Anurag Jain's Blog
Tuesday, May 31, 2005

A lil' bit of Planespotting in my life..

Planespotting has been a hobby of mine for quite sometime. What is planespotting? Well, here you go. Its kinda like Trainspotting (informative link #2), but nothing like the movie Trainspotting (which is by-the-way, a brilliant dope movie, and whose title's link to the hobby of train spotting is quite pseudo-culturally brilliant.)

Anyhoo, during my recent Mumbai trip, I spotted following birds:

While going from Bangalore to Mumbai:

Air Deccan: VT-ADY (the one in which I flew in)
IA(Indian Airlines): VT-ESG, VT-ESH, VT-EHH
S2(Air Sahara): VT-SIK
9W (Jet Airways): VT-JCH, VT-JCG, VT-JNC

While going from Mumbai to Bangalore
Air Deccan: VT-ADW (the one in which I flew in)
9W (Jet Airways): VT-JAS (taxiing), VT-JNC, VT-JNJ
S2(Air Sahara):VT-SIU
Alliance Air: VT-EIG
IT(Kingfisher Airlines): VT-KFA

Earlier, during my visit to the aircraft manufacturing facility, I could spot following tails:
VT-TLA, VT-TAH, N-6524V

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Sunday, May 29, 2005

Hubbert's Peak: This is not a test run!

Some days back, I mentioned about the energy crisis. Time to write about it again.

The point of interest leading to both (last and this) posts is the Peak of Oil Production. There's a global and a regional Peak of Oil production, a limit beyond which the oil production will inevitably decline. Assuming the bell curve of oil production, the amount of time it took to reach the peak would also be the amount of time after the Peak time before which we run out of oil production. The phenomenon of Peak Oil Production was first noticed and estimated by US geoscientist Dr. M. King Hubbert, and hence the name Hubbert's Peak. (There was an article in Times of India recently explaining what it is.)

Now some factoids. Mainly taken from Dr Colin Campbell's year 2000 lecture. In 2000, oil industry expert Dr Colin Campbell lectured in Germany on the peak of world oil production. (Watch this very informative 1-hour lecture by Dr Colin Campbell on Peak Oil Production. Text version available here.)

# Some general Hydrocarbon stats:
. Conventional oil peaks around 2005
. All hydrocarbons around 2010
. Gas, less depleted than oil, peaks around 2020
. Gas liquids peak a little after gas, as extraction rates increase
. The decline after peak is about 3% a year

# World Oil Stats:
Produced: 822 Gb ~46% of Ultimate
Reserves: 827 Gb
Discovered: 1637 ~91% of Ultimate
Yet to find: 151
Yet to produce: 978
Ultimate: 1800
Production Rate: 22 Gb/year (rising)
Depletion Rate: 2.2% /year
Discovery Rate: 6 Gb/year (falling)
Discovery peaked in 1965. Production peaked in 2005. Time lag: 40 years. Mid-point year: 2005. Ulitmate 2050: 1800 Gb. To-date 1999: 822Gb


# USA
Discovery peaked in 1930
Production peaked in 1972
Time lag: 42 years
Mid-point year: 1970
Ulitmate 2050: 190 Gb
To-date 1999: 165Gb


#Middle-East


Dr Campbell also accuses Oil corporates of not playing it fair and he says it would be better to make a proper analysis of the true position and inform people (No one blames the government for an earthquake. So they would n't blame it for an oil crisis):
# British Petroleum certainly wins the prize for the most oblique reference to depletion when it changes its logo to a sunflower and says that BP stands for Beyond Petroleum. But its executives sit on the board of Goldman Sachs, the bankers. They should accordingly know what BP actually thinks behind the lace curtains of corporate make-believe. What do the bankers say? "The rig count over the last 12 years has reached bottom. This is not because of low oil price. The oil companies are not going to keep rigs employed to drill dry holes. They know it but are unable and unwilling to admit it. The great merger mania is nothing more than a scaling down of a dying industry in recognition of the fact that 90% of global conventional oil has already been found." - Goldmann Sachs, August 1999
# Shell says it in other words "There was a time when oil and gas reserves seemed endless..." - November 1999 Advertisement

Dr Campbell finishes his lecture with: "If you don't deal with reality, reality will deal with you".

How ominous!!

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Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Fantabulous architectures: Mahindra Towers, Worli, Mumbai.

During my recent Mumbai visit, I visited a lot of corporates. Amongst them was Mahindra Group, whose corporate office is called Mahindra Towers.


(courtesy: Sterling and Wilson)

Even though situated in not so up-market area (Located in Worli, but very close to Lower Parel), the building stands out due to its fantastic design and makes you stare at it for quite a bit! Not a high-rise, and primarily a red-brick and glass front, the architecture is just superb. The august wide glass facade doesn't steal away the thunder of the red-exposed-bricks front. The glasses are a shade of 'black-chrome', giving an exotic touch to a summer-day look of the building. The top metal truss gives a feel of extension into the infinity to the whole scenario. Without doubt one of the finest corporate building architectures I have ever seen. (The other corporate building I was really fond of was the small ex-office of Philips Software center in Bangalore on Lavelle road, next to Airport Hotel. Of course now they've shifted to Ulsoor in a much bigger campus. Can't get hold on a picture of the old office building!)

What are your favourite corporate buildings?

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Exchange programme to Wales

From today's Times of India

"If you are in 25-40 age group and have wanderlust in your blood, Wales could be your next destination, courtesy Rotary. Rotary International District 3190 District Governor-elect, Rotarian S.S. Ramdas, told reporters on Tuesday the trip to Wales is part of the district’s annual Group Study Exchange programme — “a unique, cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women.’’

This year, the GSE programme will be in October 2005. All those who are residents of the Rotary District 3190 — comprising Bangalore, Mandya, Tumkur, Kolar districts and Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh — are eligible. But candidates must have a good academic record, have worked for at least two years, must know English and have extensive knowledge of Indian culture and current affairs.

The selected GSE team will visit Wales — South and Mid Wales — along with a Rotarian team-leader in October “to study and learn how their vocations are practised in the host country and to participate in Welsh life and culture.’’ The Rotary Foundation will fund the programme Call 98450-17768 or 26590198."

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Engelbert Humperdinck concert in Bangalore

From today's Times of India
"Engelbert Humperdinck, the crooner of such all-time hits as The Last Waltz and There Goes My Everything will perform in the City on June 9, after concerts in Delhi and Mumbai. He’s the man whose first single Release Me stayed at the No 1 spot for a record 56 consecutive weeks, curbing the rise of The Beatles’ Penny Lane. He’s the man whose bushy side locks were copied by Elvis Presley and turned into a style statement during the late 60s and 70s. He’s the man who is moved by India, body and soul — he was born in Chennai.

According to a press release, the concerts are to raise funds for The ACTS Trust. ACTS has been involved in environmental activism and education, and is now working for the rehabilitation of tsunami victims. Engelbert has generated sales in excess of 135 million records, including 64 gold albums and 24 Platinum, garnered four Grammy nominations, won a golden Globe for Entertainer of the Year (1988) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has performed before Queen Elizabeth, several presidents and many heads of state. Engelbert has recorded everything from the most romantic ballads to movie theme songs, disco, rock and even gospel.

The concert is on June 9 at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, 8pm. The tickets in Bangalore are priced at Rs.7500, Rs.5000 and Rs.3000. For telebooking, contact 22868800/ 22865800/ 51303030."

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Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Private Traffic Policing creates nuisance

Mail from a colleague on a genuine problem:

"Hi,

I am sending a copy of my mail to TIMES OF INDIA sent this morning, please raise enough decibels to stop this nuisance, I hope you also face similar situations everywhere in Bangalore,

Regards

XYZ
-----Original Message-----
From: XYZ
Sent: 12 May 2005 11:14
To:TIMES OF INDIA
Subject: Corporates take over traffic on Bannerghatta Road

Hi,

It seems the corporates have decided to take people literally for a ride, at least that is what appears on Bannerghatta Road (the first public-private joint venture). Every morning, if you are rushing towards office, you observe a bevy of immaculately dressed security personnel manning the traffic near Honeywell. This is impressive, before you realize that the effort is only to facilitate the entry of its employees, while the rest of the Bangalore crowd are forced to wait at this 'traffic junction'. While some have dared to protest (especially since these security personnel have no business manning these roads, much to the disgust of common people!) these security people have ignored them repeatedly. If this was done to facilitate traffic for public in general, nobody would have complained, only if this effort is directed towards a lucky few (who got employment in Honeywell) it matters. Added to this, the Bannerghatta Road after its widening has become the parking lot for all the company's buses (used for transporting its employees, again!) and whatever widening the BDA manages on this road, thus is rendered useless. Though Bannerghatta Road was earlier decided to be a NO PARKING road, several vehicles, which transport IT/ITES personnel (HSBC, Accenture, Convergys) are regularly found parked at the curbs, (often without the minimum parking decorum). Are we as residents of this Silicon Valley destination, expected to tolerate these nuisance, for the sake of GDP growth, or is there a divine authority who can intervene and tell these companies to discipline? It is ironical that the same companies in their respective Corporate offices abroad follow strict rules of the land; so in a way are Bangaloreans being too complacent about these intrusions?

regards

XYZ"

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Monday, May 23, 2005

Fwd: Gurmukh From Phagwara - !!!!!

Saddam Hussein was sitting in his office wondering whom to invade next when his telephone rang.

"Hallo, Mr. Hussein!" a heavily accented voice said, "This is Gurmukh from Phagwara, District Kapurthala,Punjab. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring the war on you!"
"Well, Gurmukh," Saddam replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army"
"Right now," said Gurmukh, after a moment's calculation, "there is myself, my cousin Sukhdev, my next door neighbour Bhagat, and the entire kabaddi team from the gurudwara. That makes eight"

Saddam paused. "I must tell you, Gurmukh that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command."
"Arrey O! Main kya.. " said Gurmukh. "I'll have to ring you back!"

Sure enough, the next day, Gurmukh called again.
"Mr. Hussein, it is Gurmukh, I'm call ing from Phagwara STD, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!"
"And what equipment would that be, Gurmukh" Saddam asked.
"Well, we have two combines, a donkey and Amrik's tractor."
Saddam sighed. "I must tell you, Gurmukh, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armoured personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my army to 1-1/2 million since we last spoke."
"Oh teri ....." said Gurmukh. "I'll have to get back to you."

Sure enough, Gurmukh rang again the next day.
"Mr. Hussein, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne...... We've modified Amrik's tractor by adding a couple of shotguns, sticking on some wings and the pind's generator. Four school pass boys from Malpur have joined us as well!"
Saddam was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Gurmukh, that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surro unded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!"
"Tera pala hove...." said Gurmukh, "I'll have to ring you back."

Sure enough, Gurmukh called again the next day. "Kiddan, Mr. Hussein! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to call off the war."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Saddam. "Why the sudden change of heart"
"Well," said Gurmukh, "we've all had a long chat over a couple of lassi's, and decided there's no way we can feed two million prisoners of wars!"

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Sunday, May 22, 2005

Ammavra Ganda and Keetale

"Fourth Corner Productions present two productions this May. Ammavra Ganda with Ajith Hande, Deepthy Shekar, Priya Venkataraman, Sandeep Ravindra and Harish Arkalagud on Tuesday 24, Wednesday 25 AND Sunday 29 May at Sharp 7.30 pm. Keetale's second (NOON) show is on Sunday, May 29th at 4 pm Sharp. Both plays are directed by P D Sathish Chandra. For further information call me on 9845031413 and for tickets booking please call Kiran on 94482 94925. The venue as usual is Ranga Shankara and as we all know they close doors at third bell sharp at 7.30 pm. Log on to their page www.rangashankara.org for other rules and directions.

Hope to see you all at the show. Further details of the play are on www.ivcorner.com/play.htm

Please forward this mail to all interested friends,

Regards,

Sathish
www.ivcorner.com"

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Ghoomo.com

It seems like a flashback to the dotcom era. Only this time there isn't much hype around it and it actually works!

Book your Bangalore movie tickets online at ghoomo.com

"Other than booking movie tickets online you can also Check latest movie showtimes, Read about movies, previews and reviews, catchup with Hollywood, Bollywood and other regional movie news, Read Music reviews.

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Sep16-18, 2005: Mecharnival 2005 at HBTI, Kanpur

After the highly successful Incord 2005 comes Mecharnival '05! Hope we can make it as successful as the previous event. Go, HBTI, Go!

"Dear Sir,

This mail regards our earnest request for assistance to make our seminar-'Mecharnival 2005' earlier known as Dynamech, a success.

Mecharnival 2005 is going to be the annual technical fest of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of HBTI (Harcourt Butler Technological Institute) Kanpur organized by A.M.E (Association of Mechanical Engineers) tentatively on 16th, 17th and 18th of September 2005. This is unlike any seminar or conference that has ever been conducted in HBTI. It aims to add new dimension to our college activities of the class we have never experienced. We propose to discuss the concerns like Advances in Engineering Systems and their applications, value of marketing and advertisement in the technical domain at national level. To give an overview:
- We intend to invite acknowledged professors and icons to give their lectures on the topic concerning our theme.
- A special session on Robotics to be addressed by professors and researchers of International fame.
- The panel discussion featuring debate over topic on socio-academic and corporate importance.
- Seminar on recent trends in the field of automobiles by top luminaries of India. Live open air show performed by leading Indian pop band in the cultural segment of this tech-fest.
- Other events comprise of paper presentations, technical sessions, web designing contest, gaming contest, robo wars and movie show.

As it appears, it is being planned at the highest level of creativity that we can beget. We have highest level of assistance and freedom from our faculty members to make this event possible. Our major concern in this regard is finding sponsorships and funding resources for the events. We estimate a total expense of approx rupees Sixteen lakhs, which don't appear difficult, considering the kind of planning we have made and efforts we are putting in.
Our batch believes in bringing a revolution that will set such high barriers that looking behind it will seem a thing of a past and there will only a scope to improve upon the things already built upon.

Looking forward to healthy response as soon as possible.

We shall be highly obliged if you can spend your precious time and bestow your blessings by your auspicious presence.

Contact: Shekhar Gahlot, Student Coordinator,Alumni Contact. A.M.E , HBTI Kanpur. e-mail:shekhar_gahlot AT yahoo.com. Ph.: 09839894040, 09335521718.

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Harcourtians Meets and other HBTI activities

Lots happening on HBTI front.

# I just returned from Mumbai where I also attended the alumni meet. As recounted below by Ankush and Rajeev Singh, It was a great experience especially because we could meet some quite senior Harcourtians.

# Its also heartening to know of successful meet in NCR. Thanks Shubha (NCR) and Ankush (Mumbai) for taking leads in organizing the meets, and thanks to all the attendees.

# Good news seems to be flowing all around: HBTI is doing great on the placement front too. Getting 24 students placed in one day, that too one year ahead of graduation is quite something! Go, Harcourtians, Go!

# Moving forward, we need to have the alumni coordination/meets now in following cities too.
# Kanpur/Lucknow!
# Pune
# Hyderabad
# Chennai
# Kolkata
# Other(s)

#=======May15, 2005: An account of Mumbai Harcourtians meet by Ankush Kushwaha and Capt R S Gautam=======
-----Original Message-----
From: HBTI_Alumni On Behalf Of Ankush
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 12:16 PM
To: HBTI Alumni
Subject: [HBTI_Alumni] Yesterday's Alumni meet in Mumbai

hi all,

I am glad to share the Yesterday's Alumni meet at Hiranandani, Mumbai. The attendence was little short evenafter getting good amount of confirmation/ response on mails and phones. I am giving here the names of harcourtians who graced this occasion by their presence:

1) Capt. Rajeev S Gautam (Mech '88, Currently at Ispat Industries)
2) Mr. Sudhir Bhatia (Mech '89, Currently at BARC)
3) Mr. Ashok Tewari (Che' 78, Currently at Qatar Petroleum)
4) Mr. Anurag Jain (Che '94, Currently at IIMB)
5) Ms. Meenal Nigam (Che '03, Currently at NITIE, Mumbai)
6) Ms. Swati Agarwal (che '03, Currently at HLL)
7) Mr. Nikhil Anand (che '04, Currently at Reliance Petrochmicals)
8) Myself Ankush Kushwaha (che '03, Currently at L&T)

Well i am thankful to everybody for joining this meet and adding few more golden megabytes in my memory-chip.

it was a nice occasion to meet seniors of around 10-20 yrs old batch and learn about their life at this phase of life. We had discussion on changes in HBTI and glad to know that campus placement is getting better every year. Ofcourse better placement during this cut-throat competition is partially result of good reputation maitained by our seniors in industries and we have to carry it further.

We also enjoyed sharing some of the memories of college days. I was surprised to hear the name of our chemistry lecturer as 'Daku singh'. I guess its still in possession by Junior batches, however he is undoubtedly good teacher. Overall it was a good learning for me and my friends of 2003 batch.

Enough is to share. But all cant be put on mail. I hope we can make it live again on 11 JUne. I, further, request every harcourtian in mumbai to send me the names, batch and contact nos. of harcourtians around you. you can send me this info on my Email add instead of marking everybody on group. Later i will compile all and release it on group.

At last, I congratulate Banglore alumni on 2nd birthday of this successful group and request Anurag sir to invite Mr. Sudhir Bhatia of Mech '89 batch on board (HBTI_Alumni).

Thanks & warm regards,
Ankush Kushwaha
che '2003

-----Original Message-----
From: HBTI_Alumni On Behalf Of rajeeva singh gautam
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 2:09 PM
Subject: Re: [HBTI_Alumni] Yesterday's Alumni meet in Mumbai

It was wonderfull experience to meet harcourtians old and new. I must confess that new generation of Harcourtians is more informed, more focussed,have higher awareness level and are better prepared for corporate world than what we were. Thanks to technology and tools available today. During our time we had to struggle a lot to find little info about any subject.But these guys are working hard so they are delivering better results. (even campus placement speaks about it )Goodluck to them.

I had attended few HBTI alumini meets in mumbai around 90's and has the opportunity to meet some very senior Ex harcourtian.I do remember Mr. Agrawal ( then adviser RCF ) passout 1941, Mr. Ahmed passout 1946 ,Mr.Tyagi passout of sixties something.One of the meets was organised in his lawns at RCF colony.It had around 50 alumini attending that meet .It use to be family meet.But it faded away with time.Those days I was a fresher.I was surprised to know that all top guns in paint , chemical, petroleum companies were harcourtians. ( Directors/ chairman / MD/ GMs at HPCl, BPCL, RCF,Juari agro, Nocil , likes were headed by our seniors )

I think we must revive the trend.Organise Zonal alumini meets ( at kanpur, lucknow, delhi, mumbai, Banglore etc, or wherever we can )Share the databank and information contact details of harcourtians to be made availble on request ( of the people who have no objection to it ).For example if some one visits mumbai he can find out harcourtian details in mumbai, can meet his friends/ batchmates or pass info abnout his visit and others in town can meet him.

If we will unite, we will be strong and we will be heard then we will be able to help our almamatter in more organised and effective manner.

Capt.R.S.Gautam
Mech '1988

#=======May15, 2005: An account of NCR Harcourtians meet by Shubha Agrawal =======
-----Original Message-----
From: HBTI_Alumni On Behalf Of SAgrawal
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 7:35 PM
To: HBTI_Alumni
Subject: [HBTI_Alumni]NCR_MEET

Gone are the days,We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost, We laughed, we cried, we fought, we thought. Gone are the days But not the memories, which will be Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and Ever and ever and Ever.

To Memorize the old days is always a nostalgic feeling as “Ramu Da ki Chai”Same happened in NCR_Delhi_Meet. From the cluster of 300 stars of NCR region only about 20 fortunate to be a part of an important milestone of the memorable journey of the Harcourtians ahead. The attendance is as follows:

Mr. Awanish Jaiswal (1999: TCS)
Mr. Mayank Bansal (2000: Dabur)
Mr. Anand Kr. Gupta (2000:Technip)
Mr. Digvijay Pratap Singh (2000: STM)
Mr. Shailesh (2000:IBAB)
Mr. Nityanand (2001:IOCL)
Mr. Shikher Kr. Gupta (2003:Induslogic)
Ms. Neha Jain (2003: HCL Tech)
Mr. Arvind Verma (2003: TCS)
Mr. Mihir Jha (2003:IPOLICY)
Mr. Shubha Agrawal (2003:Technip)
Mr. Girish Joshi (2004:BirlaSoft)
Mr. Kuldeep Chahal (2004:Motorola)
Mr.Anand Yadav (2004: Thomson Digital)
Mr. Satyajit Gupta (2004: Samtel Color Ltd.)
Mr.Ajay Singh(2004: BEL)
Mr. Pradeep (2004:Igate)

We have some minutes of meeting to discuss with the forum as:
To come up with a formal channel of communication between HBTI and HBTI_Alumni group. For example COPA or One representative from Training And Placement department can be assigned as prime person for contact in case of any information to be conveyed. For instance in NCR_Meet with us we have Mr. Mayank Bansal from Dabur who is interested in recruiting candidates from HBTI but have no clue to whom to contact.
No doubt Software and IT people are contributive and it is necessary too but we have to bring other branches of engineering in active participation too.
To come up with the database of NCR people out of which some of the people will be assigned for a committee to organize a chapter of HBTI_Alumini_Meet in NCR.
We have tentative plan to organize a Grand_AluminiMeet_NCR by 3rd Sunday of June’05. Last but not the least thanks to all Harcourtians and Digvijay Sir to make this event as a great success. Hope in future we will build up the strong bonding in between Harcourtian’s family and will come up with brilliant
potential.

Regards and Thanks.
Shubha Agrawal

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23rd May: TiE Networking Meeting with Promod Haque & Jerry Rudisin

"Dear Mr. Jain,

Please mark your calendar and register for an exciting TiE Networking Event With Promod Haque Managing Partner - Norwest Venture Partners, US & Jerry Rudisin CEO - Agitar Software, US.

Promod Haque has more than 15 years of experience in the venture capital industry and currently serves as managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners. He joined Norwest Venture Partners in 1990. Forbes named him as the # 1 venture capitalist based on performance over the last decade. He has been ranked as a top 10 dealmaker on the annual Forbes Midas List for the past three years. In 2004.

Promod focuses on investments in semiconductor and components, systems, software and services. Promod was an early investor and a board member in a number of companies.

Prior to Norwest Venture Partners, Promod spent 18 years in various operational roles ranging from product development, marketing, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer at various public and private companies - Siemens International, Thorn EMI, Emergent Technologies and Dimensional Medicine, Inc. He received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Delhi, India. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where he serves on the advisory board.

Promod Haque will deliver the Keynote Address.

Jerry Rudisin joined Agitar Software, as CEO in July 2003. Agitar Software a start up company was funded by Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates. Agitar is a leader in enterprise developer testing and based in Mountain View, California. Previously he was CEO of NightFire Software, a startup offering service management software to telecom carriers, from April 1999 to July 2003. Jerry led NightFire to profitability before selling the company in July 2003. Prior to NightFire, Jerry led marketing for almost eight years at Rational Software Corporation (now IBM Rational), joining when it was a private company with $28 million in revenue and leaving when it was a public company with $412 million in revenue and a $3 billion market capitalization. He was responsible for product and corporate marketing and sales support. Jerry earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of California at Los Angeles and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering/computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jerry Rudisin will talk on “Developer Testing: Bringing Manufacturing Maturity to Software Development".
Date : Monday 23rd May 2005
Time : 6.30 P.M
Place : Vijay Nagar Hall, Taj Residency, Bangalore
Event Sponsor : Agitar Software, US & Norwest Venture Partners, US
Co - Sponsors : Open-Silicon, Sonoa and veveo.tv
Non Member Fee : Rs. 400/-
Participation through registration: Contact Alfio Aquien at alfio AT tiebangalore.org or call 22120009 Xtn-185."

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Friday, May 13, 2005

Get a free Backpack Paramotor!

Check out Sculler's ad in today's Bangalore Times, The Times of India. Go, buy Scullers stuff before 19th June and get a 'microlight' free! Of course, they are wrong in calling it an 'aircraft/microlight', when it is actually a backpack paramotor (see more pics of the same 'device' at my site).

Okay, enough nitpicking, nice to see some indirect aviation promotion! Go, Scullers, Go!

(click on pic for bigger version)


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Perfect amount of dumb!

From bash.org
1
#blazemore# omg i love this song
#blazemore# Now playing: Unknown Artist - Track 2 @ 128 Kbps. (0:47/3:24)
#Javi# blazemore: yeah, that's a bad ass song

2
#YuFFie# SO U HACKING ME THEN HUH
#YuFFie# WElL I GOT NEWS FOR U MISTER I GOT MORE FIREWALL POWERS NOW SO IM SECURE AND IM USING WINDOWS 98 SO IM REALLY SECURE FROM HACKERS LIKE YOU SO YOU BETTA JUST GIVE UP CUZ U GOT NO HOPE MISTER.
* YuFFie (~mirc@3B942731.dsl.stlsmo.swbell.net) Quit (Quit: Owned.)
* YuFFie (~mirc@3B942731.dsl.stlsmo.swbell.net) has joined #
#YuFFie# HELP MY MOUSE IS MOVING BY IT SELF

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Thursday, May 12, 2005

Mumbai Ahoy!

I'd be in Mumbai during 14th(evening)-18/19th(evening) May, and I'd be staying at Hiranandani, Powai. So if you hapen to be anywhere around, text me (+91-9886178995) and we can catch up.

One of the items on agenda is HBTI Alumni meet.
Date: 15th May, Sunday
Time: 7PM
Venue: Galleria Mall, Hiranandani, Powai.

For participation confirmation/coordination, contact Ankush Kushwaha (ChE'03) at 98926 77670.

So far, confirmation of intent:
Ashok Tewari ChE '78
Capt.R.S.Gautam Mech'88
Ajay Gupta
Swati Agarwal
Vishal ChE '95
Amit Singh
"Amit said: I'm expecting, all the participants who were present there last time, to be present this time too.
Anil Gautam - CHE 99
Vipin Kumar - EE 99
Anand Bhushan - PT 99
Avinash Rai - PT 98
Binod Sir - PT 98
Manoj Khanna - ME 98
Ankush Kushwaha - CHE 2003
Sudhakar - CHE 99"

Mumbai, here I come.

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1/3rd of G3 in India

Joe Satriani (Satch) is coming to India! Also info from Joe's site itself.

Schedule
13th May 05 Mumbai MMRDA Grounds
15th May 05 Kolkatta Salt Lake Grounds
17th May 05 Bangalore Palace Grounds

Organizers: OpiumEvents

For booking tickets: Send mail to info@opiumevents.com. * Tickets also being sold by Planet M, the leading music store in India.

Oh Joe, you are definitely 'Not of This Earth'! Pity I wont be able to attend as I'd be in Mumbai on 17th :(

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Grievance on IIMs

Following is a mail I got from one of my website visitors. Although I dont quite fully agree with the mail (and the title of the mail is too strong definitely), there might be some validity in it. Especially because I have heard the same litany of complaints from other people too. To be fair to IIMs, which business organization doesn't encash on its brand equity? And yes, even though created by central-government and hence a governmental educaction entity, IIMs are business organizations too at one level. And hence, although I dont agree with the general feeling amongst industry executives that the burden of catering to all target segments at an affordable 'price tag' should fall (only) on IIMs, I think the real takeaway from this complaint mail is that we don't have enough quality executive education programmes/B-schools in India.

"-----Original Message-----
From: Amrita
To: webmaster anuragjain do t co m
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 12:11 AM
Subject: - Exploitation in Education -

Hi,

I want to bring to your attention, exorbitant fees charged by the IIMs and other top institutes in India for 'Executive Programs' (1-12 months) including those in association with DWGE (www.dwge.com).

The fees are very high and education loans are not available for the same. An ordinary working person aspiring to move up in his career cannot afford these executive education programs due to high fees and non-availability of loans.

The fees are high even in comparison to the full time MBA programs offered by these institutes. Even banks are not ready to give loan for these programs except for a two year MBA degree.

I would like to give you an example of such exploitation. Take the case of IIM, Bangalore. It charges Rs. 1.80.000 (non-residential) and Rs. 2.50.000 (residential) for a 10 weeks Fast Track General Management Program (for the year 2005).

The fees of Rs. 2.50.000 is almost double to that of one year fees (of the 2 yrs MBA degree) charged by IIM, Bangalore for an incomparable program of 10 weeks or 2.5 months. The content is also condensed. Also, there are no placements assistance offered for such programs.

The institute charges Rs. 70.000 for 2.5 months of stay in IIMB campus, whereas a MBA degree student pays just Rs. 1.50.000 for the whole year inclusive of all fees and accommodation. Hence wouldn't it be exploitation to charge such high fees and stay in the campus for an executive program.

Also, IIM Bangalore claims to have NOT hiked any fees for the year 2005. But they are charging Rs.2.50.000 (for the year 2005) for Fast Track General Management Programme in comparison to Rs. 2.00.000 (for the year 2004) AND Rs. 1.80.000 (for the year 2005) for Executive General Management Programme (in association with DWGE - www.dwge.com) in comparison to Rs. 1.50.000 (for the year 2004) they were charging the previous year.

These are just some examples and all top institutes are in this exploitation game. Steps like these along with non-availability of loans from banks only discourage an ordinary person aspiring to move up in his/her career and life.

It is disheartening to see that the management institutes are not bothered about people like us and just cater to the elitist !

The whole system of executive education in India is being exploited by the institutes and biased by the banks because nobody has raised a voice against them.

I request you to kindly contribute towards bringing to light such issues.

Amrita"

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Run for A Dream: Bangalore Marathon

"Dear Friend,

Thank you for your interest in the Lipton Bangalore International Marathon to be held in Bangalore on Sunday, May 15 2005. Thank you also for your interest to represent Dream A Dream at the Marathon.

The Lipton Bangalore International Marathon (LBIM), the first such international event in the city of an unprecedented scale, is all set to be staged on May 15, 2005. Encapsulating the highest standards of sportsmanship, grit and resilience, the Lipton Bangalore International Marathon will see participation from several top international and national marathon runners, besides active participation from the lively Bangaloreans.

Marathons worldwide are run for a Cause and this is no different. The 7-km Celebration Run is a Charity Run that gives every person from the community to participate and show their solidarity towards a cause. The Mumbai Marathon held earlier this year raised over Rs. 4.5 Crores for Charities in India and the Bangalore Marathon holds similar potential.

Here is how you can support Dream A Dream in the Bangalore Marathon

1. Register with Dream A Dream to participate in the Marathon. Forms are available at the Dream A Dream office. You can call 2224 7745 / 9342840763 or mail us at sunil_kumar_2003@yahoo.com . The registration fee is Rs. 150/-. Rs. 90/- will be contributed to Dream A Dream and Rs. 40/- would go to the organizers. Only, registration forms picked up from Dream A Dream will be eligible for support to Dream A Dream. Please ensure you pick up registration forms only from Dream A Dream

2. Spread this mail among your friends, colleagues and family and encourage them to register for the marathon and run in aid of Dream A Dream. Anyone, can run the Celebration Run. It is a non-competitive event. You can also choose to register and just be there to show your solidarity to the cause. You can decide not to run or complete the run.

3. Raise sponsorships / pledges for Dream A Dream. After you register with Dream A Dream, we will give you a pledge sheet. You can then speak to your boss, colleagues, friends, family and anyone else to pledge their support to you because you are running for a cause. For example, I am running the Bangalore Marathon and I asked my mom to pledge her support so she made a contribution of Rs. 500/- to my cause. I hope to raise Rs. 25,000/- from my pledges. There is no limit to how much you can raise. For the Mumbai Marathon, one person raised Rs. 1.4 Lakhs for Dream A Dream.

4. The pledges can be collected in Cash / Cheque (in favour of "Dream A Dream"). All pledges raised should be given to Dream A Dream by 12th May 2005. Please make note of the name, email, phone and address of the person pledging their support to you so that we can send them a receipt.

5. Anyone who raises Rs. 1000/- or more in pledges will receive a cool Dream A Dream Tshirt that they can wear on the day of the Marathon.

Dream A Dream has a target of 500 people running for Dream A Dream and raising Rs. 25 Lakhs through pledges. This is most definitely possible with our passion, grit and determination.

About Dream A Dream

At Dream A Dream, we work with diverse groups of under-privileged children. Integration of children from all sections of society through exposure and empowerment is the key focus of Dream A Dream. We are committed to protect, empower and integrate vulnerable children within communities and to enhance public awareness around children’s needs and issues. We are a registered Non Profit Trust recognized under Section 80G of the Income Tax rules where ch ildren and individuals from diverse backgrounds work together towards choosing an empowered future for themselves. For more info visit, www.dreamadream.org

All the funds raised through the Lipton International Bangalore Marathon will go towards building the "DREAM HOME" - a unique learning center for children from vulnerable communities where children will be exposed to activities such as sports, outdoor activities, creative arts and crafts, music, computers among others. The Dream Home will help us to reach out to over 2500 under-privileged children in Bangalore every year empowering with critical life-skills.

Participate, Get People to Participate and Pledge Support for it’s an unique opportunity to make a difference!"

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Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Kingfisher service Ready Reckoner

Kingfisher Airlines started flying yesterday. I dont know about low-cost, but they definitely ain't low-priced! Their lowest fares are higher than India's only LCC Air Deccan's highest fares! Anyhow, here are some of their service's features. The ones that are really important( or stand in sharp contrast to a typical LCC) have been marked red. The most surprising parts appear to be Home Delivery (payment at doorstep) and No monetary refunds!

# Have opened booking for one month only from start-of-flight date.
# Fares: Three fixed fare points!
a) Mumbai-Bangalore (3 flights a day, one-way) Fares:
3900(available upto June 09), 4900, 5900
b) Bangalore-Delhi (Starts June 6. 3 flights a day, one-way) Fares:
6900 (available upto July 10), 8900, 10900
# Payment Modes:
a) Master b) Visa c) Home Delivery
"This facility is brought to you in association with Expressit Logistics Worldwide Ltd... we will be at your doorstep within 24 hours to collect the payment and handover the itinerary receipt. You can make the payment either in cash or by using a credit card. This service is currently available only in designated areas of the cities mentioned in the drop down box."
# Have a lowest fare finder with color coding.
# TOLL FREE call centre number at 1600 1800 101. But this number unreachable from Hutch, Reliance, BSNL. The other number +91 124 284 4700 seems to be a Noida number.
# Booking engine doesn't ask for any address/city.
# Booking engine is at http://www.flykingfisher.biz and not at http://www.flykingfisher.com
# They call PAX as Guests.

Points from Contract of Carriage
# Refunds: through Credit Notes
"What is a credit note?: Cancellation of booked tickets or modifications in booking date / time is allowed upto 1 hour prior to a scheduled departure, for a predetermined seat release charge. A credit note will be generated for the balance amount of the cancelled / rebooked ticket; there will be no monetary refunds. The credit note will be valid for 12 months and can be used to make future bookings on Kingfisher Airlines."
# Seat Release Charge - "Seat Release is allowed upto One (1) hour prior to departure. In case of cancellation or rebooking, a flat fee of INR 300 will be charged as the Seat Release Charge for each modified segment per Passenger The amount to be refunded will be in the form of credit note."
# Seating - Seating will be assigned through advance reservations or during check-in process at the airport
# A Passenger can book online for up to nine (9) Passengers per booking.
# Modifications and Refunds - Once purchased online, changes or cancellation to this booking cannot be made online on www.flykingfisher.com or any other internet site.

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Youth Theatre Workshops

A bit late notification. But maybe you can still make it..

Harlequin announces it's 15 day Workshop on Theatre for the youth. Starting May 9th, the workshop is designed - on a larger level - to promote theatre practitioners as well as to generate theatre-going audiences among the youth.

The structure of the course includes
- A basic grounding in performance on stage.
- A practical understanding of the various aspects of theatre such as lighting, sound and production management and design.
- Field trips to different kinds of auditoriums in the city.
- The opportunity to actually put up a play to a public audience at Thespo, the annual Youth Theatre Festival which Harlequin conducts in conjunction with Q Theatre Productions, Mumbai.

On the whole, these 15 sessions will give any participant theoretical as well as practical knowledge on a complete theatrical production.

*Course details:*
Dates: May 9th to 27th (Excluding weekends)
Time: 11 am to 2 pm
Venue: Nani Arena, Centre for Film and Drama
5th floor, Sona Towers,
#71, Miller's Road,
Bangalore 560 052.
Course fees: Rs. 3,000/-
Age group: 16 to 21 years

For a registration form please email harlequin.ent@gmail.com For further details call 98453 73547 or 98452 72215.

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Sunday, May 08, 2005

Yesterday's Bangalore Harcourtians Meet

"It was a small and nice HBTI alumni meet we had yesterday. Total turnout was a 'grand' three Harcourtians :-) (a la Three Musketeers!). The reason for low turnout was late confirmation of venue on the group.

In attendance:
# Anurag Jain (ChE '94)
# Pradeep Singh (Electrical, '04).
# Satyendra Sinha (CS, 1989)

Three of us met over some beverages at Cafe Coffee Day in Koramangala (near BPCL Petrol Pump and Raheja Arcade). Discussed various industries before discussing Kanpur, HBTI, and HBTI's students and faculty. After that we moved to Aangan, a north Indian restaurant, which reminded us of food in Kanpur! Thanks Satyen for treating us to such delicious food. (But seriously, I still think that, we sould always share the meet expenses. An individual shouldn't pick up the tab. So in future, we'd follow that policy.)

During dinner, one of the interesting discussion topic was Ex-Directors of HBTI. From Dr V K Jain to Dr Vashisht to current director Prof R P Singh, we discussed it all. One piece of trivia that Satyen threw at us: HBTI was the second organization in India to get the "MicroVax II" computer (after DoT, I think?)! And it was all due to efforts of Dr V K Jain and Dr Vashisht.

Next meet will be organized soon (most probably May-end or mid June) and will be planned better and notified well in advance, so that more people can join in.

Best wishes,

Anurag"

Now some group HBTI_Alumni group statistics.

Started: May 16, 2003
Members Currently: 909
Messages so far: 3161
New members in last 7 days: 9
New messages in last 7 days: 41
File Area Usage: 32% of 20MB
Photo Area Usage: 61% of 30MB
Total Polls organized: 6 (4 closed, 2 still open)

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Saturday, May 07, 2005

Learning Calculus!

A friend sent this recently. Can't stop laughing!



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Hot and Happening Aviation

Ajit Ninan cogitates, cerebrates and then celebrates the happening aviaiton scenario with the following graphics in yesterday's Times of India.



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Friday, May 06, 2005

Larry Page's speech at UMich

Google co-founder and UMich graduate Larry Page gave the graduation speech at this year's College of Engineering graduation ceremony (via /.). You can download the MP3 file from here.

Neat speech. I liked the bit about a) Doing bigger things, b)about B-Schools, and c) about referring to India as an interesting travel destination. Some Excerpts (from a rough full speech transcript here).

# Doing bigger things is easier than doing smaller things. I know that sounds really strange but it turns out, if you do something really big, you can get other people to help you, and you can get more people to help you. You get more of the kind of resources that you need. So its worth thinking about those big things to get done in the world.

# (Edit: Its funny. laugh) I do want the parents up there to encourage the kids to take a little bit more risk. I think you should give your kids a little credit, and not just for graduating from Michigan engineering, which is the greatest engineering school in the world. [applause] But also, you should give them a little credit as in credit cards, all of these kids are going to make a lot of money, you don't have to worry.

# I almost didn't start Google because I was worried about risk, you know me leaving the PhD program. That was really pretty much all that was in my head. I could leave it, they wouldn't take me back, its not a big deal, its not like I would be out of a job, I would have a fine life if even if Google hadn't worked out.

# I know some of you will be going to business school. I know what its like in business school and I wanted to give you a plug. I think you don't really need to go to business school. You have a pretty rigorous education, much of this covers rocket science, but it does help us to have interests in business. [cheers] Yeah. Rocket Science. I'll talk about that in a minute. You basically just need the interest and read a lot of books. I read a whole bookshelf full of business books, and that's basically what I needed.

# I just want to give you two quick examples. One is the guy who started Bank of America, geovine. He actually started Bank of America because he was in a board meeting, he was a successful business man in another business. He was added to the board of a bank and got so upset with the way they were running the bank, that he stormed out, one day, of the board meeting, and he started his own bank, and is was really just out of, you know, just all anger that he did it. He thought that he should loan money to poor people. That turned out to work really well, he was really good at it, and he he basically helped san Francisco rebuild quickly after the earthquake. He started this whole huge institution which is now Bank of America. What's amazing to me, 20 years later, something like that Mohammad Unus in Bangladesh has done almost the same thing, and he's given out over 2 billion dollars now, $160 at a time to poor people. and been very successful, the money gets returned its a functioning business, he makes money, and its a very simple idea, just have banks for poor people. They need banking services too, they need loans, they need households, they need lots of things. Both have been very successful doing that. You all can do that, its not a really deep business strategy. Some of the biggest things are really like that.

# My advice to you, have confidence, fail often, have a healthy disregard for the impossible. You have a huge opportunity to use engineering, technology and businesses skill to improve the world. You should do things that matter, and you should have fun, because otherwise you wont succeed, and you should travel, and I suggest China, Africa and India there's lots of amazing things there.

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Thursday, May 05, 2005

"Aapki Soniya", sequel of "Tumhari Amrita"

Whenever there's a sequel happening, I am always reminded of this Finance case we had called Arundel Partners that I earlier wrote about. It was about the financial value of sequels. A classmate of mine, who is a movie buff, had made a great presentation of this case combining financial skills with his movie industry knowledge! Anyhoo, here goes.

"Airtel presents "Aapki Soniya" featuring Farooque Shaikh and Sonali Bendre, in support of India Foundation for the arts (IFA). This sequel of the appreciated play "Tumhari Amrita" will be performed in Bangalore on May 13th at 7 pm at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.

Co-sponsors: 3M, The Park, ING Mutual Funds, and Café Coffee Day. Written by Javed Siddiqi it is directed by Salim Arif, the art direction has been done by Sharmishta Roy well known for her work in films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge, Mohabbatein, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho.

IFA will raise funds for its grantmaking by selling donor passes for the performances. Donor Passes are available for Rs 1000, Rs 500 and Rs 300.

Online order from Fabmall: Click on this link or paste it on your browser. Telephone Order: Call Narinder at 51303030 between 9 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Saturday.

Donor passes are also available from May 3rd, at the following Café Coffee day outlets, Jayanagar (30902888), Koramangala(30903012), Indiranagar(30902935), Lavelle Road(30902889), Brigade Road(30902967), Fraser Town(30902886), Bangalore Central(30902788), Crosswords(30902885),
Malleswaram(30902971), Sadashivnagar(30902855) and also at Ambara,(Ulsoor - 25572829), Super Market (Brigade Road - 25581248) For limited Donor passes for Rs 1000/- and corporate/ group bookings call Joyce at 23610583/4 or email to us at contactus@indiaifa.org

For more information check our site at http://www.indiaifa.org. Watch Sonali Bendre and Farooque Shaikh in "Aapki Soniya" on May 13 at 7 pm at Chowdiah. Click for tickets NOW!!!"

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Common Man: Air Deccan's Brand Ambassador!

This info is from Air Deccan's Corporate Communications Press Release. Yesterday, Air Deccan launched Common Man as its brand ambassador. I think this must be one of the biggest branding coup in Indian business so far. Mr Laxman is much like Bill Watterson in his anti-commerce behaviour insofar that he has never allowed commercial interests to override his artistic interests. Accordingly, apart from maybe a very few one-off occurences of leasing Common Man for an advertisement, Mr Laxman has been highly reluctant to follow the commercial trail. Until the right opportunity came along, that is. There's an extraordinary extent of fit between his Common Man and Ar Deccan's mission and vision.

"
                                                                          


4 May 2005, Bangalore

Subject : Air Deccan announces launch of Mr R.K Laxman’s ‘Common Man’ as the brand ambassador

We started our journey with a dream. A dream inspired by just one statement. “I want every Indian to fly at least once in their lifetime”. - Capt Gopi

And after having flown over 1 million passengers, with a fleet of 17 aircrafts and 111 flights a day, we’re well on our way towards making the dream of an airline for the people a reality. While we were operationally working towards 60 more aircrafts being inducted into the fleet, we were also on the look out for someone who could be the face of the airline – someone who embodied our simplicity, no frill approach and the whole dream, someone whom our passengers could relate to, someone who will be an intrinsic part of our ‘peoples airline’ ….. and we came across Mr. R.K. Laxman’s ’Common Man’,

“The Common Man”, has been a silent observer to all the social and economic change in our country. ‘The Common Man’ who has in his silence voiced the thoughts of an entire nation, is today, by boarding our flight, telling us in his own silent way that the promise of a people’s airline is coming true.

Mr. R.K. Laxman, the creator of the ‘Common Man’, who is known to be a man of few words, said “My ‘Common Man’ is the voice of every Indian and I feel every Indian must fly regardless of their economic situation. I feel Captain Gopi’s vision for his airline, of empowerment of every Indian perfectly fits with the persona of the ‘Common Man’”.

Capt. Gopinath, Managing Director Air Deccan said, ”The ‘Common Man’ and Air Deccan share a commonality .. they are both ‘for the people, by the people‘, that’s where stemmed the idea of approaching Mr. Laxman . Mr. R.K Laxman does not part very easily with his ‘Common Man’ and has indeed honoured us by allowing us to use the ‘Common Man’ as our ambassador for the airline. Going forward, we believe that what will drive us is very simple: It is not what the common man can do for us but rather what Air Deccan can do for the ‘common man’.”

Mr R.K Laxman also suggested to Captain Gopinath that he should introduce fares beginning with Re 1. Captain Gopinath replied stating that he would definitely explore the possibility.

Is he our mascot? Is he our Icon? No. He is the embodiment of the spirit of Air Deccan. He represents what we stand for because he represents the sentiment of the people. And he will be used very much in character. He will be witness to the revolution in air travel in India and he will be witness to the “People” of this country taking to the skies.

We’ve delivered our promise of “everyone can fly” and are well on our way to truly becoming ‘The people’s airline.
"

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

I like monkeys.

Some real weird humor from here and here.

"I like monkeys.

The pet store was selling them for five cents a piece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand each. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200. I like monkeys.

I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really bright. They kept punching themselves in their genitals. I laughed. Then they punched my genitals. I stopped laughing.

I herded them into my room. They didn't adapt very well to their new environment. They would screech, hurl themselves off of the couch at high speeds and slam into the wall. Although humorous at first, the spectacle lost its novelty halfway into its third hour.

Two hours later I found out why all the monkeys were so inexpensive: they all died. No apparent reason. They all just sorta' dropped dead. Kinda' like when you buy a goldfish and it dies five hours later. Damn cheap monkeys.

I didn't know what to do. There were 200 dead monkeys lying all over my room, on the bed, in the dresser, hanging from my bookcase. It looked like I had 200 throw rugs.

I tried to flush one down the toilet. It didn't work. It got stuck. Then I had one dead, wet monkey and 199 dead, dry monkeys.

I tried pretending that they were just stuffed animals. That worked for a while, that is until they began to decompose. It started to smell real bad.

I had to pee but there was a dead monkey in the toilet and I didn't want to call the plumber. I was embarrassed.

I tried to slow down the decomposition by freezing them. Unfortunately there was only enough room for two monkeys at a time so I had to change them every 30 seconds. I also had to eat all the food in the freezer so it didn't all go bad.


I tried burning them. Little did I know my bed was flammable. I had to extinguish the fire.

Then I had one dead, wet monkey in my toilet, two dead, frozen monkeys in my freezer, and 197 dead, charred monkeys in a pile on my bed. The odor
wasn't improving.

I became agitated at my inability to dispose of my monkeys and to use the bathroom. I severely beat one of my monkeys. I felt better.

I tried throwing them way but the garbage man said that the city wasn't allowed to dispose of charred primates. I told him that I had a wet one. He couldn't take that one either. I didn't bother asking about the frozen ones.

I finally arrived at a solution. I gave them out as Christmas gifts. My friends didn't know quite what to say. They pretended that they like them but I could tell they were lying. Ingrates. So I punched them in the genitals.

I like monkeys."

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Playboy Needs IT Boy

Positions for CIO open at Playboy. Details here. From the requirements, "Reports to: Reports directly to the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer."

BAD idea. For a good business-IT alignment, CIO must report to CEO. No wonder Playboy has lost out in the digital game!

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Two funnies.

#1 From here:

"Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants."

#2 From here:

"Re:EMAIL ME IF YOU WANT THE FILE
Hello helpful person!
Could you please email 2 copies to me - one is for my cousin. "

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TiE Bangalore Networking Meeting on Wednesday 4th May 2005

"Dear Mr. Jain,

Please mark your calendar and register for an exciting TiE Networking Meeting on Wednesday, 4th May 2005.

"Converged IP Networks: New Opportunities"
Speaker:
William Howe, President and Chief Executive Officer, Azaire Networks, Inc.

Azaire Networks Inc. based in Santa Clara, California, enables mobile operators to cost-effectively offer integrated services anytime, anywhere through the implementation of hybrid networks. Azaire's solution, the IP Converged Network Platform, allows mobile operators to extend their 2.5G/3G footprint into WLAN coverage areas. Such solutions are in service today at multiple carriers worldwide. The company has offices in Germany, India and the Netherlands.

Bill Howe is a Founder of Azaire Networks. Earlier he served with different start up ventures. Prior to that, Bill held several positions with Intel Corporation over a period of nearly 20 years. He was President of Intel Japan from 1988 through 1993 growing the business to over $1 billion annual revenues. From 1994 through 1997, Bill served as the Vice President/General Manager of Intel's Flash Memory Division leading the effort to grow Intel's business in the mobile communications market. In 1998, he co-founded of Pacific Convergence Corporation, an Intel Capital funded joint venture with Pacific Century Group of Hong Kong, which eventually became Pacific Century Cyberworks.

Bill is frequently quoted in the media and industry analyst reports. He has also spoken at industry conferences including CTIA, IBC, Wi-FI Planet, Wireless Connectivity World, Wireless Ventures and other events.

Bill holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and a Master's of Business Administration from Harvard University.

Date : Wednesday 4th May 2005.
Time : 6.45 P.M
Place : West Minister, Windsor Sheraton & Towers, Bangalore
Sponsor : Azaire Network, Inc.
Non Member Fee : Rs. 300/-

Participation through registration: Contact Alfio Aquien at alfio AT tiebangalore.org or call 22120009 Xtn-185."

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Monday, May 02, 2005

Aircraft assembly line!

On Saturday, I visited Hosur (in Tamil Nadu) at an aircraft manufacturing facility. Indus Aviation is creating a whole new platform to promote General Aviation in India. And airplane manufacturing and selling is a part of those plans. Indus is getting Thorp T-211 manufactured at a private plane manufacturer's facility at Hosur. In India, there are no other private players in aircraft manufacturing. I think this could be the next opportunity where one can take advantage of the 'labour' arbitrage. Companies like Embraer of Brazil already are exploiting the principle by setting up manufatcuring facilities in China.

Anyhow, coming back to the visit, Indus' MD, Kiran Kota is a good friend and I'd been planning to visit the factory for quite sometime. Hence, when on Friday he asked me if I was free on Saturday, I jumped. On Saturday morning however, I got the address wrong for the Indus Aviation Complex and went wandering around Indiranagar 80 ft Road, when instead I had to be there at Koramangala 80 ft Road. Never mind that. Almost half an hour later, I was there with Kiran, and off we went. An hour or so later, we were at the Hosur factory. On the way to the factory, we passed TVS' plant and some other big companies manufacturing set-ups.

Once there, I was quite enthralled as this was my first visit to any sort of aviation manufacturing set-up. There was whole lot of different types of aircrafts being manufactured, ranging from their own to government's to 3-rd party planes. More about visit in pics (click on pics for bigger version).




Me With Indus Aviation's VT-IAS (not registered). They are gonna put this baby in their upcoming showroom.



Another snap with VT-IAS (not registered). This time with Engine!



In Indus Aviation's Thorp T-211 (N6524V). This was brought from the US, as you can ascertain from the registration number. Of course, you need FAA certification to fly it in India!


On the way back, Kiran's Qualis had a flat tyre, so we basked in the sun while Daniel, his driver changed the tyre. That's when Kiran told me that Daniel has got a MS Flight Simulator training certificate! Maan, they sure do follow participative management.

I would love to talk whole lot more about Indus' plans but lest they should ask me to sign me an NDA next time, lemme restrain myself. All I wanna say is that I am sure with Indus' plans (and planes), they are going to grow big, and soon!

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Sunday, May 01, 2005

Nikko: The Three Monkeys

Did you know that GandhiJi's three monkeys have a specific name in Japan? From IMDB Trivia, Nikko, the name of the head winged monkey (in WIzard of Oz), is the Japanese term for the Hear No Evil/See No Evil/Speak No Evil monkeys.

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Witty Repartee to a Funny Question

From our internal BBS:

"this question was asked by a pseud girl on the iim-a fresher e-group..look at the reply

Question : i need a cell cuz i want to stay in touch with my guy. also i may not be in my room/ be able to come to my room to make/take calls at all times, but i can always carry my cell with me anywhere!! ofcourse i will get std activated... but messagin u can do only thru a cell... i get teh point abt matchin networks to reduce cost... n here is my dilemma. my guy has an airtel connection my dad has a reliance phone my brother has idea and our home phone is a tata indicom. now what??? i need to have teh most cost effective way out... which wd be covenient fr my parents, bro and guy too!! help!!!

Answer: This is a very good query. I also faced a lot of problems when I came to IIMA because I wanted to stay in touch with my guy, bhains and bakri (If I had an elephant, it would have been a simple matter of making a trunk call). Considering the reverence that Indian culture accords to the bovine and the divine, staying in touch with cattle is a very important issue. One needs to only read the Hindi stories of Munshi Premchand, such as Heera Moti and Godaan to realize the deep bonds that people in the cowbelt have for their livestock. Of course, calling Munshi Premchand a Hindi writer is slightly misleading because his writings have a proliferation of Urdu words, reflecting the degree of intermixing between Urdu and Hindi in pre-independence Uttar Pradesh. The alphabet taught in schools during those days began with Aliph, which interestingly is a derivative of the Greek alpha, which had first made its presence felt in India during the times of Alexander and Selecus Nicator. And perhaps it is divine happenstance that Alexander the Great had to retreat from the Ganges, thereby completing the UP connection. However the Greek influence in India did not die out with him, his generals if you are still reading this then I can only wonder how exciting your work is established mini kingdoms from whatever they could salvage of his victories and particularly interesting is the case of the kingdom of Bactria (in present day Afghanistan), a Greek island in a South Asian sea. The great king Menander of Bactria is the same Milinda, the celebrated king who had a dialogue with the Buddhist sage Nagasena on the semantics of being.

But let me not digress from the core issue, which is your connectivity query. Well as you know, India has undergone a telecom revolution in the past 10 years or so. It all began with the reaking down of the monoploy of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the establishment of quasi-autonomous bodies like the MTNL and the VSNL. For the purpose of cellular communications, India is divided into a number of contiguous circles, which roughly correspond to the boundaries of the states (which is very convenient considering that the states of India were reorganized on a linguistic basis in the 1950s, thus going to ahow how farsighted our planners and statesmen were at the time). Initially, for reasons of viable competition, each circle could have 2 private operators and one network from either MTNL or BSNL. At the moment, I think 3 private operators are allowed and plans are to allow a further private player in a circle.

So what you need to do is, locate a map of India, find the telecom cirlces and identify the players operating there. Formulate a matrix to display this information and then apply the concepts of cost minimization (modified simplex method) to identify the optimal network combination for your needs.

Hope that helps.. "

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Mahamastakabhisheka 2006

From Ahmisa Times. Good to see the detailed programme. Now I can plan my trip for Mahamastakabhisheka 2006.

"PROGRAMME OF MAHAMASTHAKABHISHEKHA CELEBRATIONS
Shravanabelagola (Hassan District, Karnataka), The first Mahamasthakabhishekha of Bhagawan Bahubali of the 21st century will be held from 22nd January to 19th February, 2006. His Holiness Karmayogi Swastisri Charukeerthi Bhattarakha Swamiji the pontiff of Shravanabelagola disclosed it and added that Acharya Sri Vardhamansagar Maharaj who graced the previously held Mahamasthakabhishekha in 1993 will grace the present Mahamasthakabhishekha also.

DETAILED PROGRAM
January 22nd, 2006: Inauguration of the Mahotsav
January 22nd onwards, different functions, programmes and aradhanas.
February 4th: Panchakalyana begins.
February 8th: First Mahamasthakabhisheka with 108 Kalashas.
February 9th: Mahamasthakabhisheka with 504 Kalashas.
February 10th: Mahamasthakabhisheka with 1008 Kalashas.
February 11th: Sarvathobadhra Aradhana to 24 Tirthankara's at Bhandara Basadi.
February 12th, 13th: Mahamasthakabhisheka with 1008 Kalashas.
February 14th: Mahapooja to Sahasrakoota Jinabimba.
February 15th, 16th: Mahamasthakabhishekha with 1008 Kalashas.
February 17th: Jinavani Mahapooja.
February 18th, 19th: Mahamasthakabhisheka with 1008 Kalashas.

The Mahamasthakabhishekha celebration is held as a symbol of world peace and coexistence. Lakhs of devotees of Bahubali, acharyas and eminents from all over the world will participate in this historic event. It is expected that 25 lakhs of people will attend the Mahamasthakabhishekha. The arrangements are being made for 10,000 people to witness the event from Indragiri and 3 lakhs from Chandragiri hills.

It may be recalled that the Masthakabhishekhas were held in 1953, 1967, 1981 and 1993 in the post independent period. The dignitaries such as Indira Gandhi the former prime minister of India, Shankardayal Sharma the former president participated in the events. It is to note that Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India and Smt.Sonia Gandhi the A.I.C.C. president are expected to witness the Mahamasthakabhishekha. For more news updates please visit :www.jainheritagecentres.com"

Also, another interesting news:

"BHAGWAN MAHAVEER SERVICE APARTMENT AT BANGALORE
While traveling to Bangalore you can stay in service apartments at the most reasonable rates. All the rooms are very well furnished. All Jain temples are all near by with 10 to 20 minutes. ALL single and double rooms have a fully functional kitchen where you can cook your own food. Contact: Sundeep Raj Gadiya, BHagwan Mahaveer Service Apartments. E-mail : sunny_times_2000@yahoo.com"

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Aviation & Tourism Investor Summit

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation presents Aviation & Tourism Investor Summit, Mumbai, Grand Hyatt, 20-21 June 2005.

"This landmark event will showcase investment and supply chain opportunities in the region. It will also provide a platform for investors to highlight the necessary market conditions, returns, incentives and regulatory frameworks that will give them the confidence to commit funds and expertise."

For more details click on pic.

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