www.BPODigest.com i-Vortal

Hate Mail

Today I received a hate mail, in telugu languge. That mail has really strong filthy language related to racial/color/caste/creed discrimination. I was shocked to see that kind of mail. I don't know what to do, whether to reply or not. If I reply, its like I am acknowledging a person who has a petty mind. So, I just ignored it and marked it as spam. Later I went into deep thought. Its really sad to see, what ever you achieve in your life, there are people who discriminate against you and treat you badly. Then actually I started contemplating on my own thought process, behaviour .......

www.canaca.com

Check this out: Canaca-com Inc, 10 gig space and 40 gig bandwidth, this is awesome deal. Can't get any better. I am not a reseller, just though it will help you guys. I am gonna shift here next time.

7 Steps to become a millionaire

Check this out: Knowledge.ppt - The Economic Times

http://www.indiateam.org

A person living away from his country almost always wants to contribute a part of his success in life for the development of the society where he was born and had lived till he moved to new pastures. It is this urge that motivated Karthikeyan Eswaramoorthy, native of Erode in Tamil Nadu, who works as a software engineer in California to launch TEAM.
Acronym for Team for Educational Activities in Motherland, TEAM was launched in 2000 by a group of NRIs who had assembled in California along with Karthikeyan to think of ways in which they could help India. They decided that they could help the society better by providing basic amenities to poor elementary schools, especially in rural India.

TEAM's vision is to lift society by education. Lack of basic amenities hinders education in several Government schools in India. There are no benches, desks or even blackboards in many of these schools. TEAM’s effort is to reach out to these schools to make their study environment better and thus to encourage the children.

Each TEAM member contributes $10 every month. The members then select the schools where they want to execute the project. Every quarter, a few members are selected by lots to be coordinators to execute projects of their choice. Each project receives $500 from the TEAM. The member usually chooses a school with the help of relatives and friends who live in India. The person in India interacts with the headmaster to assess the needs of the school and implements the project based on the funds allotted.

TEAM members believe that providing basic facilities to schools motivates the local people.

“It encourages more parents to send their kids to schools. This will increase the literacy percent and decrease the number of school drop-outs. TEAM has triggered a wave creating awareness about education. The ripples caused by the wave will definitely raise the educational standards of students, ” TEAM members say.

TEAM has executed projects in over 200 schools in India. Most of these schools are in rural Tamil Nadu. Efforts are on to strengthen TEAM’s activities in other parts of the country. TEAM has over 900 members with chapters in the Bay Area, Chicago, and in India. Discussions have been initiated to launch chapters in Brunei, Singapore and Australia. More members, more projects is TEAM's logic.

The India chapter of the TEAM consists mostly of members who have returned from the US. Indian members implement projects in places where there is no relatives or friends to undertake them.

TEAM extends its service to the community also in addition to helping the schools. It wants to set up community centres in hamlets where villagers can access information about agriculture, children can play and make use of the library and where periodic medical camps are conducted. For this purpose, TEAM recently launched the Friends of TEAM at Palladam and Periyapudur in Tamil Nadu.

For more details about TEAM, contact Karthikeyan E at 2000 Walnut Avenue,#T-303, Fremont, CA-94538
Phone: 408-239-3504 / 510-818-0433
Email: team-quest@yahoogroups.com
Web site: http://www.indiateam.org
Source: A team for motherland - Sify.com

One Year Of Blogging

Its been one year I have been blogging @ www.ramdhanyk.com. Started posting on this blog on 29 August 2003 and my initial postings are here. This one year was a huge experience and a vast impact on me as a person. The most important things that happened in this one year.

1. Vast reading - I have never done so much reading in a single year until last year, I guess this reading will keep growing.
   
2. New Connections - I started talking/visiting/doing business with people who I would have never imagined or dreamed of meeting them. It helped me to meet some of my long time school buddies, make a lot of new friends.
   
3. Writing - Through out my life I have been thinking about writing some stuff, but I had a complex that I have poor english, but after I started blogging, writing has become such an integral part of my life, its a lot fun now. Actually one of my writings Advice To Call Center Reps fired discussions arround the topic and culminated as BPODigest.com just a couple of days ago.
   
4. Failures - Failure is not new to me, I falied in so many areas in my life lot of times, but I failed to honor a few promises that I made to the people and failed in delivering deals that I got in this year, and these failures are real big ones. I need to learn from these failures and try to do better next time.
   

Champions don't make a fuss, not when they win, not when they lose.

``Say sorry to everybody'', she said. No, we won't Anju. No we won't. Anju Bobby George owes India no apologies.

On a night of magic but not quite miracles, Anju broke her own Indian long jump record by a massive nine cm, jumped to 6.83 m and to sixth place in the Olympic Games here on Friday. It wasn't enough to get her a medal, the top honour going to Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia (7.07 m).

Yet at the end of the emotionally draining, psychologically sapping six-attempt contest, you wanted to drape the national flag around Anju _ our Anju. She had competed with the world's best, crossed a distance that was way greater than the 6.71 m she jumped to win the bronze at the World Championship in 2003.

She also did what few Indian athletes do, especially after setting a new national mark. She refused to look satisfied. In fact, Anju looked positively upset after her fourth and fifth jumps (6.68 m and 6.61 m). It was not the face of a defeated woman _ it was the look of a fighter who knew she’d been beaten; this time. ``My fourth and fifth jumps'', she explained, ``are usually my best. I don't know what happened today.''

The women's javelin and men's pole vault, the men's 100m relay here and the women's 10,000m race there. The second last evening of track and field competition at the Olympic Stadium was a busy, breathtaking, ``blink and you spot the star'' phenomenon.

Amid cheering crowds _ cheering mostly for the Greek relay teams or track athletes _ the long jumpers had to shut themselves out from the commentators, the spectators, the blinding lights and, in Anju's case, the pressure of a billion hopes. They had to focus on that one narrow pit, that thin red line they couldn't breach.

They coped in different ways. Russia's Irina Simagina, who won the silver, was almost panther-like in her initial posture. Lebedeva began her move hands flailing, almost throwing karate chops to her right and left. Sweden's blonde bombshell Carolina Kluft _ who'd won the heptathlon gold a few evenings ago _ shouted at herself, clapped her hands above her, then thrashed them down to slap her thighs _ and just flew.

Anju was not demonstrative, just prim and taut, almost as if it were so matter of fact. Even after that final jump was called a foul _ she had crossed the red line by a micro-metre _ there were no hysterics, no histrionics. Champions don't make a fuss, not when they win, not when they lose.

It was a crazy night for Indian sport, really, and a particularly satisfying one for its women. With K M Beenamol running an excellent second leg and Manjeet Kaur _ ``the Flying Sikhni'', as someone labelled her _ coming up with a ferocious anchor run, the Indian 4x400 m relay team entered the final, third in its heat, in sixth place overall.

The quartet's timing, 3 minutes, 26.89 seconds, was three seconds off first qualifier Russia _ but it too was a new Indian record.

It was drama every minute at the Olympic Stadium. Maurice Greene took the United States to a rasping 38.02 second finish in the 4x100 m relay qualifiers. Liu Xiang came from nowhere to equal the 110 m hurdles Olympic record and give China yet another gold medal.

For the handful of Indians spectators at the stadium, all this may not have happened at all. The Sprinting Sorority and the Lady of the Leap made their night.

Thank you ladies, thank you Anju. Whatever happens, India will always love you.

Source: Newindpress.com - Olympics 2004

Anju we always love you!

Anjus New National record - not enough to win medal

Anju Bobby George leaped to a new national mark, which was not enough to land her a medal in the women's long jump event at the Olympic Stadium here on Friday, while the national women's 4 x 400m relay team surprised everyone to make it to Saturday's title round.

The 27-year-old Anju, with the whole country's fervently praying for a podium finish, had a flying start in the long jump final with a leap of 6.83m, thus bettering her own national mark by a whopping 9 cm.

However, the Customs officer appeared tense and the pressure of expectations seemed to have weighed down her as she gradually slid down the perch and hit a low of 6.61m in her fifth try before fouling her sixth and final attempt to go out of medal contention with a sixth place finish.

Anju, ranked sixth in the world, did her best to become the first Indian medallist in athletics, but her try was not good enough.

Even as the long jump event was in progress, the women's 4x400m relay squad of Rajwinder Kaur, K M Beenamol, Chitra K Soman and national one-lap record holder Manjit Kaur dipped under the Indian mark to storm into the final by finishing third in their semi-final heat.

Source: Anju crashes out, relay team rally hopes - The Times of India

Anju Qualifies - go Anju go....

To most of us No 13 would be extremely unlucky. But not for Anju George. Listed to jump at that inauspicious digit in Group A, Anju strode down the runway and landed at 6.69 metres and qualify for the long jump final to be held on Friday (8.05 pm IST).

For many who have followed Anju's career over the years, their heartbeats registered a faster pace. But when the judges raised the all-clear white flag it came back to normal. She's had a history of invalid first jumps and in recent times it has only worsened. To clear the first jump and qualify too was killing two birds with one stone.

"That was the target," she said. "I wanted to qualify with the first jump itself. It helps the confidence." A tense Bobby George, her husband and coach, in the stands next to the pit, relaxed and left the place with a smile.

Anju, in the same India vest with which she won the gold at the Busan Asian Games, appeared relaxed and calm after the jump. Four other jumpers - Russians Irina Simagina, Tatyana Lebedeva, Tatyana Kotova and Swede Caterina Kluft qualified with their first jumps. They were allowed to leave the arena even as the remaining 34 were attempting to cross the modest qualification mark of 6.65 metres.

Source: No 13 proved lucky for Anju - The Times of India

How to think like an IT CEO

Ashok Narasimhan has a skeleton in the deep recesses of his cupboard. He was the founder-president of Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems .

And that’s not all. His cupboard is full of the spirits of the companies he created and left behind, the last of which was a young start-up called Prio Inc, which he sold for $1 billion.

He spent a year “goofing around” after that, but now he’s shocked his friends and family by co-founding another venture called July Systems, which might very well go the way the others went by June.

“I have a need to be challenged,” he says, “I like problems that are tough and risky. I would be bored running Wipro today.”

Deep inside a basement in Delhi’s Navjeevan Vihar, Jeyadev Parthasarathy has a glint in his eye as he ticks off the names of the companies he’s had in the past — Links Computers, Valueline Interiors, Blue Chip Technologies .

Read complete article @ How to think like an IT CEO - The Economic Times

Press Coverage

The following papers covered the launch of www.bpodigest.com

Hindu - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/08/27/stories/2004082701430700.htm View image

Business Standard - http://www.business-standard.com/bsonline/storypage.php?&autono=165391

Rediff - http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/27bpo.htm

Telugu Papers

Eenadu - http://www.eenadu.net/buisnesshead.asp?myqry=9&reccount=13View image

Vaarthaa - View image

Andhra Jyothi - http://www.andhrajyothy.com/busishow.asp?qry=/2004/aug/26business5
View image

Tamil:

Dinamalar - http://www.dinamalar.com/2004aug30/flash.asp View image

BPODigest Launched by Chief Minister

BPODigest is getting launched today by Hon. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy today. This portal is developed with inspiration of Living in India or Living on the planet foundation, to cater to the outsourcing segment. This site is trying to fill the need of community bogging in outsourcing space.

What not to say to Recruiter

Check out what not to say to your recruiter @ Knowledge.ppt - The Economic Times

Do top execs love their jobs

Find out @ Knowledge.ppt - The Economic Times

Go Anju Go..........

As the hopes of the nation rests on ace long jumper Anju Bobby George to bag the elusive gold at the Olympics in Athens, prayers are being held in temples and churches in Kerala, her home state, for her triumph.
With the dismal show of Indian competitiors, barring Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won the silver in the shooting event, sports lovers are pinning their hopes on George, World No.6, to peak at the right time

Source: Prayers in churches and temples for Anju's victory - Sify.com

Go Anju go..........

Let us import Indian cars: Pakistani dealers

Improving bilateral ties may soon see Indian cars whizzing down Pakistani roads if Islamabad accedes to a request from automobile dealers here.

"We believe that importing cars from India would be beneficial to our market to meet the demand for new cars," maintained Abdul Rashid Kathia, secretary general of the Pakistan Car Dealers Association.

There's been no response so far from the government, which has asked local manufacturers to increase production or the import of used cars might be permitted

Some 100,000 cars were produced in Pakistan during 2003-04, but the growing demand, egged on by easy financing schemes, has outstripped supply despite an almost 100 percent growth in the automobile industry.

This has prompted manufacturers to jack up prices but officials warn the move could backfire.

"It may result in opening the gates for the import of second hand cars," commerce ministry spokesman Fahim Qureshi told IANS.

He said already there was under tremendous pressure from the public to allow import of used and reconditioned cars into Pakistan.

The budget for 2004-05 slashed by 50 percent the import duty on cars below 1,000 cc but this has had little impact on the demand-supply position.

"This did not serve the purpose as there is no price difference between locally produced and imported cars, said Kathia.

This year alone, manufacturers have jacked up prices between Rs.20,000 and Rs.64,000.

For instance, the price of a Toyota 2.0 CD diesel has gone up from Rs.1.196 million to Rs.1.209 million - an increase of Rs.20,000 per unit.

Similarly, the price of a Toyota Corolla XLI has increased by Rs 10,000.

Kathia was of the view that equivalent cars manufactured in India cost 30 percent less.

"I think we can meet the demand if the import of Indian cars is allowed. Indian manufacturers would offer us competitive prices," Kathia contended.

Source: siliconindia News

Go India go, push your cars everywhere.

Japan by night...

Wanna know how Japan looks durin' nights?
Check this link, its Japan by night.Click on any location to see how it looks in the night. In this site, western-part-of-Japan is introduced with the panorama photograph. Click On The Red Dots that Come Up.. and enjoy!!!

This is competely awesome.

Infrastructure Sector Gets Us $ 9 Billion Leg-Up

Source: Core Sector Gets Us $ 9 Billion Leg-Up

India’s critical infrastructure sector is being cranked up as never before. For the first time in the country’s history, nearly US $ 9 billion is being kept aside for lending by a consortium of blue chip Indian banks and industrial finance institutions.

The group will look into infrastructure projects – airports, seaports and tourism sector to begin with and ensure speedy conclusion of the financial agreements and implementation of projects. There would be two kinds of financing: direct equity participation and indirect lending to companies for expanding capacity.

Click to download the paper

IIM joins Harvard forum

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM- Ahmedabad) has tied up with the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR), a students’ forum on issues relating to the Asia-Pacific region.

The first Indian affiliate of HPAIR opened at IIM- Ahmedabad last week.

“IIM- Ahmedabad has re-strengthened its links with some of the top international institutions by opening the first ever Indian affiliate of HPAIR. HPAIR Association India (IIM- Ahmedabad) will strives to make India’s voice heard at this august platform,” Parag Jhawar, co-president, HPAIR Association India (IIM- Ahmedabad), told Business Standard today.

Founded in 1991, HPAIR’s primary activities include organising conferences throughout Asia focusing on international relations, business, political economy, culture and technology, supporting core research in these areas, and organising events for the general public and specialists from the Harvard University.

The HPAIR flagship conference is now the largest Harvard event in Asia and the largest annual student forum in the Asia-Pacific region.

HPAIR has its presence in various countries in Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. HPAIR has network clubs in the London School of Economics, University of Toronto, National University of Singapore, Fudan University in Shanghai, Nagoya University in Japan and EM Lyon in France.

“HPAIR Indian will seek to promote discourse on a number of issues within the sub-continent and also bring prominent international speakers to share their thoughts and ideas with future leaders of India,” said Jhawar.

Source: India Brand Equity Foundation

Swadeshi Saras soars on debut

Like the crane it has been named after, India’s first indigenous multi-role light-transport aircraft, Saras, smoothly took to the grey skies over Bangalore and flew flawlessly for 20 minutes.

The inaugural flight was cheered by scores of National Aerospace Laboratories (Nal) engineers who designed and developed the aircraft. The project was cleared by the Centre in 1999.

“It’s a historic moment and a proud achievement for India. This is not the time to look back (at) how long it took and what it cost, but cherish its success. This is a flight into the future,” said Union minister of state for science and technology Kapil Sibal, who was present.

He pointed out that Nal achieved the milestone overcoming a technology embargo slapped by the US after the second round of nuclear tests at Pokhran. Two experienced air force pilots, Squadron Leader K.K. Venugopal and Wing Commander R.S. Makker, flew the plane at an altitude of 800-900 feet at a speed of 130 knots (250 km) an hour.

“Though we flew much higher in the earlier test flights, we have flown today in a very controlled manner for the inaugural function and went 10-15 km in distance as we had to keep flying over the airfield for most of the time to demonstrate its performance. We had a smooth take-off and perfect landing,” they said.

The prototype, with rear-mounted twin 800 HP Canadian Pratt and Whitney turboprop engines, weighs about 5.8 tons, at least 10-12 per cent more than envisaged on the design boards. It has 500 kg of instruments on board.

The 14-seater Saras can be used in multiple roles like feeder line aircraft, air taxi, air ambulance, executive aircraft, troop transport and for aerial survey and reconnaissance.

The air force has also given a letter of intent for manufacture of six LTAs. Nal director B.R. Pai said the second prototype of Saras would be ready in a year. Each aircraft would cost Rs 30-33 crore.

Source: The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation

I guess this success is going to open up market for more privately owned flights.

Get a citizenship @Rs 12,500

The government has issued a notification under which people of Indian origin (PIO) would have to pay Rs 12,500 to secure Indian overseas citizenship.

A PIO would enjoy all rights of an Indian citizen, except the right to employment in government service and exercising franchise or holding a constitutional post, it was announced here on Monday.

The PIO will not be required to have a visa while visiting India and can also buy property and enjoy equality with non-resident Indians (NRIs) in economic, financial and educational fields besides having an overseas Indian passport.

The new PIO scheme meant for overseas Indians living in 16 countries was notified recently and would be called Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, 2004. It prescribes the processing fee to be charged for registering foreign citizens of Indian origin, official sources said.

The facility for procuring dual citizenship has been extended to people of Indian origin living in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US.

Source:Get a citizenship @Rs 12,500 - The Times of India

Lets say if a PIO comes back to India and start living there, what does it take for him/her to become a citizen of India with rights equal to an Indian born in India.

Hyderabadi Gilrs Guts steals hearts in Greece

It was the story of an Indian girl’s courage that found centrestage at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. More than 75,000 spectators gave a standing ovation to heptathlete J J Shobha under the floodlights.

During the javelin throw, Shobha tripped her leading left leg on the arc, injuring a knee ligament. She was carried out on a stretcher writhing in pain. And just when everyone thought her Olympic dream had ended, she was back in the arena for the last event of the competition, the 800 metres.

She began the race with a heavily bandaged knee supported with splints, wobbled through the first lap, trailing the others by some 10 metres. But at the 500-metre mark it was total transformation as she appeared a woman possessed.

One by one she overtook her rivals and by the time she negotiated the last curve she was threatening to overtake all of them. In the last 50 metres she sprinted gallantly and managed to finish third in 2:17.28 for 918 points, close to her personal best of 2:16.40.

Interestingly, while the crowds were delirious by her act and clapping all through the race, the giant electronic scoreboard in the stadium flashed DNS (Did Not Start) against her name in the start list. This happened because the official doctors had ruled her out of competition.

``She can't even walk for a week at least,'' they proclaimed. But then the Indian resilience took over. Indian contingent doctor Arun Mendiratta took charge of Shobha and after some pain killers and bandages, made Shobha run again much to the surprise of the Greek medics.

``I never thought I could make it,'' a beaming Shobha said after the two-day grind of the heptathlon was over for her on a happy note. She finished a creditable 11th among 33 participants with 6,172 points in an event of the sort few Indians dare take part.

``If my knee had not given the problem, I would have improved my national record which I have missed by 39 points.'' the 26-year-old Hyderabadi athlete said.

After completing the 800 metres, Shobha lay sprawled near the finish line. And in a rare gesture, Kylie Wheeler of Australia, completely exhausted herself, pulled our girl up. They hugged each other and limped out of the track hand in hand.

On her way to the 11th spot, Shobha's victims included two Americans, two Germans, one each from China, Britain, Japan and Finland among others. Shobha finished 780 points away from gold medalist Carolina Kluft of Sweden, but just 252 points short of bronze winner Kelly Sotherton of Britain.

Source: Newindpress.com - Olympics 2004

New School for Babus

Via: FEATURES SAMACHAR -- The only bookmark on Features you'll ever need

The Prime Minister’s proposal for educating and shaping the new bureaucrat is only a first draft. Changes and modifications will be made at the stage of discussions and debates. The underlying idea is that ever since the present IAS system was devised, it has remained unchanged and unmodified in any way except peripherally. The system continues, whereas the demands on the system have vastly increased.

Many of the old school members of the steel frame are unable to sympathise with the new aspirations of the people with whom the bureaucrats (at least a majority of them) have not been on the same wavelength. The babus are least interested in change but the people, both urban and village, are fed up with the old mode of decision-making. While the babus excel in file notings, group meetings and pickling the urgent problems of the people as long as possible, the people are insistent on change.

Here it must be mentioned that most of today’s ministers are incapable of getting the better of their top secretaries, since they (ministers) seldom get on top of the problems. Most of the MPs are either incapable or unwilling (for extraneous reasons) to pinpoint the crux of the matter in order to help the minister to hasten decision-making. So when the Prime Minister speaks of reforming a weak, inefficient and corrupt delivery system, it has many more angles than reforming the recruitment of civil servants.

Under the new recruitment system envisaged by the Prime Minister, an All-India Entrance Examination for class XII students will be held on the pattern of the present entrance test for NDA or medical or IIT. Obviously, the talent pool will vastly increase (at present about three lakh candidates appear for IAS entrance). Those who pass the test will be selected for a five-year course in a national academy. Those who complete the first three years successfully will get their graduation degree. The best of these graduates will be sent for a two-year service-specific course on the basis of merit and choice. Those who do not make the grade will be ``released’’ to the job market.

Here is the rub. This can cause a lot of heart-burning and disappointment, for these bottom rankers can argue that they could have tried for a medical or engineering degree, their only sin being trying to serve the country. The selection procedure does not end with the two-year service-specific course. On the basis of annual exams, students will be selected for another two-year service-specific course, leading to a degree like MBA. Again those who do not come up to the required level are made to leave by a mysterious ``filter’’ process. Imagine this happening to young men and women after seven years of back-breaking studies and field work.

One may well imagine the acrimony and frustration in the ranks of the ``filtered’’ rejects. One hopes that most of the second phase of the course will be spent in the field, meeting the people, discussing region-specific issues and finding solutions. The new civil servant is the new face of the government, the new fine-tuned delivery system in which they have to deliver on rain-harvesting, drought-fighting, providing drinking water, implementing plans on primary education, health, sanitation, medi-care etc. A national debate is urgent on the entire selection process and training methods.

You can send u r comments to samachareditor@sify.com

Symbols Of An Elite Identity

When do you sit back and say that you’ve arrived? When you own that S class? Or live in a penthouse? Well, to that list you could add: When you consume a ‘By Invitation’ product or service —ie, lifestyle goodies open only to a select few.

So, how do you qualify as a member of an exclusive business club such as the Taj’s Chambers, or reside at a hi-end real estate property, or hold a credit card which provides customised services? Vijay Vancheshwar, a vice-president at DLF, talks about the 250 apartments that will soon be on the market for an astonishing Rs 4,500 a square foot. “Araleus is aimed at the category ‘A’ customer”, he says. Meaning, “high profile executives, entrepreneurs and NRIs”. And Rajiv Ahuja, vice-president at American Express, says that their “Platinum card is all about affluence”.

So, you would basically have to be either rich or famous or both to qualify!

Read More @ Symbols Of An Elite Identity

M$ regional blunders

Microsoft's Kashmir blunder was one of a series of embarrassing mistakes which exposed the company's lack of political savvy and cost millions, owned up Tom Edwards, Microsoft's top man in its geographical strategy unit.

Speaking at the International Geographical Union congress in Glasgow, Edwards revealed how one of the biggest companies in the world managed to offend one of the world's biggest countries with a software slip-up. When colouring in 800,000 pixels on a map of India, Microsoft coloured eight of them a different shade of green to represent the disputed Kashmiri territory.

The difference in greens meant Kashmir was shown as non-Indian. The product was naturally banned in India promptly. He said all 200,000 copies of the offending Windows 95 software had to be recalled to try and heal the diplomatic wounds. "It cost millions," Edwards said.

Another social blunder from Microsoft saw chanting of the Quran used as a soundtrack for a computer game and caused great offence to the Saudi Arabia government. Microsoft later issued a new version of the game without the chanting, while keeping the previous versions in circulation because US staff thought the slip wouldn't be spotted, but the Saudi government banned the game and demanded an official apology. Edwards then recommended 75,000 copies of the game to be destroyed.

It further offended the Saudi government by creating another game where Muslim warriors turned churches into mosques. This game was also withdrawn.

Others offended by similar computer software diplomatic faux pas include Turkish governments, Chinese, Kurds and women in several Latin American countries. A Spanish language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets, gave users an option to select their gender from not specified, male or "bitch", due to an unfortunate error in translation.

Edwards' confession was part of a presentation on why multinational corporations must become more geographically literate to win the trust of their customers. He said: "The geographical illiteracy of a lot of Americans is well known. When you take that illiteracy and put it into products that are distributed globally, the results can be very serious."

Edwards said that staff are now sent on geography courses to try and avoid such mishaps. "Some of our employees, however bright they may be, have only a hazy idea about the rest of the world," he said. Edwards' unit claims one success when it prevented to release the company's Office XP software with a moon and stars astrology icon because it resembled the Islamic Hila symbol.

Source: Microsoft error on maps dents its ties with India : HindustanTimes.com/UK: News for UK Asians

Weight Lifters - What Went Wrong?

Indian women weight lifters have carried with them hopes of millions of Indians along with them to Athens Olympic games and each hope has been trashed miserably by pathetic performance of Malleswari, positive dope tests by Chanu and Partima. Just a couple of days back I was challenging some coleagues here that Indian are going to grab medals in women weight lifting. I would have not felt so bad, if they did their best and failed, but the events that happened just left me sad and bewildered.

Twist of globalisation: All faiths come together

In an unexpected twist of globalisation, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and other pilgrims regularly worship at famous Roman Catholic shrines to the Virgin Mary such as Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal.

They drink the holy water, light votive candles and pray fervently to the Madonna for help with life's hardships. Many venerate her like one of their own goddesses, a view that would be a heresy if a Catholic theologian tried to defend it.

Rather than turned away, the newcomers are free to join the crowds from Ireland, Italy, Spain, and other traditionally Catholic countries who flock to Europe's most popular shrines.

In Fatima, the warm welcome they have received has caused an uproar among traditionalist Catholics.

Read the whole story @ Twist of globalisation: All faiths come together

Free Book: The J2EE Architect's Handbook

Source: Free Book: The J2EE Architect's Handbook

TheServerSide is offering The J2EE Architect's Handbook for full download. Derek Ashmore's book is written for technical architects and senior developers tasked with designing and leading the development of J2EE java applications, providing numerous tips, tricks, and "best practices" along the way.

Book Topics

• Design J2EE applications so that they are robust, extensible, and easy to maintain.
  
• Apply commonly used design patterns effectively
  
• Identify and address application architectural issues before they hinder the development team
  
• Document and communicate the application design so that the development team’s work is targeted
  
• Avoid common mistakes that derail project budgets and timelines.
  
• Guide the development team through the design and construction process.
  
• Setup effective procedures and guidelines that increase stability and decrease bug reports
  
• Effectively estimate needed resources and timelines
  
  
  Download the entire book: The J2EE Architect's Handbook
  Discuss the book here
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Agriculture Information - India Room

I came across this cool site: Agricultureinformation.com - India Room, which provides services like Consultancy, Market Place, News Letter, Magazine, Virtual Library etc. which is pretty cool.

A political wake-up call for Indian-Americans

With escalating fears over U.S. job outsourcing, Indian immigrants to the United States, long regarded as a model of adaptability and success in their new land, have found themselves branded guilty by association for the sclerotic performance of the American job market. To combat the backlash, Indian Americans play catch up in the political arena, trying to wield influence in Washington commensurate with their place in the economy.

“I think Indian-Americans have come into the spotlight,” says Christopher Dumm, executive director of the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA). “During the Clinton administration there was attention surrounding India becoming the next economic miracle. Now India is just a scapegoat for U.S. economic policy.”

Indeed, Indian-Americans quickly scaled the heights of society in terms of profession and education. Merrill Lynch’s lastest annual survey of wealth found 200,000 millionaires of Indian origin in the U.S. More likely to hold advanced degrees, they also make more money: Merrill Lynch found Indian-Americans making $60,000 on average, far outstripping the national average of $38,885.

But Indian-Americans may very well find that the honeymoon is over. Portrayed as job snatchers by populist politicians, they are enduring a backlash of sorts rooted in their unique success in the white collar economy.

Read more @ MSNBC - A political wake-up call for Indian-Americans

Reshma Saujani - Rising Indian Origin Politicain in US

Twenty-eight-year-old Reshma M Saujani, a Yale Law School graduate, has the distinction of having single-handedly raised a million dollars for the John Kerry presidential campaign through South Asians. An aspiring politician herself, Reshma was handpicked by John Kerry's office to vote at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Her first chance to walk down the corridors of power came in 1996 when she interned at the White House, at the same time as Monica Lewinsky. In March last year, Reshma approached the Kerry office with her plan to bring all South Asians under one umbrella. Ever since there has been no turning back for Reshma, who was born to Gujarati parents. An associate in Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Litigation Department, she hopes to run for senator someday. She is the author of 'Plea Bargaining and Convicting the Innocent: The Role of the Prosecutor, the Defense Counsel and the Judge', and 'The Implicit Association Test: A Measure of Unconscious Racism in Legislative Decision-Making'.

Read excerpts from an exclusive interview to Sify.com @ Kerry sees India as a valued friend: Reshma Saujani - Sify.com

Cool Clocks

Via: VC says Hi !!: How to tell time... Uff Use a watch ......

Check out these cool clocks:

http://www.andre-michelle.com/studies/cable_clock.htm

http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/%7Eyugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/29/bclock.html

http://www.clocklink.com/

Akku Yadav case: 5 women released on bail

Hours after they were remanded to judicial custody for a day, five women, allegedly involved in the lynching of notorious gangster Akku Yadav on August 13, were released on bail.

A team of defence lawyers argued before district judge G S Kasawa that the five accused women be released on bail since the investigating agencies have found no evidence against them.

District pleader Prasant Sathianathan and investigating officer of the state CID were summoned by the court, who gave no objection to their release.

Accordingly, the court ordered their release on furnishing of Rs 5,000 each as personal bond.

"The investigating officer gave a no objection certificate, he had no problem releasing the women. The prosecutor also had no objection as there was no incriminating evidence," said Lobesh Mishra, Defence Counsel.

And as news emerged that five of their comrades have been given bail, the women of Kasturba Nagar cheered outside Nagpur's session court.

On the day of the big court hearing, Kasturba Nagar was calm. However, not long ago when Akku Yadav was alive, this middle class locality would be shaken by screams of women - victims of the criminal and his men.

Virtually every second home here has a story to tell of rape, gangrape or sexual humiliation. It's these repeated violations over almost a decade which the women say pushed them to plan his murder in open court.

In the week that has gone by, these women have appeared brave, defiant and unabashed as they recounted stories of unspeakable horror of how Akku Yadav used rape as a potent weapon to terrorize an entire community.

However, even now these stories remain without names and faces - brutalities that happened to other people. Not a single woman is willing to step forward and stand up as a victim of the man who pushed them over the edge.

Vilas Bhande, a lawyer who is married to one of the women here and is representing their case in the court, understands their silence.

He told NDTV of the brazen ease with which Akku and his gang would enter homes and the nightmare that would then unfold.

"For them, it becomes a question of social stigma. So they don't speak about it. But that does not mean that they were not victimised," says Bhande.

"Every second or third house in this locality has a victim. He would hold people at knifepoint, enter their houses, drink and sleep with anyone he pleased. If any woman protested, he would drag her to the open construction site behind the colony and gangrape her, where everyone could watch and hear everything, and then gangrape the woman with his friends," adds Bhande.

Social stigma has meant that many of the cases Bhande has compiled will remain faceless. One woman was brave enough to complain but only faced police humiliation.

"One woman had gone to complain to the police about how Akku forced his way into her house, locked her husband in the bathroom and dragged her with him. To this the police told her since Akku went to her house, she must have had a relationship with him," says Bhande.

Although Akku Yadav has been killed, he had a gang of six people, who have not been arrested yet.

This may be a case where the personal is no longer personal. Yet even as these women step out into the public realm, they do so collectively in the safety of numbers and safety of anonymity.

Source @ NDTV.com - Akku Yadav case: 5 women released on bail

Celebrating The Spirit of Freedom

Check out the various slide shows that India times has published for the indepdendence day @ Indiatimes >http://info.indiatimes.com/it/15August/15aug.html?headline=India:~Pride~and~Prejudice

Don't miss this one http://info.indiatimes.com/it/Idday/index.html

Hoist Flat In Your Name

Check this out, this is pretty cool Indiatimes - Hoist Flag In Your Name

Rings and torch were Hitler's creations, not Greeks

The most beloved emblems of the Modern Olympics have a decidedly dark past.

The torch relay, which culminated in Friday's ceremonial lighting of the Flame at the Olympic Stadium, was a creation of Adolf Hitler, who tried to turn the 1936 Berlin Games into a celebration of the Third Reich.

And it was Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine that popularised the five interlocking rings as the symbol of the Games.

Today, both are universally recognised icons of the Olympics. But historians say neither had much, if anything, to do with the Games born centuries ago in ancient Olympia.

"The torch relay is so ingrained in the modern choreography that most people today assume it was a revival of a Pagan tradition - unaware that it was actually concocted for Hitler's Games in Berlin," author Tony Perrottet writes in a new book, The Naked Olympics.

``Ironically, considering its repellent origins, the torch race has come to symbolise international brotherhood today, and remains a centerpiece of our own pomp-filled Olympic opening ceremonies.''

A sacred Flame did burn 24 hours a day at Olympia, and at some other ancient festivals, relay racers passed a torch to light a sacrificial cauldron. But the ancient Greeks opened their Olympics by word of mouth, not fire, sending heralds - not torchbearers - running through the streets.

The modern tradition of spiriting the Olympic torch to the main stadium didn't become a fixture of the Games until 1936, when a 12-day run opened the Games in Berlin.

Hitler, who admired the powerful imagery of Greek gods such as Zeus, wanted his Games to promote his belief in Aryan supremacy. The torch relay, memorialised in Leni Riefenstahl's film Olympia, was part of the Nazi leader's elaborate attempt to add myth, mystique and glamour to an Olympics intended to intimidate pre-world War II Europe. In Hitler's eyes, the torch symbolised the perfection and victory of the German nation.

He didn't pull it off - black American runner and long-jumper Jesse Owens made a mockery of the notion of a blue-eyed, golden-haired master race by winning four gold medals in Berlin. In his book The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival, American historian David C Young says the torch relay was invented by Carl Diem, a German who planned the 1916 Berlin Games before World War I forced their cancellation and returned to organise the 1936 Games.

``Hitler took considerable personal interest in the ritual, and pumped funds into its promotion,'' Perrottet says. ``The Nazi propaganda machine covered the torch relay slavishly, broadcast radio reports from every step of the route, and filled the Games with the iconography of ancient Greek athletics.''

Today, the torch relay is a pre-Games spectacle cheered by millions as an emblem of the friendly spirit of the Games. Sports heroes, celebrities, politicians and children have carried it around the world every four years on foot, horseback, camel, steamboat, train and wheelchair.

Since it was lit on March 25 by the sun's rays at ancient Olympia, the relay of the Flame for the Athens Olympics has travelled an unprecedented 7,5314 km through 26 countries - including a 51.5-km leg in Berlin that began at the imposing limestone stadium Hitler had built for the 1936 Games.

The Olympic rings, another universally recognised symbol of the Games since they made their debut at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium, have their own Nazi connection.

Originally, they were designed in 1913 by French Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee and father of the modern Olympics movement, for a 1914 world Olympic Congress in Paris. They were supposed to symbolise the first five Olympics, but the Congress disbanded when Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, triggering World War I.

Riefenstahl, the òf152óOlympia òf151ófilmmaker who also chronicled Hitler's rise to power, had the rings carved into a stone altar at the ancient Greek city of Delphi, spawning the myth that they were a symbol dating back more than two millennia.

With Hitler's influence, the rings became part of the Nazi pageantry at Berlin - and they've come to symbolise the Olympics ever since.

Source: Newindpress.com - Olympics 2004

Srihari Weds Hiranmayi

Srihari Govindarajan Weds Hiranmayi Bellumkonda Sumuhurtham Wednesday 25th Aug 2004 @ 9:15 am Venue: Viceroy Garden, Mudfort, Secuderabad , AP, India Lunch: 10AM onwards Reception: Friday 27th August at 6-9pm Venue: RP Ashraya Bhavan, Jaimuni Rao Circle, (Near Raheja Apartments, Magadi Road), Bangalore, KA, India. Those who can't make it can send gifts to: 7575 Frankford Road, #626, Dallas, TX 75252, USA. Srihari/Hiran u might think marriage is like: But you are forgetting the fact that you are And you have to realize that And there is no point later taking remedy steps like GUYS give all your