• Innovator Does it Again
• Army Women Conquer Mt. Everest
• Gurgaon to Host World's Largest Mall
• First Woman Vice-Admiral Takes Over
• Ownership of Car to Double by 2009-10
• First CNG Train Chugs Out
• This Indian Helps Google to Thrive
• Yoga Popular, Ayurveda Gaining Ground
• India's First Aircraft Showroom in Bangalore
• India Rocks The World With Aloo Tikki Burger

• In Kota, IIT Dream is an Industry
• A Dream Can Galvanize a Nation
• 3 Indian Sites on World Fragile Monument List
• Is it Worth Investing in Indian Art?
• Chennai Hospital Cures Pak Girl
• 92 Indian Women Among Nobel Nominees
• Lord Swaraj Paul is 6th Richest Asian in Britain
• Indian-Origin Girl to Take Part in Global Young Leaders Meet
• NRI Boy Crowned Spelling Champ

Talwandi, Vigyan Nagar and Jawahar Nagar aren't names that roll off people's tongues when they discuss the IT boom and global software trades. Nor would most people have heard of Bansal's Classes. But there's a high chance many students in IITs and premier engineering colleges will tell you exactly where in the dusty Rajasthan town of Kota these neighbourhoods are located. Welcome to coaching city. Once Rajasthan's biggest industrial hub, Kota is now churning out the highest number of IITians in the country; the institutes claim a third of the nearly 5,000 students who crack JEE are groomed in Kota. No one is sure what the magic is but everybody swears it's the best bet to an engineering degree and a passport to prosperity. And no one is sure when and how Kota transformed from a city caught in the gloom of a declining economy in the late '70s to an education hub. V K Bansal, an engineer who quit work after developing a physical handicap, claims it became a boon when he opened the first coaching centre in Kota in 1983. To his surprise, the first batch from Bansal Classes came out with flying colours in the IIT-JEE entrance exam.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 28, 2005

Back to Index

Unmindful of lack of encouragement and recognition, Tadepally Rammohan, a native of Anantapur, continues his quest for creativity in English. He recently added `Juxtnary' to his list of creative work in the global language. "Juxtnary is a dictionary of juxtagrams," says Mr. Rammohan. Again, juxtagram is one of his creations. Juxtagram is a meaningful word, which is found by placing first and last two letters of a word. Ex: Avoid - Avid; Bible - Bile; Chief - Chef and Digital - Dial. In all, his Juxtnary has 141juxtagrams created by him. Apart from Juxtnary, Mr. Rammohan has to his credit four new sentences, 10 new words and a figure of speech. "There have been compilers and editors of dictionaries, but no creators. This way, my work is unique," he claims. In response to a copy of Juxtnary sent to Harper Collins, the senior lexicographer of the publishing company, Elspeth Summers, wrote: "Juxtnary certainly is an interesting concept, but fails to fit in the profile of books we publish." Oxford University Press, Chambers Harrap and Who's Who responded saying that they cannot publish the works of Mr. Rammohan at this time. However, he is hopeful that his creativity would be recognised one day. An employee of Provident Fund office at Cuddapah, Mr. Rammohan started his creative journey 15 years ago by penning a 300-word sentence without a verb or an auxiliary on the Washington summit and on the former US President, Bill Clinton, later. Anagrammatical, acronymical and anglus mathematical sentences followed later. An anagram is a meaningful word found by changing letters of a word in a different order, an acronym is a meaningful word formed with the first letters of a group of words and anglus mathematical sentence is formation of nine words into a sentence with one to nine letters each in the ascending order. While homoverbum, a figure of speech, explains qualities of a subject with two similar words in a sentence, sharadium is a word containing more than two words in it (ex: Fortune - for, or, fort and tune). Triagram is a meaningful word formed with first two and last one letter of a word (ex: Water - war). Justitude, nop, denius, foxdom, fooldom, Englsom and Engldom are other words created by him.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 27, 2005

Back to Index

At Hindustan Zinc, after its disinvestments just three years ago, we dreamed of building the world's largest zinc smelter of its kind. We dreamed of it being the fastest commissioned project in the world. We dreamed of engineering a marvel that would make India self-sufficient in zinc and place us firmly on the world's metal and mining map. Today, we have made our dreams come true with our new zinc smelter at Chanderiya in Rajasthan. It is the same spirit that surges through Vedanta Resources, our parent company. The belief that dreams can inspire, empower and galvanise a nation.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 27, 2005

Back to Index

They are women made of steel, trying to carve out their own paths in life. On June 2, four Indian Army women, including two NCC cadets, made history by scaling Mt. Everest, facing bitter temperatures and strong winds on the way. However, the biggest hardships they faced were internal, as each one struggled to keep mental focus, emotional perspective, and physical well-being in the face of nearly unyielding stress, said the young women mountaineers. No wonder that of the team, comprising nine women and 18 men officers, only four women and five men could make to the top at 2,9035 ft height. "More than the physical strength we were relying on our mental alertness," Ms Dechen Lhamo, a Karate champion revealed the secret of making her dream come true in her maiden attempt. The Class 11 pass Dechen, who hails from Nepal, weighs only 40 kgs. Ditto with NCC cadet Tsering Ladol who is the junior most and youngest member of the team. "Besides, hailing from hills, we enjoyed edge on others as far as adaptability to harsh weather was considered," both Ladakhi girls said. Lt. Gen. Bhopinder Singh, director general of military training said: "The achievement of this expedition is unique and unparalleled in the whole world. For the record, they are the first women members belonging to the Army of any nation, who have summitted the highest mountain of the world in a maiden attempt." Now basking in the glory of achievement which very few have been able to accomplish, these strong-minded women dream of another attempt to scale the highest mountain in the world.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, June 25, 2005

Back to Index

Four Indian sites of key historical and cultural importance have been included in the list of '100 most endangered sites-2006' of the World Monuments Fund (WMF). Of the four sites - Dhangkar Gompa in Himachal Pradesh, Guru Lhakhang and Sumda Chung temples in Ladakh, Dalhousie Square in Kolkata and Watson's Hotel in Mumbai - Dalhousie Square has for the second consecutive time found mention in the list. In a conversation with The Indian Express over the phone from New York, WMF technical director Mark Webber said: ''Watson's Hotel in Mumbai - also known as Esplanade Mansion - is the oldest cast iron building in India and we hope its listing (supported by the Kala Ghoda Art District) will spark interest in its restoration.'' Named after the original owner, John Watson, Watson's Hotel was fabricated in England and erected onsite between 1867-69. ''Mumbai's Urban Design Research Institute and the Kala Ghoda Association conducted a feasibility study in 2001 for its restoration. They propose to work with the current owner on the restoration project.'' Kolkata's Dalhousie Square, once the epicentre of British colonial power and trade - named in honour of James, Marquis of Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856 - has been relisted this year. Now, with the help of WMF, the West Bengal government plans to draw out a conservation masterplan for the entire Dalhousie zone. ''For Dhangkar Gompa, the monastery itself was the listing applicant. There are structural problems with the foundation and buttress system of the structure and there is an urgent need to develop a conservation plan in association with the Dhangkar monastic community,'' said Webber. ''The Namgyal Institute for Research on Ladakhi Art and Culture referred the Guru Lhakhang and Sumda Chung temples to WMF. Built essentially of mud bricks and timber, climate change has posed the primary threat to these temples. We are keen on working out a restoration plan,'' Webber stated. ''I plan to be in India soon and hope to work on these and other projects with the stakeholders.''

Courtesy: The Indian Express, June 24, 2005

Back to Index

Gurgaon is set to get the mother of all malls - a humungous 40-lakh sq ft sprawling property that is being touted by its developer DLF Universal as the biggest mall of the world. The average size of malls here is 2.5 lakh sq ft; this will be 16 times bigger. The mall -- christened Mall of India -- will be spread over 32 acres and will have parking space for 10,000 cars. These ambitious plans have been drawn up at a time when footfalls are down at Gurgaon malls and rental rates have virtually halved. But DLF is unfazed. It says Gurgaon with so many malls will soon develop as a mega shopping district in the NCR region.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 22, 2005

Back to Index

In the Saffronart summer online auction that closed on May 12, FN Souza's "The Remark", which was expected to fetch Rs 32.25 lakh ($75,000) at most, actually sold for no less than Rs 65.75 lakh ($152,900) Tyeb Mehta's "Kali" that was on the cover of the catalogue and was expected to fetch Rs 47.30 lakh ($110000) actually sold for over Rs 1 crore ($236,500). But what was really surprising was the number of young artists who crossed the Rs 10-lakh mark. Jitish Kallat's "Acid Drop" that was expected to sell at around Rs 6 lakh ($14,000) actually sold for Rs 10.88 lakh ($ 25,300). Jagannath Panda's "City Breeds" that was slated to sell at Rs 2.75 lakh ($6,400) actually netted Rs 11.82 lakh ($27,500), Shibu Natesan's, "A Marriage Scene" was expected to fetch Rs 9.50 lakh ($22,100) at most, but was sold for Rs 11.2 lakh ($ 25,952). Subodh Gupta's "Round the Corner" that was expected to fetch Rs 5 lakh ($ 11,630) at most went for Rs 10 lakh ($23,320). The Indian art market is showing an unprecedented boom. A few day's back, one of the world's top auction houses, Christie's announced its intention to re-enter the Indian art market after three years. It has also been reported that it's rival auction house Sotheby's is also entering into Indian art market through its partnership with a Mumbai gallery. What do these rising prices in Indian art industry convey to a potential investor?

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 21, 2005

Back to Index

Punita Arora, on Monday took over as the first woman Vice-Admiral in the Navy. Seconded from the Army where she holds the equivalent rank of Lt. General, she has taken over as Director- General of Medical Services, in the rank of Surgeon Vice-Admiral. She was earlier the commandant of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. A gynaecologist, Vice-Admiral Arora was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in 1968. She has held many prestigious appointments, including head of the department of obstetrics & gynaecology at AFMC and commandant of the military hospital in Jammu and Kashmir.She has been awarded the Sena Medal, Vishist Seva Medal and the Chief of the Army Staff commendation.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 21, 2005

Back to Index

Pakistani teenager Karran Bari was born a blue baby but thanks to a hospital here she can now lead a normal life. "The risk was high as this would be the third surgery on her heart but she has responded very well," said Mr K.M. Cherian, at whose hospital the operation was performed. In medical parlance, a blue baby is one born with a heart problem that prevents the blood from getting enough oxygen. Thus, for 13 years, Karran, a beautiful and smiling class eight student at St. Paul's English High School in Karachi, has been unable to walk long distances, climb or run. "Now I am fine," she told reporters here, a week after she was operated on. On June 13, doctors performed a seven-hour complex open-heart correction for the pulmonary artery and the heart-lung connections. Leakage in one heart valve was stopped, another heart valve was replaced and a blood vessel on the left of the lung was widened. "She has been an exceptionally brave girl," said Dr Prem Sekar, one of the paediatric cardiologists taking care of Karran. She will be closely monitored for the next six weeks and should be as healthy as any other 13-year-old in six months' time, the doctors said. Born to a Filipino mother and a Pakistani father, Karran was first operated on in Bahrain in 1992, when she was just eight months old, her mother Zahra said.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, June 21, 2005

Back to Index

The rapid rise in the country's middle and upper income classes, more than overall GDP growth per se, is likely to lead to a dramatic hike in the demand for big-ticket items like motorcycles, refrigerators and cars/jeeps, according to the National Council of Applied Economic Research's (NCAER's) latest report, "The Great Indian Market". The report is based on an extensive all-India survey of over 300,000 households and contains projections till the end of the decade. As a result, the number of households owning cars will more than double from around 4 per cent right now to over 9 per cent by the end of the decade, that for scooters will remain stagnant at around 8 per cent, will double for motorcycles to over 28 per cent. In terms of demand, this will mean demand for cars/jeeps will easily cross the 3 million mark, motorcycles will nearly touch the 8.5 million mark and regular sized colour TVs the 10 million mark. Demand for all automotive categories, which grew by under 10 per cent between 1995-96 and 2001-02 will grow by 1.5 times this between 2005-06 and 2009-10 while growth in demand for TV sets of all types will more double, from 4.6 per cent to 9.7 per cent annually in the same period. Demand for white goods like refrigerators and washing machines will rise less dramatically. For consumables like soaps and shampoos, however, demand growth is expected to taper off - in the case of shampoos, this will fall from around 21 per cent in the 1995-96 to 2001-02 period to around 11 per cent annually between now and the end of the decade. Much of the increased demand, according to Dr Sanjay Dwivedi, a key member of the team that worked on the project, is not so much demand from existing households in various income groups as it is the one emanating from the migration of households into upper income groups. NCAER's sample shows, for instance, that just two per cent of those with a family income of less than Rs 90,000 per annum owned a motorcycle in 2001-02. In the income group above this, that is those earning between Rs 90,000 and Rs 2 lakh a year, the number owning motorcycles is as high as 15 per cent. And in the Rs 2-5 lakh income earning households, around 29 per cent owned motorcycles. The same is true of most other categories. Naturally, then, as families move up the income ladder, their consumption habits change dramatically, giving rise to a more than expected (based on the usual GDP growth figures, that is) surge in demand. NCAER has earlier forecast that, even if India's GDP grows by around 6.75 per cent per annum till the end of the decade, the income demographics will become unrecognizable. In 1995-96, 80 per cent of Indian families earned less than Rs 90,000 per annum, this fell to 72 per cent in 2001-02 and will further fall to 51 per cent by the end of the decade. Just three per cent of families earned between Rs 2-10 lakh in 1995-96, this doubled by 2001-02 and is forecast to rise to 13 per cent by the end of the decade. Those earning over Rs 10 lakh, around 0.2 per cent of the population in 2001-02, will rise to 1.7 per cent by the end of the decade.

Courtesy: Business Standard: June 20, 2005

Back to Index

Ninety-two Indian women, who work at the grassroots level for justice, rights and good governance, are among a group of 1,000 women from around the world nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The Indian nominees include those who have been fighting for justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy and a young woman from the North-East who has been on hunger strike for several years to protest draconian laws. There are 16 women from neighbouring Bangladesh, 9 from Nepal, 12 from Sri Lanka and 29 from Pakistan, according to Kamla Bhasin of the South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers. ``We officially submitted names of 1,000 selected women from across the world to the Nobel Committee in Oslo in February 25 to be given the Nobel Peace Prize collectively, because women's peace work has not been recognised, valued and celebrated,'' said Ms. Bhasin, coordinator of the association in South Asia.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 18, 2005

Back to Index

And now a CNG train in the Capital. The first of its kind in the world, the Northern Railways (NR) has put on rails a DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) engine being run on environment friendly fuel Compressed Natural Gas. A railway source said as of now, a four-compartment DMU was being run on a trial basis within the confines of Capital. The prototype CNG railway engine was developed in the Shakurbasti Railway Locoshed and to promote the environment friendly engine, Indrapratha Gas Ltd provided CNG for the engine free of cost during its trial. "The CNG DMU can be used only within the limits of metropolitan sub-urbans like Delhi and Mumbai where the fuel can be easily accessible. NR is venturing to use the CNG DMU in NCR region where there is no electrification," said the official. The engineers of Indian railways are trying their best to develop the main engine which would be able to pull 12 coaches in future making India the first to run a CNG train. The NR had even made attempts to develop the CNG DMU last year but it could not prove its worth. However, the successful trial run started last month when it was brought on Open Line after rectifying the technical glitches. Technically, the CNG engine was re-modelled in an existing DMU engine making it functional using both the fuel. The prototype engine at present is using CNG and Diesel in the ratio of 50:50 but later it would be converted to 70:30. With the use of CNG as a fuel the railway expects to save crores of rupees. The cost of CNG which is Rs 16 a Kg is about half the rate as compared to diesel which is approximately Rs 30 per litre. The railways purchase about 200 crore litres of diesel annually each at a cost of about Rs 5,000 crore.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, June 16, 2005

Back to Index

NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul is the sixth richest Asian in Britain with a wealth worth 275 million pounds, according to a new list. Caparo Group, founded by Lord Paul has had an exceptional year, according to Success 2005, a new business magazine which listed him as the sixth richest Asian in Britain. ''Lord Paul, an innately modest man who does not flaunt his wealth, shows how barriers can be broken and is an example of how to reach the top of the establishment,'' it said. Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of Mittal Steel who is worth 14.8 billion pounds, has been left out of the list which is headed by Mike Jatania and family who are in cosmetics and beauty products. They are worth 600 million pounds. Vijay and Bhikhu Patel, who are into pharmaceuticals, are listed as second with a wealth worth 450 million pounds. The third richest Asian in Britain, according to the list, is Gulu Lalvani with assets worth 400 million pounds. Sir Gulam Noon, MBE, founder of the Indian take-away Noon products, is the 16th richest Asian worth 100 million pounds. Kartar Lalvani, founder of Britain's first specialist vitamin supplement company vitabiotics is the 39th richest Asian with assets worth 50 million pounds.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, June 11, 2005

Back to Index

In January 1998, Larry Page's Stanford dorm room used to double up as Google's data centre and Sergey Brin's room served as the business office. It so happened that Ram Shriram, a 20-year Silicon Valley veteran and Netscape's sales honcho were visiting the Stanford campus, and legendary professor Jeff Ullman suggested he check the young duo's doctoral project. Shriram conducted what he calls "a blind taste test" and was favourably impressed. However, he didn't bother to look beyond that until the Google duo called him back later in September. Brin and Page by then were planning to move to a larger office - a Menlo Park garage, to be precise - and Google was already attracting 10,000 search queries a day. Shriram decided to throw his weight behind the duo and invested in it. Shriram says, "I didn't have a premonition of things to come. I didn't know about the business model, but realised that it was so much better for the consumer in searching the web and that's often the first sign of success." Success can be pretty much of a crap-shoot, where luck plays a fair role. As an investor there are way too many unknown facts in a company's early life to make all the right decisions. And it's there that the character of the entrepreneurs comes under the microscope. The Google duo, he says, "We are obviously intelligent, smart young men, but more importantly were committed, passionate people and had a very long-term view." He would go on to invest an estimated $1.2 million, cornering 5.1 million shares in Google. At presstime, the nine-month-old listed stock of Google was trading at $286 a piece. You do the math. Sherpalo - sherpa from Palo Alto - and has invested in another dozen start-ups like Friendster, Plaxo, 24/7 Customer and Elance, handholding them to climb the peak of the business world - Mt Nasdaq. He, however, doesn't like to be characterised as a venture capitalist or an angel investor; he prefers calling himself a 'mentor capitalist'. During the early 1990s, Shriram was among the first sales executives at Netscape and is credited for producing well over half of Netscape's 1996 annual revenue of $346 million. Later he joined Junglee as president and moved on to sell the company and join Amazon as head business development.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 10, 2005

Back to Index

Dubai-based Indian girl Sumaiyya Shersad has been selected to participate in the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) to be held from June 12 to 23 in the US. Shershad will be among 400 outstanding students from all over the world participating in the conference to be held in Washington and New York, according to a release from the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC), which sponsors the meet. The conference is a unique leadership development programme for secondary school students from around the world who have demonstrated leadership potential and scholastic merit. At the global meet, whose theme is 'The Leaders of Tomorrow Preparing for the Global Challenges and Responsibilities of the Future', Shershad, who is the granddaughter of Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed, will interact with key leaders and newsmakers with powerful influence over politics, finance, culture and diplomacy. The programme will have a carefully designed curriculum, which includes thought-provoking simulations that build leadership skills. GYLC culminates with global summit in which students apply what they have learned throughout the conference as they debate, negotiate and build coalitions dealing with issues such as foreign aid, global warming, cooperative efforts in space, terrorism and human rights.

Courtesy: Hindustan Time, June 09, 2005

Back to Index

Indian American Anurag Kashyap, from Poway, California, has won the 78th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee competition. Anurag, 13, bagged the prize by spelling correctly the word "Appoggiatura" (which means short note placed before a longer one). Interestingly, he had never used the musical word before he cracked it to land on top of the spelling world in Washington on Thursday. Another Indian American, Samir Sudhir Patel, 11, from Texas, had to settle for a tie for second place. He was the youngest of all in the final excruciating rounds and lost the championship when he misspelled "roscian." Anurag, who has competed in spelling bees since he was in the fourth grade, has also participated in state-level Math counts, Science Olympiad competitions and California Geographic Bee. This was his second attempt at this competition after he tied for 47th place in the 2004 national finals. A composed Anurag literally cruised through the toughest words. Apart from the word that clinched the title, he correctly spelt cabochon, Priscilla, oligopsony, sphygmomanometer, prosciutto, rideau, pompier, terete, tristachyous, schefflera, ornithorhynchous, agio, agnolotti, peccavi, ceraunograph, exsiccosis and hodiernal. "But it was not so easy", he said while receiving his trophy. Lost for words, he could just say," it is just amazing". His second time here prepared him well for the bee and he had resolved to "study harder and win it" Anurag will take home $22,000 in cash, a $5,000 college scholarship, books and a $1,000 savings bond.

Courtesy: The Times Of India, June 04, 2005

Back to Index

As a by-product of Yoga becoming highly popular across the United States of America, Ayurveda too seems to be slowly but firmly gaining ground. What could be the best testimony to this than the mere fact that nearly 80 people would be attending a three-day comprehensive seminar-cum-workshop on this Indian system of medicine from June 3 at the City of Orange, some 32 miles south east of Los Angeles. "A few years ago, we could not have thought of having such a large number of people registering for an introductory three-day course on Ayurveda. But now this is a reality," Vandana Tilak, an Ayurveda practitioner in California told HindustanTimes.com. She is organising the event. Attributing this sudden increasing popularity of Ayurveda, she said: "The entire credit goes to Yoga. It has become so popular that Yoga is now visible in nook and corner of this country. As a result, people now have now become more curious about Ayurveda. Many of them have even started taking it as an alternative or supplementary to the main system." Among the participants at the three-day conference include physicians, yoga instructors, therapist, masseurs and even quite a few health conscious people, who want to give it a try, she claimed. Classes would be taken by Vasant Lad, who came to the U.S. way back in 1984 as founder director of Ayurveda Institute in New Mexico.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 04, 2005

Back to Index

American company Indus Aviation has launched its aviation complex, promoted as India's first ever aircraft showroom, here and plans to manufacture light aircraft in India at "highly competitive costs" for export to the US and other countries as well as for use in India. Indus will also facilitate the acquisition of personaland business aircraft, aero engines, avionics and other aviation parts and materials, and maintenance and support of small aircraft flying in India, the company said in its website. Indus was started in 1994 by Ram Pattisapu, managing director, who was born in India and immigrated to the USA with his family at the age of 13. He is a US citizen, having lived there for over 35 years. The business plan for Indus involves the manufacture of light (two and four passenger) aircraft for flight training and personal use at "extremely competitive prices", it said. "We aim to become the leading manufacturer of light aircraft for personal use and training worldwide," the company said. It said Indus has formed a strong working partnership with Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd (Taal), a private sector manufacturer of aviation products and aircraft in India. While the manufacturing plant for parts and sub-assemblies for Indus are located within the facilities of Taal, the final assembly of aircraft for markets outside India are accomplished in Indus' 11,000 square foot hangar facility at the Dallas executive airport in the US, it said.

Courtesy: The Financial Express: June 01, 2005

Back to Index

Across the continents of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, a new label is quietly making its presence felt in shops. The label is 'Made in India', sported by various products across categories. Of course, the tag has been making global waves for a decade or so, with information technology, BPO and even Indian companies featuring in the elite group of Fortune 500. But the difference, in this case, is that the label is on products developed by Indian subsidiaries of MNCs, which have been rolled out across markets. Not impressive enough? Here's the clincher. They are products, customised for India, which now have markets across the world. It's the R&D and innovation prowess of the Indian operations, which is enabling these companies to shift the scales of the localisation-globalisation balance.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 01, 2005

Back to Index