Tata is looking to take over Land Rover and Jaguar, two of the most prominent names in the luxury car industry. Land Rover used to be a market leader in Off road vehicles, you will still find some old land rovers in Darjeeling, and Deheradun, they use them to drive you up to the sunrise point. And ofcourse, the Land-Rover defender is a big name in defense automobiles.
Jaguar, on the other hand, is a fairly well known name, it is an expensive, shiny, and powerful luxury car. They are serious about the power part, I remember they had a v-12 version out once. In any case, Jags are clearly an icon in the automobile industry.
Compared to Jaguar and Land Rover, Tata has not been in the automotive business for long. You can't really say that they dominate the auto business in India either. THe Indica was a big success, but it was overshadowed by the Hyuandai Santro, the Tata Indigo has never been in the center of the limelight. But, they are a huge group of companies, invested almost everywhere in India, in almost every business. From luxury hotels like Taj, to steel plants, and Television, and what not! The Jaguar-Land Rover deal is certainly going add fair value to Tata's already super-diversified portfolio.
Ford on the other hand, seems to have been on the loosing end for a while now. They have had a lot of trouble making sales and running business here in the US. A lot of layoffs, and a lot of sell-offs. There has been a lot of talk about how Ford had over-invested in multiple Auto models in the past. I.e. they had kept coming with auto lines that were not sufficiently different than what was already in the market, or were targeted to a very small audience.
In contrast, they have been doing great in India, the Ford Icon and the Ford Flair are all but dominating the mid-size (Indian sizes) sedan market. They are blowing away competition in India by offering targeted products with fair pricing. It is interesting to note this difference in operational philosophy and its benefits for Ford.
Anyway, it seems that Ford is doing the right thing by selling of land rover and Jaguar, possibly to Tata. Although I wouldn't personally mind if Mahindra and Mahindra actually won the bid. Although Mahindra has been in the automotive market about the same time Tata has beeen, the Mahindra Scorpio has completely redefined the company's image and demonstrated that Mahindra is capable of great structural change. Although, I am not quiet sure whether Mahindra would leave Jaguar be or try and make changes after acquisition. Tata on the other hand, prefers to just accumulate companies and let them continue on with their own business.
Which raises another interesting point, a point about collective philosophies for companies. There was a time in the sweet sixties when every company wanted a stake in every business. That later gave way to streamlined portfolio optimization. In India though, most big companies seem to throw away conventional wisdom about streamlining and go head on into super - diversifying. Examples are abundant, Reliance, Tata, BPL, UB all are groups of companies that are invested in everything from airlines to cell phone networks. In an emerging market like India, this probably makes sense, if there is money to be made, these companies are making it. In a more mature market like the US, streamlining might be a better option though. Especially with the worries about the subprime lending crisis and a slow down of the US economy.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Evolution theory, disporve it or shut up!
From NY times
What these people need to understand is that science is based on facts that can be rigorously tested. Based on these facts, hypotheses are made. When enough facts support a hypotheses, then it is rigorously tested in a mathematical framework. The result is a theory, which is open for disproving if it can be counter argued. Everything else is PseudoScience. That is why Religion, Astrology, occult etc. cannot be phrased as science. Although they have strict rules that govern their procedures, they are not based on fact. Infact, even psychology is close to pseudo science since direct methods for testing psychological phenomena are extremely limited.
Religion is based on beliefs, science does not entertain beliefs, it is only concerned about theories. If the creationists think that instead of slingbanging the scientists, they can actually prove creationism, or at the least disprove the theory of evolution then that's exactly what they should do. BTW. claiming that you cannot disprove creationism does not prove it.
Claiming that god made the earth and everything on it will not prove it. If you choose to believe it then that is your decision; however, you cannot tell the scientific community to change their believes. And for this exact reason, creationism should not be taught in science classes. It could be taught in theology, but not in science. No matter what the idiots do, including calling believing in evolutionary theory Darwinism, will not change the fact that science cannot be based on beliefs that can neither be tested nor be universally justified.
Scientist are seen by masses as eccentric people who are exceedingly selfish in their goals. And thats why they are subject to public isolating just like geeks are in this countries school system. Portraying of mad scientists like Dr. Jekyll has not helped the situation either. I see this as nothing but a money making attempt by Mr. Stein. Mr. Stein, you should go get a degree in evolutionary biology before you disprove it!
The film is described in its online trailer as “a startling revelation that freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry have been expelled from publicly-funded high schools, universities and research institutions.” According to its Web site, the film asserts that people in academia who see evidence of a supernatural intelligence in biological processes have unfairly lost their jobs, been denied tenure or suffered other penalties as part of a scientific conspiracy to keep God out of the nation’s laboratories and classrooms.
What these people need to understand is that science is based on facts that can be rigorously tested. Based on these facts, hypotheses are made. When enough facts support a hypotheses, then it is rigorously tested in a mathematical framework. The result is a theory, which is open for disproving if it can be counter argued. Everything else is PseudoScience. That is why Religion, Astrology, occult etc. cannot be phrased as science. Although they have strict rules that govern their procedures, they are not based on fact. Infact, even psychology is close to pseudo science since direct methods for testing psychological phenomena are extremely limited.
Religion is based on beliefs, science does not entertain beliefs, it is only concerned about theories. If the creationists think that instead of slingbanging the scientists, they can actually prove creationism, or at the least disprove the theory of evolution then that's exactly what they should do. BTW. claiming that you cannot disprove creationism does not prove it.
Claiming that god made the earth and everything on it will not prove it. If you choose to believe it then that is your decision; however, you cannot tell the scientific community to change their believes. And for this exact reason, creationism should not be taught in science classes. It could be taught in theology, but not in science. No matter what the idiots do, including calling believing in evolutionary theory Darwinism, will not change the fact that science cannot be based on beliefs that can neither be tested nor be universally justified.
Scientist are seen by masses as eccentric people who are exceedingly selfish in their goals. And thats why they are subject to public isolating just like geeks are in this countries school system. Portraying of mad scientists like Dr. Jekyll has not helped the situation either. I see this as nothing but a money making attempt by Mr. Stein. Mr. Stein, you should go get a degree in evolutionary biology before you disprove it!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
God Save the Planet
God save the planet, that is indeed the new slogan of the coming green age. The signs are already abundant in the US. Organic farms, cleaner fuels, hybrid cars, effort on public transportation, green house gas emission offset programs (you can pay for the gas that your activities emit, the money is used for fostering green activities), recycling, carsharing/pooling, and a helluva lotta other things!
The green age is coming, whether you like it or not! I've decided that I am going to like it!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Why do we need an Enigma
This blog is in response to this article posted on crickinfo:
It is strange how Tendulkar is always under barrage whether he performs or not, I remember learning in my History lectures that Mahatma Gandhi was a great Enigma of the Independence struggle. People looked at him in admiration and drew their courage from him. There was a man afraid of nothing, a man with faith in others , a man so selfishly selfless. Its almost like Sachin has become the new enigma of cricket.
He is on print everyday, no matter what he does. If he doesn't score the press goes ballistic and questions his form and talent, the media pleads to remove him from the team. If he scores, like he did in Belfast, people keep on saying he is not the Tendulkar they saw, he has lost his charm, his form, and "age has taken its toll on Tendulkar".
Well, do these people really expect Sachin to play exactly like he used to when he was 18, I mean who does that? Does the writer run behind girls exactly like he used to when he was 18? Does he run uphill as fast as he could have when he was 18? Vigour and energy seem to pass as we grow older, but our experience and maturity grow.
I would call Tendulkar's inning on Monday a very matured and responsible innings of class. He knew he had to stay, he knew that Gambhir and Gangully had fallen short of their target. He defended 16 bolls to the dot because he wanted to absolutely make sure that he was going to be there and complement Dravid. He knew that this was not the time to play carelessly, he was on the 2 down spot, a spot where temperament serves you better than flamboyancy.
I though Sachin played a marvelous inning, I hope he keeps playing like that throughout this summer.
It is strange how Tendulkar is always under barrage whether he performs or not, I remember learning in my History lectures that Mahatma Gandhi was a great Enigma of the Independence struggle. People looked at him in admiration and drew their courage from him. There was a man afraid of nothing, a man with faith in others , a man so selfishly selfless. Its almost like Sachin has become the new enigma of cricket.
He is on print everyday, no matter what he does. If he doesn't score the press goes ballistic and questions his form and talent, the media pleads to remove him from the team. If he scores, like he did in Belfast, people keep on saying he is not the Tendulkar they saw, he has lost his charm, his form, and "age has taken its toll on Tendulkar".
Well, do these people really expect Sachin to play exactly like he used to when he was 18, I mean who does that? Does the writer run behind girls exactly like he used to when he was 18? Does he run uphill as fast as he could have when he was 18? Vigour and energy seem to pass as we grow older, but our experience and maturity grow.
I would call Tendulkar's inning on Monday a very matured and responsible innings of class. He knew he had to stay, he knew that Gambhir and Gangully had fallen short of their target. He defended 16 bolls to the dot because he wanted to absolutely make sure that he was going to be there and complement Dravid. He knew that this was not the time to play carelessly, he was on the 2 down spot, a spot where temperament serves you better than flamboyancy.
I though Sachin played a marvelous inning, I hope he keeps playing like that throughout this summer.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The monkey army is back at it again
With all these hopes about a deregularized, liberal India, I hear this...
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/285
Shivsena is back to its monkeying around again. I am beginning to
despise shiv sena, it is exactly such egocentric, blocked,
underground, radical mentality that stands in India's progress. First
were the evening venues (Thousand oaks etc), then valentines day,
then the cricket matches, now it is the internet and the web cafe
owners. How are honest hardworking people supposed to make a decent
living when such radical people go barraging through their means of
livelihood. SHiv sena should be banned and out casted, it is nothing
but a perpetrator of organized religious radicalism. The word that comes to mind is the
religious mafia!
Who gave them the right to butt into people's lives and dictate what
they are thinking? Who are they to be the "self proclaimed moral police" if they cannot
even handle their own rage?
http://www.newstrackindia.com
Shivsena is back to its monkeying around again. I am beginning to
despise shiv sena, it is exactly such egocentric, blocked,
underground, radical mentality that stands in India's progress. First
were the evening venues (Thousand oaks etc), then valentines day,
then the cricket matches, now it is the internet and the web cafe
owners. How are honest hardworking people supposed to make a decent
living when such radical people go barraging through their means of
livelihood. SHiv sena should be banned and out casted, it is nothing
but a perpetrator of organized religious radicalism. The word that comes to mind is the
religious mafia!
Who gave them the right to butt into people's lives and dictate what
they are thinking? Who are they to be the "self proclaimed moral police" if they cannot
even handle their own rage?
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Procrastination
That's what I have been doing in the past few weeks. So many things have happened, I guess I should have at least said a word or two.
India has finally won the revenge series, proving once again our tigers roar really loudly at home. If nothing else, I would take the comeback of Sachin and Ganguly to be a good sign. Also that Jaffer and Karthink played is reassuring.
The markets have done the yoyo, but they seem pretty stable from this view right now. There has been a lot of talk about the consumer durables sector in India, and why it is not flourishing. Before putting the blame on marketing, I think quality, pricing and supply strategies should be properly analyzed. Durables like washing machine and dishwashers are competing in India with Kaam Waali bais, a human against a machine is tough competition. One way to overcome is to improve quality, or if that's not that easy then educate the bais in the use of washing machines, give them some free. Make them use it, and they will force their memsaabs to use it.
In the meanwhile, WALMART's entry is confirmed. FMCG sector should boom. Kingfisher buys Airdeccan stake. Airdeccan is a great company, they are taking risky risks in these turbulent times. You gotta give it to them. Partnering with Mallaya the king is definitely a win win situation for both of them.
I have been taking two very interesting math classes this summer. Hilbert spaces and analysis, but more on that on independent posts.
India has finally won the revenge series, proving once again our tigers roar really loudly at home. If nothing else, I would take the comeback of Sachin and Ganguly to be a good sign. Also that Jaffer and Karthink played is reassuring.
The markets have done the yoyo, but they seem pretty stable from this view right now. There has been a lot of talk about the consumer durables sector in India, and why it is not flourishing. Before putting the blame on marketing, I think quality, pricing and supply strategies should be properly analyzed. Durables like washing machine and dishwashers are competing in India with Kaam Waali bais, a human against a machine is tough competition. One way to overcome is to improve quality, or if that's not that easy then educate the bais in the use of washing machines, give them some free. Make them use it, and they will force their memsaabs to use it.
In the meanwhile, WALMART's entry is confirmed. FMCG sector should boom. Kingfisher buys Airdeccan stake. Airdeccan is a great company, they are taking risky risks in these turbulent times. You gotta give it to them. Partnering with Mallaya the king is definitely a win win situation for both of them.
I have been taking two very interesting math classes this summer. Hilbert spaces and analysis, but more on that on independent posts.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The truth behind the A380 and the fall of Indian Journalism
Journalism used to be about research and finding the facts. Today's Indian journalism seems to be nothing but a race to churn out stories and a thirst to cover maximum stuff. This has resulted in a great lack of quality, comparable to that from the Indian soap-opera industry! Not everything is covered, and complete justice is not given to an article.
Take this article for example: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/A_hot-air_plane/articleshow/2039417.cms
The author makes the point that the recent A380 is as "revolutionary as a new Nike shoe"
This type of statement will make the blood of every true to his core aerospace engineer's blood boil. If I were working for Airbus, I would sue this guy. Judging by mere appearances is not the way to look at complex integrated systems such as aircraft. And the aircraft are there to serve a purpose not to satisfy the whim for something new.
The modern airliners have not changed their basic specific shape because it is a result of sequential optimization. The current shape has evolved over a series of radical shapes since it is the most efficient, manageable, and optimal shape. I do not see the point in pointing at Airbus for not coming up with a radical new design, I mean the designs for buses have not radically changed in the past either. We still have buses with four wheels and a monoque chases.
The term of trade in aerosoapce, especially in European aerospace is innovation, the art of taking calculated risks for increasing efficiency. The real innovation in the A380 starts at the cockpit and ends below the engine cowling.
The A380 has the most modern avionics suite with innovative new design concepts such as achieving the redundancy of 3 independent data buses using only two independent data buses with cross talking capability instead of the traditional three buses. This results in enormous weight saving considering that an average airliner has 171 miles of wiring! Add to that constant engine monitoring from ground stations, centralized processing, etc etc and you get the picture.
Hence before passing the judgment on the innovation that A380 brings to the Aerospace industry, we need to go below mere appearances and look at the airliner as a n integrated system!
Take this article for example: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/A_hot-air_plane/articleshow/2039417.cms
The author makes the point that the recent A380 is as "revolutionary as a new Nike shoe"
This type of statement will make the blood of every true to his core aerospace engineer's blood boil. If I were working for Airbus, I would sue this guy. Judging by mere appearances is not the way to look at complex integrated systems such as aircraft. And the aircraft are there to serve a purpose not to satisfy the whim for something new.
The modern airliners have not changed their basic specific shape because it is a result of sequential optimization. The current shape has evolved over a series of radical shapes since it is the most efficient, manageable, and optimal shape. I do not see the point in pointing at Airbus for not coming up with a radical new design, I mean the designs for buses have not radically changed in the past either. We still have buses with four wheels and a monoque chases.
The term of trade in aerosoapce, especially in European aerospace is innovation, the art of taking calculated risks for increasing efficiency. The real innovation in the A380 starts at the cockpit and ends below the engine cowling.
The A380 has the most modern avionics suite with innovative new design concepts such as achieving the redundancy of 3 independent data buses using only two independent data buses with cross talking capability instead of the traditional three buses. This results in enormous weight saving considering that an average airliner has 171 miles of wiring! Add to that constant engine monitoring from ground stations, centralized processing, etc etc and you get the picture.
Hence before passing the judgment on the innovation that A380 brings to the Aerospace industry, we need to go below mere appearances and look at the airliner as a n integrated system!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Net_surfing_socialising_cost_Indian_cos/articleshow/1934163.cms
"Net surfing and socializing costs Indian companies about 8hrs per employee per month!"
What a blatant claim, blaming internet is not going to increase efficiencies in offices! The only way to increase efficiency in office is to get the employees interested in what they are doing. SUch type of "The office is a prision" mentality will never let a company come out on top.
I mean, before there was internet, did employees never waste time? SO maybe the corporations will think of banning coffe breaks and, news papers, and even casual comminication within employees!
The problem with many corporation managment strategies is that they rely too much on non radical ideas. The only companies that have risen above their competition are the ones who could think out of the box. Google is an excellent example. Microsoft has gotten started with a couple of people wearing Bermuda pants and geeky Tshirts. Are you telling me that Bill Gates or the other highly paid CEO (supposedly highly paid due to their efficiency) never surf the web?
The most innovative research is done in Universities by Grad students who spend hours and hours procrastinating in front of the computer (e.g. Yours Truly). It is infact believed that most grad students spend more time on their computers surfing than actually working. But its fine, since procrastination has its powers. Four hours of it can get you ready for two hours of solid research output then its worth it!
All I am saying is that, there is no point in trying to stifle people from doing what they love to do. India Inc. needs to think outside of the box. Get your employee to be interested to come to work the next day, and that will stop all your problems of attrition and inefficiency.
"Net surfing and socializing costs Indian companies about 8hrs per employee per month!"
What a blatant claim, blaming internet is not going to increase efficiencies in offices! The only way to increase efficiency in office is to get the employees interested in what they are doing. SUch type of "The office is a prision" mentality will never let a company come out on top.
I mean, before there was internet, did employees never waste time? SO maybe the corporations will think of banning coffe breaks and, news papers, and even casual comminication within employees!
The problem with many corporation managment strategies is that they rely too much on non radical ideas. The only companies that have risen above their competition are the ones who could think out of the box. Google is an excellent example. Microsoft has gotten started with a couple of people wearing Bermuda pants and geeky Tshirts. Are you telling me that Bill Gates or the other highly paid CEO (supposedly highly paid due to their efficiency) never surf the web?
The most innovative research is done in Universities by Grad students who spend hours and hours procrastinating in front of the computer (e.g. Yours Truly). It is infact believed that most grad students spend more time on their computers surfing than actually working. But its fine, since procrastination has its powers. Four hours of it can get you ready for two hours of solid research output then its worth it!
All I am saying is that, there is no point in trying to stifle people from doing what they love to do. India Inc. needs to think outside of the box. Get your employee to be interested to come to work the next day, and that will stop all your problems of attrition and inefficiency.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Welcome the magnormous Indian Cricket Idol
Subhash Chandra’s grand plan on starting up a complementing home cricket league are to be applauded. Its success is going to be huge, if simple reality shows like Bigg Boss or Indian Idol can machaofy dhoom in India, then a cricket championship with $1million in the looting will be the biggest hit of all time! Get your hands on in the action, buy the shares of whoever who wants to go with this thing. Any TV channel that is going to have the rights to this is going to make big money (its Zee most likely right now).
I am truly happy about the ICL, we have needed this thing for a long time, and I have been crying about it on my blog since India lost.
The boost to Indian cricket through supplying them with players is one thing (its probably going to take some time), but cricket starved Indian public is going to jump on this, and cricket viewer starved Indian corporations are going to roll big money. With the economy in the state it is right now, it almost seems that the first and foremost effect of the ICL will be a big boost to the sport-economy of India.
I am truly happy about the ICL, we have needed this thing for a long time, and I have been crying about it on my blog since India lost.
The boost to Indian cricket through supplying them with players is one thing (its probably going to take some time), but cricket starved Indian public is going to jump on this, and cricket viewer starved Indian corporations are going to roll big money. With the economy in the state it is right now, it almost seems that the first and foremost effect of the ICL will be a big boost to the sport-economy of India.
Friday, March 30, 2007
I utterly totally faithfully questionlessly believe in theFlying Spaghetti Monster,
As I sit here, writing this post on the computer created by him, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I am touched by his noodley appendage, I am overwhelmed, as he has chosen me to be a part of his master recipe for the creation, management, and destruction of the universe.
Long live the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and his religion Pastafarianism
As of this day on March the 30th of 2007, I include the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the list of my already inherited 30million gods and goddesses as the primary and supreme god of all creation. I believe that he created the world, he created me, he created you, the sun, the flowers and the prawns.
He furthermore placed evidence in such a way that we would mistake it for rigorously proven scientific truth.
RAmen
Girish
Long live the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and his religion Pastafarianism
As of this day on March the 30th of 2007, I include the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the list of my already inherited 30million gods and goddesses as the primary and supreme god of all creation. I believe that he created the world, he created me, he created you, the sun, the flowers and the prawns.
He furthermore placed evidence in such a way that we would mistake it for rigorously proven scientific truth.
RAmen
Girish
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The art of blowing hot air
Every time something happens, we have a horde of people expressing their Hodgepodge opinions. Here are some and my answers to them,
Popular opinion no. 1: Indian cricketers suck because they spend too much time advertising and not enough practicing: This is the most baseless of accusations! How does the opinianator know that the Indian crickets actually invest the time they should be practicing in advertisement. His judgement is basically only based on what he sees on TV. Just because one ad is repeated a 1000 times a day does not mean that more time went into making of the ad. The player could have only spent half a day in making of the ad, and everyone knows that you cannot practice the sport 24-7!
Popular opinion no.2: Fire Sachin because he does not perform: Look at the statistics, refer to: Sachin
Popular opinion no.3: Our crickets are hollow shells of men who cannot handle pressure: The fact of the matter is they are put into this unbelievable amount of inhuman pressure levels by our cricket addicted public.
Popular opinion no.4: Sack Dravid,: Why oh Why would you do that? He is the only captain in the last umpteen years who has not ruined his own game since becoming a captain. Wouldn't a more natural and humane suggetion would be to ask Dravid to evaluate his captaincy style and improve. I mean where do we get this idea that playing musical chairs with the people in the team is going to make the team better? THis is the exact thing that pressures our players.
Ahhh, heck, I am sick of this!
Popular opinion no. 1: Indian cricketers suck because they spend too much time advertising and not enough practicing: This is the most baseless of accusations! How does the opinianator know that the Indian crickets actually invest the time they should be practicing in advertisement. His judgement is basically only based on what he sees on TV. Just because one ad is repeated a 1000 times a day does not mean that more time went into making of the ad. The player could have only spent half a day in making of the ad, and everyone knows that you cannot practice the sport 24-7!
Popular opinion no.2: Fire Sachin because he does not perform: Look at the statistics, refer to: Sachin
Popular opinion no.3: Our crickets are hollow shells of men who cannot handle pressure: The fact of the matter is they are put into this unbelievable amount of inhuman pressure levels by our cricket addicted public.
Popular opinion no.4: Sack Dravid,: Why oh Why would you do that? He is the only captain in the last umpteen years who has not ruined his own game since becoming a captain. Wouldn't a more natural and humane suggetion would be to ask Dravid to evaluate his captaincy style and improve. I mean where do we get this idea that playing musical chairs with the people in the team is going to make the team better? THis is the exact thing that pressures our players.
Ahhh, heck, I am sick of this!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sachin???
I read somewhere just a couple of days ago: Whenever an organization performs bad, we naturally assume that the leadership, people, and the culture of the organization is rotten. And whenever it shows some signs of improvement we conclude otherwise.
The above is natural, but good decision making means that you gotta have the facts in front of you. The obvious question that Indian cricket fans are asking is whether to retain Sachin? The question arises due to a common conception in the masses that he does not deliver. Well I am going to put the statistics right in front of you, so that even though we cannot really influence the decision, we can all express a well informed opinion:
Here are Sachin's statistics in 2006
Matches: 16. Innings:16, Runs 628, out of which he has been not out twice,
Highest score: 141 not out,
Average:44.85, at a strike rate of 77.05,
Two half centuries and 3 centuries!
That is a very good record! Comparing it with the highest averages in 2006 we see that Sachin is very much at the top considering the number of innings he has played. Now lets look at his career averages: Sachin has played 374 innings scoring a huge 14847 runs at an average of 44.05 and a strike rate of 85.73.
Notice something? His average has not changed in the last year compared to his overall average, indicating that he could not have suffered the great loss in quality and capacity as the media portrays. Sachin remains one of the highest scoring and highest averaging batsmen in the world.
The only reason why he is the target of amazing bashing is due to the addiction of cricket that India has! We simply don't get to see enough of Sachin, so we expect him to perform in every single match that he plays! What we need is to watch him play more on home grounds, like I said before, its time for the corporate giants to look at Ranji to get the big bucks in cricket rolling.
Interesting parallels to the concept of promoting internal sporting competition would be the Australian club cricket, British County cricket, US NFL, NBA, British Soccer League, and Aussie rules Football.
The above is natural, but good decision making means that you gotta have the facts in front of you. The obvious question that Indian cricket fans are asking is whether to retain Sachin? The question arises due to a common conception in the masses that he does not deliver. Well I am going to put the statistics right in front of you, so that even though we cannot really influence the decision, we can all express a well informed opinion:
Here are Sachin's statistics in 2006
Matches: 16. Innings:16, Runs 628, out of which he has been not out twice,
Highest score: 141 not out,
Average:44.85, at a strike rate of 77.05,
Two half centuries and 3 centuries!
That is a very good record! Comparing it with the highest averages in 2006 we see that Sachin is very much at the top considering the number of innings he has played. Now lets look at his career averages: Sachin has played 374 innings scoring a huge 14847 runs at an average of 44.05 and a strike rate of 85.73.
Notice something? His average has not changed in the last year compared to his overall average, indicating that he could not have suffered the great loss in quality and capacity as the media portrays. Sachin remains one of the highest scoring and highest averaging batsmen in the world.
The only reason why he is the target of amazing bashing is due to the addiction of cricket that India has! We simply don't get to see enough of Sachin, so we expect him to perform in every single match that he plays! What we need is to watch him play more on home grounds, like I said before, its time for the corporate giants to look at Ranji to get the big bucks in cricket rolling.
Interesting parallels to the concept of promoting internal sporting competition would be the Australian club cricket, British County cricket, US NFL, NBA, British Soccer League, and Aussie rules Football.
Get rid of that cricket addiction, India!
Yeah yeah, we couldn't.t get into the super 8s, we lost to lowly Bangladesh, and couldn't stand up against Srilanka. The media is going to jump on this, a billion voices in the subcontinent, and many many others all over the world are no doubt just ranting about these same things. Team India lost, with so much riding on their backs, Team India lost!
The media is going to be full of suggestions, drop Sachin, change the coach, get a new captain, leave everyone out of the team and what not. I think every single one of them is going to be absolutely useless. We didn't loose because of the individuals in the team, its no bloody mystery that we have the BEST team on paper! We lost because we just couldn't take it, we wilted under the pressure, gave up against the opposition, we simply QUIT!
Why you ask, a team with a billion supporters, magnanimous funding, huge corporate support, how could they just QUIT when so much depends on them?
What went wrong? I think its exactly the fact that a "billion sounds have no other form of sport entertainment than international cricket" is what went wrong! Look at Australia, people don't burn effigies if the Aussies lose, they don't throw stones at Mcgrath's unbuilt houses. We do, why, because if Team India loses, then we loose hope. Our lives surround Team India, we define our victories and losses on team India. In a country where a LOT of people are still without money, and cannot afford even half the things that are on the market, its obvious that the people will search for a burning light of hope, and they see it in Team India.
The morale is high when Team India wins, the masses can forget about their problems for a day, they can stop talking about the rising prices and that idiot boss at work, they enjoy their musty ride in the Mumbai Local Trains high on victory that day. Simply put we are addicted to cricket. The corporates know that and they feed this addiction, well who can blame them.
This results in tremendous pressure on our cricketers, infact its this pressure that fuels the fear of loss in their hearts, makes them not concentrate on their game anymore, and just give up. After all, they are only humans, well extremely well compensated humans at that. I know what you are going to say, aren't they paid to handle this pressure? Well, yes they are paid to handle this pressure, but the problem I think is not the money, I think our team in not TRAINED to handle the pressure.
If we are to get rid of this quit issue we need to work on both levels,
1. Create an environment in which international cricket is viewed as an glorified form of sport entertainment, and not the only source.
2. Train our men in blue to handle the pressure better.
How could we do this. I am not so naive to tell you that the Indian population should stop watching cricket, that is not possible, I will never stop. But lets give our people some other form of cricket than just international cricket. We have the Ranji trophy where states compete, all the big names are there, we need to make this a big issue. Pin our corporate hopes on the Ranji trophy, pour some money in the marketing, sell the TV contracts to ESPN-STAR, and see what happens. In the meantime, more support to a better infrastructure in cricket (so that people can actually play cricket) and support to other forms of sport is not a bad idea either.
On the second level, introduce some stress relieving techniques in the Indian team, e.g. yoga sounds good, or Aurveda based diet might also work. Some time to meditate and reflect in the should help the high quality individuals in the Indian team forget their own woes and play like a team.
Well, its time for India to move over from International cricket!
The media is going to be full of suggestions, drop Sachin, change the coach, get a new captain, leave everyone out of the team and what not. I think every single one of them is going to be absolutely useless. We didn't loose because of the individuals in the team, its no bloody mystery that we have the BEST team on paper! We lost because we just couldn't take it, we wilted under the pressure, gave up against the opposition, we simply QUIT!
Why you ask, a team with a billion supporters, magnanimous funding, huge corporate support, how could they just QUIT when so much depends on them?
What went wrong? I think its exactly the fact that a "billion sounds have no other form of sport entertainment than international cricket" is what went wrong! Look at Australia, people don't burn effigies if the Aussies lose, they don't throw stones at Mcgrath's unbuilt houses. We do, why, because if Team India loses, then we loose hope. Our lives surround Team India, we define our victories and losses on team India. In a country where a LOT of people are still without money, and cannot afford even half the things that are on the market, its obvious that the people will search for a burning light of hope, and they see it in Team India.
The morale is high when Team India wins, the masses can forget about their problems for a day, they can stop talking about the rising prices and that idiot boss at work, they enjoy their musty ride in the Mumbai Local Trains high on victory that day. Simply put we are addicted to cricket. The corporates know that and they feed this addiction, well who can blame them.
This results in tremendous pressure on our cricketers, infact its this pressure that fuels the fear of loss in their hearts, makes them not concentrate on their game anymore, and just give up. After all, they are only humans, well extremely well compensated humans at that. I know what you are going to say, aren't they paid to handle this pressure? Well, yes they are paid to handle this pressure, but the problem I think is not the money, I think our team in not TRAINED to handle the pressure.
If we are to get rid of this quit issue we need to work on both levels,
1. Create an environment in which international cricket is viewed as an glorified form of sport entertainment, and not the only source.
2. Train our men in blue to handle the pressure better.
How could we do this. I am not so naive to tell you that the Indian population should stop watching cricket, that is not possible, I will never stop. But lets give our people some other form of cricket than just international cricket. We have the Ranji trophy where states compete, all the big names are there, we need to make this a big issue. Pin our corporate hopes on the Ranji trophy, pour some money in the marketing, sell the TV contracts to ESPN-STAR, and see what happens. In the meantime, more support to a better infrastructure in cricket (so that people can actually play cricket) and support to other forms of sport is not a bad idea either.
On the second level, introduce some stress relieving techniques in the Indian team, e.g. yoga sounds good, or Aurveda based diet might also work. Some time to meditate and reflect in the should help the high quality individuals in the Indian team forget their own woes and play like a team.
Well, its time for India to move over from International cricket!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
101 Ways to pressure India, the way of Pseudo pressure
So India is going on ahead and signing the Tehran pipe deal, which India definatley needs. We are in dire need of energy resources, that is no secret. US obviously does not want India to have ties with Tehran, because that means money to Tehran, so this is what the US Energy secretary Bodman says:
""There have been conversations ... and if that is allowed to go forward, in our judgement, this will contribute to development of nuclear weapons,"
basically don't buy fuel from Tehran because we don't like them, you give them money, they will surely go do something bad with it.
Link here
To me this is the most ludicrous statement of all times. What does that mean, should the world severe economic ties with any Muslim country that the US randomly suspects of developing any technology that may threaten US. Is every single penny that Tehran earns going to be spent on developing threats to the US? Are they totally sure that Tehran is really going to be a threat to the US, I mean where were the nukes in Iraq? Are they sure that the Tehran government does not want to use the money to actually make its people happy? It almost seems that the US is convinced that the world is intent on building nukes and blasting the heck out of each other. Well I guess they have a reason, after all they have been there, done that, and have had to live with the terrible guilt! I mean US is the only country in the world to actually have a history of using Nukes, not one but two!
Asking India, an age old friend of Tehran, to hamper its economic ties with Tehran (especially when its helping India out of a Ennergy ditch) is rather gutsy, especially given the history of US pumping money into the middle east for fuel and such.
What is the meaning of this paranoia? Has the American state lost its independence from the Church, or does America really believe that making middle eastern nations economically weak is going to stop the people there from reverting to terrorism? Isn't it possible for big brother to actively participate in the well being and economic prosperity of the middle eastern nations rather than weakening them? After all, they are doing it in Latin America, oh but I forgot, Latin America is mostly Christian!
BTW. Clarification: I am neither Christian, nor Muslim.
""There have been conversations ... and if that is allowed to go forward, in our judgement, this will contribute to development of nuclear weapons,"
basically don't buy fuel from Tehran because we don't like them, you give them money, they will surely go do something bad with it.
Link here
To me this is the most ludicrous statement of all times. What does that mean, should the world severe economic ties with any Muslim country that the US randomly suspects of developing any technology that may threaten US. Is every single penny that Tehran earns going to be spent on developing threats to the US? Are they totally sure that Tehran is really going to be a threat to the US, I mean where were the nukes in Iraq? Are they sure that the Tehran government does not want to use the money to actually make its people happy? It almost seems that the US is convinced that the world is intent on building nukes and blasting the heck out of each other. Well I guess they have a reason, after all they have been there, done that, and have had to live with the terrible guilt! I mean US is the only country in the world to actually have a history of using Nukes, not one but two!
Asking India, an age old friend of Tehran, to hamper its economic ties with Tehran (especially when its helping India out of a Ennergy ditch) is rather gutsy, especially given the history of US pumping money into the middle east for fuel and such.
What is the meaning of this paranoia? Has the American state lost its independence from the Church, or does America really believe that making middle eastern nations economically weak is going to stop the people there from reverting to terrorism? Isn't it possible for big brother to actively participate in the well being and economic prosperity of the middle eastern nations rather than weakening them? After all, they are doing it in Latin America, oh but I forgot, Latin America is mostly Christian!
BTW. Clarification: I am neither Christian, nor Muslim.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
WalMart in India, its official!
There have been rumours, there have been tiny little scout offices, and there have been market surveys, but today WalMart, the biggest retailer of them announced that it is ready for the Indian market.
WalMart will provide logistic and supply chain support to Bharati Enterprise ltd, its prospective partner in India. That means, over the next 8 years we should be seeing a whole new brand of retail shopping "departmental stores"/malls being introduced in India. If WalMart and Bharati work as aggressively as they did here in the US, we should be seeing slashed prices all the way through computers to scooters, specials galore and stiff competition to other nonexistent chains.
Or we could just see a lot of takeovers, of the independent retailing chains/shops. It would be safe to believe that Shoppers stop will survive.
The venture is Bharati's own, with walmart only providing logistic support.
WIll this mean death to the Indian ma and pa retail shops (Marwaris, variety shops, Tulshi baug style shops and what have you?) I think no, because
WalMart will provide logistic and supply chain support to Bharati Enterprise ltd, its prospective partner in India. That means, over the next 8 years we should be seeing a whole new brand of retail shopping "departmental stores"/malls being introduced in India. If WalMart and Bharati work as aggressively as they did here in the US, we should be seeing slashed prices all the way through computers to scooters, specials galore and stiff competition to other nonexistent chains.
Or we could just see a lot of takeovers, of the independent retailing chains/shops. It would be safe to believe that Shoppers stop will survive.
The venture is Bharati's own, with walmart only providing logistic support.
WIll this mean death to the Indian ma and pa retail shops (Marwaris, variety shops, Tulshi baug style shops and what have you?) I think no, because
- Infrastructure in India favours the small and the nimble, not the large and the trying to be fast,
- People are lazy, most dont own cars, and would not be bothered to travel all the way to Walmart for month's groceries, unlike the business model here in US.
- The ma and pa stores have excellent relationship with customers, including home delivery and monthly credit systems.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The rise of the Indian aviation sector
"And to ye all" he said...,"for the nonexistent avid readers of this blog will remember, that it had been predicted that Air-Deccan stock might carefully rise, and lo and behold, risen it has. For this is the proof you need of my existence. " thus went the stock broker's ghost.
"But carefull", said he who had been present through the crash, "all it takes is one crash, metaphorical or otherwise".
The aerospace sector is in a boom, but profits are low, and growth is high, so costs are huge, would I hold on to my stock????? Well lets say this, Rs 110 could be a good bail out price in the current (hopefully long lived!*) bear run. (And rs 100 or below is definatley a jump in price)
Thus endeth the stupidity...
*Long live the corrective bear run, at inflation touching 6.5% all stocks could be ovepriced, plus one needs a break in point!
"But carefull", said he who had been present through the crash, "all it takes is one crash, metaphorical or otherwise".
The aerospace sector is in a boom, but profits are low, and growth is high, so costs are huge, would I hold on to my stock????? Well lets say this, Rs 110 could be a good bail out price in the current (hopefully long lived!*) bear run. (And rs 100 or below is definatley a jump in price)
Thus endeth the stupidity...
*Long live the corrective bear run, at inflation touching 6.5% all stocks could be ovepriced, plus one needs a break in point!
101 Ways to pressure India, way #32
Present politically correct statements that apply pressure through a quasi-independent spokesman, in a its-none-of-my-business-but.... way
e.g.
"There is an expectation among US companies, the public and the political class that we have helped India, and that US companies should get a favorable treatment,".. "But that's not the same thing as saying there was a negotiated quid pro quo,"
US Ambassador to India David Mulford told reporters on the eve of the air show.
Ofcourse this deals with the Nuke deal
e.g.
"There is an expectation among US companies, the public and the political class that we have helped India, and that US companies should get a favorable treatment,".. "But that's not the same thing as saying there was a negotiated quid pro quo,"
US Ambassador to India David Mulford told reporters on the eve of the air show.
Ofcourse this deals with the Nuke deal
Thursday, February 08, 2007
And off we go
The first deal in the making
India to buy 40 SU30 MRF s from Russia, at around $40 Million each that comes to a whopping $1.6 Billion dollar deal! Hope we get some discount!
And whats more, this is not a part of the "Mother of All deals!"
SU30: High capblity, heavy weight, MRF. MRFs are capable of multi roled missions, such as air supremacy, target destruction, patrolling, reconnaisance, and plain old carpet bombing.
Is this a primer to the acquisition of 126 MRFs from a US based company???????? First make ze Russians happy and then shake hands with Uncle sam? Who is taking the bets, I bet its F16s and F18s. THe real question is, do I hope I am wrong!
India to buy 40 SU30 MRF s from Russia, at around $40 Million each that comes to a whopping $1.6 Billion dollar deal! Hope we get some discount!
And whats more, this is not a part of the "Mother of All deals!"
SU30: High capblity, heavy weight, MRF. MRFs are capable of multi roled missions, such as air supremacy, target destruction, patrolling, reconnaisance, and plain old carpet bombing.
Is this a primer to the acquisition of 126 MRFs from a US based company???????? First make ze Russians happy and then shake hands with Uncle sam? Who is taking the bets, I bet its F16s and F18s. THe real question is, do I hope I am wrong!
"The mother of all defence deals!"
I am referring of course to the planned acquisition of about 126 Multi Role Fighters by the good old IAF. The Aero-India show is in full swing, airplanes are floating around and so is the money. Its going to be a HUGE deal, think at least $17-20 Million for a lighter version and above $40Million for a heavy version of MRFs.
Add to that the planned acquisition of AWACS, Missile defence systems, UAV systems, and other assorted goodies, its going to be an early Christmas for defence contractors in Bang-a-lore!
The real question is of course, what should India buy. Should it be the awesomely maneuverable yet not so modernly equipped Mig 29s, or the impeccably cool and unnecessarily heavy Sukhoi 37s? Or maybe the battle proven and superbly equipped, but comparatively sluggish to handle F16s and F18s? Eurofighters, though shouting its head off to glory, is not yet battle proven. So unless we have an awesome deal on that, I dont think its going to happen. As for the other smaller players, there is the issue of Technology transfer and lifecycle cost.
We have been flying the Russian makes for a while now. They are good, reliable, super fast, agile, and extremely maneuverable aircraft. But at the same time, their avionics capabilities are a wee bit limited. That's not to say that putting excessive amount of computer screens displaying a helluva lot of info is the sure shot way of winning a dog fight, or even striking a bogey. But still, avionics go a long way in first strike missions. Awesome avionics capabilities should be on the radar of IAF anyway, if they want to survive in a net-centric battlefield.
The American makes are new to us, though rather sluggish compared to the Russian makes, they do come equipped with all sorts of gadgets that you could imagine. The most important part though, is that the avionics research in the US is a "very" current and active field. Being an IT based country, we sure want a piece of that pie. Under these circumstances scratching the self proclaimed Big Brother's back is not such a bad idea.
And Big Brother does need a back scratching, though bustling with economic prosperity in the defence sector, a deal of 126 Fighters could totally put the US defence industry in a vertical ascent mode. Not to say it will bring the fighter building arms of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and a host of other suppliers out of the red.
But the key to the whole deal is going to lie in the following set of words: "Technology Transfer". Who is willing to give us the licence to manufacture the fighters in India, and a guarantee that all spare parts will be available even in the event of war. Well, Big Brother is reluctant to jump on that bandwagon. US is secretive about its defence program, it does not like to give out plans, and definitely likes to keep the final card under its control. If they do give us the green of tech transf. it will be HISTORY! A new chapter for Indian Aerospace industry. Well face it, Russia is not doing that well, and US is pouring bucket loads of money through proper channels in India. Plus we already have the licences for the Russian makes. The only question that remains is: do we want to go ahead and grab the Americans at the cost of upsetting Russia?
One final though, maybe we could just stick with the Russian makes, pressure them into selling us complete tech rights, and develop our own avionics and mission systems suite??
But then again, the threat to the nation is not current,
Add to that the planned acquisition of AWACS, Missile defence systems, UAV systems, and other assorted goodies, its going to be an early Christmas for defence contractors in Bang-a-lore!
The real question is of course, what should India buy. Should it be the awesomely maneuverable yet not so modernly equipped Mig 29s, or the impeccably cool and unnecessarily heavy Sukhoi 37s? Or maybe the battle proven and superbly equipped, but comparatively sluggish to handle F16s and F18s? Eurofighters, though shouting its head off to glory, is not yet battle proven. So unless we have an awesome deal on that, I dont think its going to happen. As for the other smaller players, there is the issue of Technology transfer and lifecycle cost.
We have been flying the Russian makes for a while now. They are good, reliable, super fast, agile, and extremely maneuverable aircraft. But at the same time, their avionics capabilities are a wee bit limited. That's not to say that putting excessive amount of computer screens displaying a helluva lot of info is the sure shot way of winning a dog fight, or even striking a bogey. But still, avionics go a long way in first strike missions. Awesome avionics capabilities should be on the radar of IAF anyway, if they want to survive in a net-centric battlefield.
The American makes are new to us, though rather sluggish compared to the Russian makes, they do come equipped with all sorts of gadgets that you could imagine. The most important part though, is that the avionics research in the US is a "very" current and active field. Being an IT based country, we sure want a piece of that pie. Under these circumstances scratching the self proclaimed Big Brother's back is not such a bad idea.
And Big Brother does need a back scratching, though bustling with economic prosperity in the defence sector, a deal of 126 Fighters could totally put the US defence industry in a vertical ascent mode. Not to say it will bring the fighter building arms of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and a host of other suppliers out of the red.
But the key to the whole deal is going to lie in the following set of words: "Technology Transfer". Who is willing to give us the licence to manufacture the fighters in India, and a guarantee that all spare parts will be available even in the event of war. Well, Big Brother is reluctant to jump on that bandwagon. US is secretive about its defence program, it does not like to give out plans, and definitely likes to keep the final card under its control. If they do give us the green of tech transf. it will be HISTORY! A new chapter for Indian Aerospace industry. Well face it, Russia is not doing that well, and US is pouring bucket loads of money through proper channels in India. Plus we already have the licences for the Russian makes. The only question that remains is: do we want to go ahead and grab the Americans at the cost of upsetting Russia?
One final though, maybe we could just stick with the Russian makes, pressure them into selling us complete tech rights, and develop our own avionics and mission systems suite??
But then again, the threat to the nation is not current,
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
GURU
A great movie, hats off to Maniratnam and Rehmaan. The first score (Maiyya Maryem by Rehmaan is mind blowing. Though inspired from middle eastern (I think Turkish or Kurtish) folk music, the transition to Hindi and the mixing of the music is just impeccable, not to mention the awesome lyrics penned by none other than Gulzar. Although I was not that impressed by some of the other scores, except for ofcourse the Title score "Gurubhai". Shreya Ghosal's Barso re is refreshing too. The 'nandi' (music in the begining of a song which is repeated at regular intervals thereafter) of Ey Hairathe Aashiquee sets a nice tone to the movie.
The movie has nice pace, no unnecessary stops, except for that stupid song when Guru and his wife have kids. That song is an absolute waste of time. Aishwarya has tried her best to give a decent performance. It seems like she has even put on some weight just to look more Gujurati. But Abhishek on the other hand, surpasses all expectations. His last few movies have been excellent, I just hope he keeps it up! Madhavan and the babe from Lage Raho Munnabhai do a good job too.
But the real winner is MITHUN, I couldn't even recognize him for the first few minutes, and that is the mark of an masterfull performance, on the screen he is just Manik Dasgupta, not Mithun!
Well, what did I take from the movie? Inspiration, confidence, and hope. And thats just what the director wanted to portray, and boy he does it with perfection. Goosebumps are commonplace. I am not going to discuss the plot and all that here, because I think the way the movie unfolds is close to perfect. Despite the declaration at the begining of the movie that this movie is not based on any real characters, the movie is definatley inspired from the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
The movie starts with around 3 minutes of gratifications to all corporate sponsors, a lot of succesful companies in that list. Well why do I think that is worth a mention, because this movie is about Business, and it means Buisness right from the start!
I am definatley recommending this movie! Its an absolute masterpiece!
The movie has nice pace, no unnecessary stops, except for that stupid song when Guru and his wife have kids. That song is an absolute waste of time. Aishwarya has tried her best to give a decent performance. It seems like she has even put on some weight just to look more Gujurati. But Abhishek on the other hand, surpasses all expectations. His last few movies have been excellent, I just hope he keeps it up! Madhavan and the babe from Lage Raho Munnabhai do a good job too.
But the real winner is MITHUN, I couldn't even recognize him for the first few minutes, and that is the mark of an masterfull performance, on the screen he is just Manik Dasgupta, not Mithun!
Well, what did I take from the movie? Inspiration, confidence, and hope. And thats just what the director wanted to portray, and boy he does it with perfection. Goosebumps are commonplace. I am not going to discuss the plot and all that here, because I think the way the movie unfolds is close to perfect. Despite the declaration at the begining of the movie that this movie is not based on any real characters, the movie is definatley inspired from the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
The movie starts with around 3 minutes of gratifications to all corporate sponsors, a lot of succesful companies in that list. Well why do I think that is worth a mention, because this movie is about Business, and it means Buisness right from the start!
I am definatley recommending this movie! Its an absolute masterpiece!
The return of the Blogger
Hey everyone,
I am back to blogging. These last few months have been very taxing, and I have been extremly busy with the transition from DLR to Georgia Tech. For those of you who dont know, I have now moved to Atlanta US, for pursuing a PhD in Aerospace engineering at Georgia tech.
Well, what can I say, Georgia Tech is a hard school, there is a lot of work and the expectations are rather high. Combine that with my inceasent tendency to inertness and you have my excuse for not blogging for the last 3-4 months.
Well, anyway I am back now, and hopefully back with a bang!
Cheers!
I am back to blogging. These last few months have been very taxing, and I have been extremly busy with the transition from DLR to Georgia Tech. For those of you who dont know, I have now moved to Atlanta US, for pursuing a PhD in Aerospace engineering at Georgia tech.
Well, what can I say, Georgia Tech is a hard school, there is a lot of work and the expectations are rather high. Combine that with my inceasent tendency to inertness and you have my excuse for not blogging for the last 3-4 months.
Well, anyway I am back now, and hopefully back with a bang!
Cheers!
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