increasingly dictated by technologies like telemedicine. Can you detail your initiatives in this regard, as well as

And transparency refers to your corporate governance or something more?

To use another simile, our aim is to be the Mount Everest of medicine. The hospitals that you mentioned are all peaks in their own right, but there will be only one Mount Everest.

For a hospital, corporate governance is only one of the facets requiring transparency. We will of course have transparent billing systems and such honest practices. But more important will be our transparency regarding

through conventional reach-outs like rural mobile clinics etc?

This is an interesting one, and in fact, we have combined both these aspects that you mention. True to our largescale operation, we are adopting 600 neighbouring villages for delivering healthcare services, and four fullfledged mobile clinics are being commissioned to serve these territories.

Telemedicine facilities are being set up and we plan to offer integrated services through these clinics and satellite hospitals.

As a hospital with international ambitions, and as a surgeon who has bested international benchmarks in cardiac surgery, how would you assess the skill-set and mind-set of our medical community? Can Medical Tourism Inc follow the success of India’s IT Inc or Telecom Inc? Definitely. Medical Tourism can be the next big wave for India. Our physicians and surgeons are second to none in this world. Medanta too will be active in the medical tourism front, but that is not our ultimate aim. More than that we want to be the benchmark, the fountainhead in medicine in this part of the world. By that we mean medicine that is not just futuristic but accountable and accessible by the maximum number of people in the society.

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Yes, the 15-20% less costs for surgery is across the board, that is for all patients. For economically deserving patients we are providing subsidies of 20%, and 5% of the most deserving patients will be treated free of cost.

Olympian Anil Kumar, Current National Record Holder in 100 & 200 metre.

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India’s fastest sprinter who broke legendary Milkha Singh’s 39-year old national record in 200 metres.

Record setter in 100 metres – SAF Games, 1999.

Represented India in 2000 Sidney Olympics.