Recently in Newshour with Jim Leherer in PBS, there was a segment about poverty and they showed two contrasting books that talks about poverty...
One was "White Man's Burden" by NYU professor William Easterly and the other was "The End of Poverty" by Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs. The former book argues that the so called aid by "the West" is of not much use. The latter books basically says more aid is needed...
Here is an article "Can aid bring an end to poverty?" in BBC which talks more about this...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Venture money flowing to India
Here is a Financial Times article about "Venture capitalists descend on India"...
A group of venture capital funds from the UK and continental Europe have completed a fact-finding visit to India in their first big show of interest in a market that has been dominated by US and domestic companies.
More than 50 delegates from European companies such as Logitech, 3i, SAP Ventures, Nokia Ventures, Advent Venture Partners and Sofinnova made the trip, said Nish Kotecha of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a business association and one of the organisers of the visit.
They had about €7bn-€10bn ($8.8bn-$12.5bn) to invest in the global technology sector, including in India, Mr Kotecha said.
"I'd expect a good number of investments to come out of this over the course of the next couple of years," he said.
"It could become 10 per cent [of the €10bn] quite quickly."
Unlike private equity investment, the venture capital industry remains in its infancy in India.
Read on...
A group of venture capital funds from the UK and continental Europe have completed a fact-finding visit to India in their first big show of interest in a market that has been dominated by US and domestic companies.
More than 50 delegates from European companies such as Logitech, 3i, SAP Ventures, Nokia Ventures, Advent Venture Partners and Sofinnova made the trip, said Nish Kotecha of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a business association and one of the organisers of the visit.
They had about €7bn-€10bn ($8.8bn-$12.5bn) to invest in the global technology sector, including in India, Mr Kotecha said.
"I'd expect a good number of investments to come out of this over the course of the next couple of years," he said.
"It could become 10 per cent [of the €10bn] quite quickly."
Unlike private equity investment, the venture capital industry remains in its infancy in India.
Read on...
Here is one important piece of information
Here is an article in Moneycentral about how important it is to leave the key information (passwords, bank and other investment accounts etc) about yourself to a trust or a will.
Here are some excerpts...
"There's no question that online banking, electronic bill payment and personal-finance software make our lives easier.
Read on...
Here are some excerpts...
"There's no question that online banking, electronic bill payment and personal-finance software make our lives easier.
But could we be creating a digital mess for our heirs when we die?
One poster on the Your Money message board shared her family's trauma when her father died without divulging the passwords to his computer or online accounts.
"I am the co-executor of the trust and the most financially savvy of my siblings, so it was up to me to help mom. But what do you do without passwords?" poster Tuppermom asked. "And most companies don't just give you access -- it is a process that can take weeks and months (if they don't just say 'Oh -- he's deceased? OK, we'll close the account' and then NO ONE has access!!)."
Tuppermom's family got lucky when it stumbled upon a folder that contained passwords for some of her father's work-related accounts and one of his online banks. That provided enough clues to find and gain entry to most of his other accounts. The family's lawyers helped them get access to the rest, although the process took time.
The experience was so traumatic that Tuppermom and her family revised their own estate plans to include complete lists of online IDs and passwords for each of their accounts. Concern about identity theft and security, she wrote, shouldn't go so far that family members are left in the dark."
Read on...
Welch's advice to MIT students
GE icon dishes out blunt, politically incorrect advice to MBA students...
"Don't fall in love with your workers," a business instructor tells a student who's launching a small startup company. "If you've got 16 employees, at least two are turkeys."
It's hardly the only piece of blunt, politically incorrect advice the charismatic teacher dishes out in a windowless basement classroom filled with 30 MBA candidates, many of them hoping to eventually become CEOs. Wearing a blue blazer and checked shirt, the baldheaded instructor stands in front of a lecture table, rather than behind, through most of the 90-minute session, sharing his management ideas with a preacher's fervor.
If it sounds like the instructor is copping an I've-seen-it-all attitude, it's because he has reason to. He's Jack Welch."
Read on...
Here are some of his Classroom Quotes...
"Don't fall in love with your workers," a business instructor tells a student who's launching a small startup company. "If you've got 16 employees, at least two are turkeys."
It's hardly the only piece of blunt, politically incorrect advice the charismatic teacher dishes out in a windowless basement classroom filled with 30 MBA candidates, many of them hoping to eventually become CEOs. Wearing a blue blazer and checked shirt, the baldheaded instructor stands in front of a lecture table, rather than behind, through most of the 90-minute session, sharing his management ideas with a preacher's fervor.
If it sounds like the instructor is copping an I've-seen-it-all attitude, it's because he has reason to. He's Jack Welch."
Read on...
Here are some of his Classroom Quotes...
iPod revolution
Here is a story about iPod's impact on the culture, commerce and coolness...
"The iPod arrived in October 2001, bringing the promise of pleasure to a world in transformation from its comforting analog roots to a disruptive digital future. But no one expected that the iPod would become the signature artifact of our young century, selling more than 60 million units in its first five years. No one envisioned vast swaths of humanity escaping reality via the White Earbud Express. And no one would ever have believed that a 2005 survey would report that the iPod is more popular on college campuses ... than beer."
Read on ...
"The iPod arrived in October 2001, bringing the promise of pleasure to a world in transformation from its comforting analog roots to a disruptive digital future. But no one expected that the iPod would become the signature artifact of our young century, selling more than 60 million units in its first five years. No one envisioned vast swaths of humanity escaping reality via the White Earbud Express. And no one would ever have believed that a 2005 survey would report that the iPod is more popular on college campuses ... than beer."
Read on ...
Micro Financing: Mohammed Yunus
Newsweek has been covering Grameen Bank extensively for the past decade... Here they are rightfully boasting their coverage about the bank, its founder and its pioneering work to help poor people out of poverty...
"From its humble beginnings more than 20 years ago as a new kind of lending institution that has made loans of as little as one dollar to poor people looking for simple ways-buying a cow, or some small farm equipment—to better their lives, the Grameen Banks of Bangladesh has become a major force in lifting people out of poverty. It’s not charity—the bank has been profitable in all but three years-but a lending revolution that has made a total of $5.72 billion in these “microcredit” loans. NEWSWEEK has been writing for years about Grameen and its founder, economist Mohammed Yunus, winners Friday of the Nobel Peace Prize. Below is some of our coverage:"
Read on ...
Here is a video about MicroFinancing from my professor Dr. Bhagwan Chowdhry... He discusses about how to make micro financing accessible to more down trodden villagers in poor countries like Bangladesh, India etc. He talks about the idea of "Village Money Lenders", with a different role than their notorious predecessors (who used to charge poor with an interest rate of 30-50% per day because of lack of collaterals) had. Money to these lenders (with reasonable collaterals) will be lended by bigger banks and these lenders will in turn lend smaller amounts to the poor people at a lower and reasonable interest rates...
Here is a BBC story about how poor peasants in India commit suicides because of huge debt...
"From its humble beginnings more than 20 years ago as a new kind of lending institution that has made loans of as little as one dollar to poor people looking for simple ways-buying a cow, or some small farm equipment—to better their lives, the Grameen Banks of Bangladesh has become a major force in lifting people out of poverty. It’s not charity—the bank has been profitable in all but three years-but a lending revolution that has made a total of $5.72 billion in these “microcredit” loans. NEWSWEEK has been writing for years about Grameen and its founder, economist Mohammed Yunus, winners Friday of the Nobel Peace Prize. Below is some of our coverage:"
Read on ...
Here is a video about MicroFinancing from my professor Dr. Bhagwan Chowdhry... He discusses about how to make micro financing accessible to more down trodden villagers in poor countries like Bangladesh, India etc. He talks about the idea of "Village Money Lenders", with a different role than their notorious predecessors (who used to charge poor with an interest rate of 30-50% per day because of lack of collaterals) had. Money to these lenders (with reasonable collaterals) will be lended by bigger banks and these lenders will in turn lend smaller amounts to the poor people at a lower and reasonable interest rates...
Here is a BBC story about how poor peasants in India commit suicides because of huge debt...
Red wine may help prevent stroke damage
A couple glasses a day could protect the brain, mouse studies suggest...
"Red wine might work to protect the brain from damage after a stroke and drinking a couple of glasses a day might provide that protection ahead of time, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
In an effort to better understand how red wine works, the scientists from Johns Hopkins University fed mice a moderate dose of a compound found in red grape skins and seeds before inducing stroke-like damage.
They discovered that the animals suffered less brain damage than similarly damaged mice who were not treated with the compound, which is called resveratrol."
Read on...
"Red wine might work to protect the brain from damage after a stroke and drinking a couple of glasses a day might provide that protection ahead of time, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
In an effort to better understand how red wine works, the scientists from Johns Hopkins University fed mice a moderate dose of a compound found in red grape skins and seeds before inducing stroke-like damage.
They discovered that the animals suffered less brain damage than similarly damaged mice who were not treated with the compound, which is called resveratrol."
Read on...
California Time Bomb - Newsweek
This place (Santa Susana Pass) is in between San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. I lived in San Fernando Valley for almost 5 years...
A new study says a 1959 meltdown at a rocket-testing facility may have caused as many as 1,800 cancer cases.
"Now, results of a new independent study released last week on the impact of the Rocketdyne event lend credence to Johnson’s suspicions and underscore the potentially dramatic effects that a single environmental mishap can have even decades later.
Among the findings of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel Study, which was funded by both the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Environmental Protection Agency: that from 260 to as many as 1,800 cancers in the area—many more than had previously been thought—could potentially be attributed to the radioactive material. What’s more, the study found, chemical and radioactive waste from the plant have polluted soil and groundwater in the vicinity. I
n a statement, Boeing, which now owns Rocketdyne but didn’t at the time of the 1959 accident, said an initial review of the five-year, federally funded research effort found it to have “significant flaws” and called the claims about the impact of the radioactive material “baseless, without scientific merit, and a great disservice to our employees and the community.” Johnson says that with the latest study in hand, she and other neighbors are now meeting with lawyers and may file suit against Boeing."
Read on...
A new study says a 1959 meltdown at a rocket-testing facility may have caused as many as 1,800 cancer cases.
"Now, results of a new independent study released last week on the impact of the Rocketdyne event lend credence to Johnson’s suspicions and underscore the potentially dramatic effects that a single environmental mishap can have even decades later.
Among the findings of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Advisory Panel Study, which was funded by both the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Environmental Protection Agency: that from 260 to as many as 1,800 cancers in the area—many more than had previously been thought—could potentially be attributed to the radioactive material. What’s more, the study found, chemical and radioactive waste from the plant have polluted soil and groundwater in the vicinity. I
n a statement, Boeing, which now owns Rocketdyne but didn’t at the time of the 1959 accident, said an initial review of the five-year, federally funded research effort found it to have “significant flaws” and called the claims about the impact of the radioactive material “baseless, without scientific merit, and a great disservice to our employees and the community.” Johnson says that with the latest study in hand, she and other neighbors are now meeting with lawyers and may file suit against Boeing."
Read on...
Ethics in Business
Buffett warns his top executives to avoid temptation...
Don't be a lemming.
That, in short, is Warren Buffett's warning to top executives at his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
In a Sept. 27 memo, Buffett cautioned managers that many corporate scandals arise because questionable activity is accepted as normal behavior. He said the rationale that ''everyone else is doing it'' is not acceptable. Rather, it should raise a red flag.
Read on...
Don't be a lemming.
That, in short, is Warren Buffett's warning to top executives at his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
In a Sept. 27 memo, Buffett cautioned managers that many corporate scandals arise because questionable activity is accepted as normal behavior. He said the rationale that ''everyone else is doing it'' is not acceptable. Rather, it should raise a red flag.
Read on...
Let 'em play...
Harried parents urged to let their kids just play - Pediatricians offer prescription for old-fashioned fun...
"Here’s some soothing medicine for stressed-out parents and overscheduled kids: The American Academy of Pediatrics says what children really need for healthy development is more good, old-fashioned playtime.
Many parents load their children’s schedules with get-smart videos, enrichment activities and lots of classes in a drive to help them excel. The efforts often begin as early as infancy.
Spontaneous, free play — whether it’s chasing butterflies, playing with “true toys” like blocks and dolls, or just romping on the floor with mom and dad — often is sacrificed in the shuffle, a new academy report says."
Read on...
"Here’s some soothing medicine for stressed-out parents and overscheduled kids: The American Academy of Pediatrics says what children really need for healthy development is more good, old-fashioned playtime.
Many parents load their children’s schedules with get-smart videos, enrichment activities and lots of classes in a drive to help them excel. The efforts often begin as early as infancy.
Spontaneous, free play — whether it’s chasing butterflies, playing with “true toys” like blocks and dolls, or just romping on the floor with mom and dad — often is sacrificed in the shuffle, a new academy report says."
Read on...
Homework outsourced!!
US homework outsourced to India
Private tutors are a luxury many American families cannot afford, costing anywhere between $25 to $100 an hour. But California mother Denise Robison found one online for $2.50 an hour -- in India.
"It's made the biggest difference. My daughter is literally at the top of every single one of her classes and she has never done that before," said Robison, a single mother from Modesto.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, is one of 1,100 Americans enrolled in Bangalore-based TutorVista, which launched U.S. services last November with a staff of 150 "e-tutors" mostly in India with a fee of $100 a month for unlimited hours.
Read on...
Private tutors are a luxury many American families cannot afford, costing anywhere between $25 to $100 an hour. But California mother Denise Robison found one online for $2.50 an hour -- in India.
"It's made the biggest difference. My daughter is literally at the top of every single one of her classes and she has never done that before," said Robison, a single mother from Modesto.
Her 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, is one of 1,100 Americans enrolled in Bangalore-based TutorVista, which launched U.S. services last November with a staff of 150 "e-tutors" mostly in India with a fee of $100 a month for unlimited hours.
Read on...
India's infrastructure woes...
India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that the country needs to spend $320 Billion in the next 5 years to maintain the current economic growth rate.
"The quality and capacity of our infrastructure is certainly a matter of concern to one and all," the prime minister said. Singh added substantial private sector investment would be needed to deal with India's infrastructure "deficit".
Here is a Financial Times column about "Engaging India: Infrastruture and Dengue"...
"While manufacturers are attracted to India’s low-cost environment and burgeoning domestic market, they are worried about moving their goods – be it cars, mobile phones or textiles – through the country’s poor network of roads, overburdened airports and clogged ports. Power cuts can force business to a grinding halt. Notably, software, outsourcing services and telecommunications, India’s leading industries, have flourished partly because they are unfettered by the constraints of transportation."
"The quality and capacity of our infrastructure is certainly a matter of concern to one and all," the prime minister said. Singh added substantial private sector investment would be needed to deal with India's infrastructure "deficit".
He said road, rail, air and water transport, electric power, telecommunications, water supply and irrigation needed investment of about 320 billion dollars between 2007-12."
"Singh singled out the country's power sector as one of the biggest economic trouble spots and asked India's states to take immediate steps to make the sector financially viable.
He said high transmission and distribution losses accounted for almost 40 per cent of the electricity produced. No civilised society, nor a functional commercial entity, can sustain losses on such a scale," he said."
Here is a Financial Times column about "Engaging India: Infrastruture and Dengue"...
"While manufacturers are attracted to India’s low-cost environment and burgeoning domestic market, they are worried about moving their goods – be it cars, mobile phones or textiles – through the country’s poor network of roads, overburdened airports and clogged ports. Power cuts can force business to a grinding halt. Notably, software, outsourcing services and telecommunications, India’s leading industries, have flourished partly because they are unfettered by the constraints of transportation."
Gandhigiri - Revival of Gandhism
It took a comedy to revive Gandhi's ideals in India...
Here is a story about a Bollywood mega hit "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (a hindi movie) in Christian Science Monitor...
"On Oct 2nd, India paused to remember the life of Mohandas Gandhi. Like every year on this national holiday commemorating the birth of the Father of India, there were grand words, garlands, and one nagging question: Is this little man, swaddled in homespun cloth and armed only with his own reason, still relevant in an India of Internet millionaires and nuclear weapons?"
"This year, an answer and a revival of sorts has come from a most unexpected source - a Bollywood comedy about a witless Mumbai gangster.
Here is a story about a Bollywood mega hit "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (a hindi movie) in Christian Science Monitor...
"On Oct 2nd, India paused to remember the life of Mohandas Gandhi. Like every year on this national holiday commemorating the birth of the Father of India, there were grand words, garlands, and one nagging question: Is this little man, swaddled in homespun cloth and armed only with his own reason, still relevant in an India of Internet millionaires and nuclear weapons?"
"This year, an answer and a revival of sorts has come from a most unexpected source - a Bollywood comedy about a witless Mumbai gangster.
Puneet Sood, a smartly dressed software analyst fresh out of college, says he "could never relate to Gandhi before this movie." Yet "Lage Raho Munnabhai," with its light-hearted take on a gangster's conversion to Gandhian nonviolence, is providing the perfect antidote to decades of solemn ceremonies and austere textbooks, which have increasingly cast Gandhi as a museum piece of impractical ideals.
For some young Indians, it has been a call to action. For example, college students in Lucknow recently abandoned a history of violent protests in favor of handing out flowers - a tactic taken directly from the film. Far more, however, echo the feelings of Mr. Sood when he says that this Oct. 2, he looked at Gandhi with new eyes - perhaps not converted, but certainly understanding better why a nation in crisis came to call him "Bapu," father."
Knowledge Assets - UCLA Anderson Management Videos
Here are some good Video Insights from the professors of UCLA Anderson and other distinguished speakers...
Didn't know it existed till today (shame on me - being a UCLA Anderson student). And guess what it was pointed out by a USC Marshall student :)
One suggestion to the folks who manage this site is to show the recorded date for each video.
Didn't know it existed till today (shame on me - being a UCLA Anderson student). And guess what it was pointed out by a USC Marshall student :)
One suggestion to the folks who manage this site is to show the recorded date for each video.
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Four Costliest Lending Mistakes
Here are, according to Suze Orman, the four pitfalls to avoid when lending money to someone you love...
"It's never easy to say no to someone you love, especially when they come to you in need of cash. But lending a financial hand can leave you out of money and out of sorts with your friends and relatives.
I often hear from people who have loaned money to someone they care about deeply, only to have to deal with the fallout when they don't get repaid."
"It's never easy to say no to someone you love, especially when they come to you in need of cash. But lending a financial hand can leave you out of money and out of sorts with your friends and relatives.
I often hear from people who have loaned money to someone they care about deeply, only to have to deal with the fallout when they don't get repaid."
Google gobbles up Youtube
OK folks,
Its official... Google is buying Youtube for 1.65 Billion in an all-stock deal.
"Internet search leader Google is snapping up YouTube for $1.65 billion, brushing aside copyright concerns to seize a starring role in the online video revolution.
Here are some naysayers...
Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks, says "It will be interesting to see what happens next and what happens in the copyright world. I still think Google lawyers will be a busy, busy bunch. I don't think you can sue Google into oblivion, but as others have mentioned, if Google gets nailed one single time for copyright violation, there are going to be more shareholder lawsuits than Doans has pills to go with the pile-on copyright suits that follow. Think maybe how Google discloses what they perceive the copyright risk to be in the SEC filings might be an interesting read?"
New York Times thinks that there were eerie echoes of the late 1990’s boom time. "A profitless Web site started by three 20-somethings after a late-night dinner party is sold for more than a billion dollars, instantly turning dozens of its employees into paper millionaires. It sounds like a tale from the late 1990’s dot-com bubble, but it happened yesterday."
Here are some yaysayers...
Newsweek says "Crazy - but it might make sense"..
CNN goes one step further and predicts that it one of the many such investments Google is going to make. It says, "During a conference call, Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt said the YouTube deal would be one of "many investments" that Google planned to make in online video. He added that the combination of Google and YouTube would make Google more desirable to advertisers.
Its official... Google is buying Youtube for 1.65 Billion in an all-stock deal.
"Internet search leader Google is snapping up YouTube for $1.65 billion, brushing aside copyright concerns to seize a starring role in the online video revolution.
The all-stock deal announced Monday unites one of the Internet’s marquee companies with one of its rapidly rising stars. It came just a few hours after YouTube unveiled three separate agreements with media companies to counter the threat of copyright-infringement lawsuits."
As expected, you can hear both yays and nays with respect to this deal...Here are some naysayers...
Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks, says "It will be interesting to see what happens next and what happens in the copyright world. I still think Google lawyers will be a busy, busy bunch. I don't think you can sue Google into oblivion, but as others have mentioned, if Google gets nailed one single time for copyright violation, there are going to be more shareholder lawsuits than Doans has pills to go with the pile-on copyright suits that follow. Think maybe how Google discloses what they perceive the copyright risk to be in the SEC filings might be an interesting read?"
New York Times thinks that there were eerie echoes of the late 1990’s boom time. "A profitless Web site started by three 20-somethings after a late-night dinner party is sold for more than a billion dollars, instantly turning dozens of its employees into paper millionaires. It sounds like a tale from the late 1990’s dot-com bubble, but it happened yesterday."
But the purchase price has also invited comparisons to the mind-boggling valuations that were once given to dozens of Silicon Valley companies a decade ago. Like YouTube, those companies were once the Next Big Thing, but some soon folded.
Google, with a market value of $132 billion, can clearly afford to take a gamble with YouTube, but the question remains: How to put a price tag on an unproven business?
“If you believe it’s the future of television, it’s clearly worth $1.6 billion,” Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, said of YouTube. “If you believe something else, you could write down maybe it’s not worth much at all.”
Washington Post warns, "Behind the buzz of the high-priced deal come a number of gambles, including a large amount of copyrighted material on the site that attracted both viewers who shared the videos and lawyers who cried foul on behalf of the copyright holders. Clips of popular shows such as "South Park," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "Laguna Beach" can be found on the site.Also a factor is the fickleness of YouTube's online audience, which could migrate elsewhere or become turned off by the large amount of corporate advertising making its way onto the site. A year after online star MySpace.com, a social networking site, was acquired by News Corp. for $580 million, the core audience has shifted from teenagers to people in their thirties.
"The game back in the 1990s to 2001 was to attract as many eyeballs as possible. That hasn't changed," said Tim Bajarin, a longtime technology consultant and futurist with Creative Strategies. "The big difference today is the social network. One of the most powerful methods for spreading information is word of mouth, and the incredible explosion of that use, from spreading information and inviting people, especially within this young age group, is one huge difference."
Here are some yaysayers...
Newsweek says "Crazy - but it might make sense"..
CNN goes one step further and predicts that it one of the many such investments Google is going to make. It says, "During a conference call, Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt said the YouTube deal would be one of "many investments" that Google planned to make in online video. He added that the combination of Google and YouTube would make Google more desirable to advertisers.
"This is just the beginning of an Internet video revolution," he said.
There is some debate about whether or not YouTube or other user-generated video sites will be able to attract the interest of top advertisers. But Tancer said that big corporations may be forced to start spending on ads tied to such clips."
Goolge Gives It Gas... says theStreet.com.
Disclaimer: I hope this deal works out well.. I own google shares...Saturday, October 07, 2006
Cerritos. Traffic. Los Angeles.
We went to Cerritos today to do some Indian shopping. My wife wanted to get some jewelry for our daughter. The traffic, however was very bad and it took almost an hour and a half to get there. By the time we reached Artesia (Little India), all the jewelry shops had already closed (They close at 7:30 pm on Saturdays??)... Reduced some tempers by promising to take her back before Deepavali.
We had dinner at Tirupathi Bhimas... I had Sambhar Vada and Parotta kurma. My wife ordered a mini-tiffin. My parents-in-law each had Rava dosa. Sambhar vada was not very good. The vadas were too hard and were not soaked well in the sambhar. Also, the sambar idli that came with the mini-tiffin was kind of disappointment. Earlier, they used to serve mini-idlis soaked in sambar. But this time it was just the plain idli. Otherwise the food was pretty good. I would say the best South Indian Vegetarian food in Southern California. Saravana Bhavan is still the best food of this kind in California (may be in the US).
The main culprit for the traffic jam was the games that were going on today in LA. UCLA played Arizona, USC played Washington and Dodgers played their last game of the season :( against Mets.
We had dinner at Tirupathi Bhimas... I had Sambhar Vada and Parotta kurma. My wife ordered a mini-tiffin. My parents-in-law each had Rava dosa. Sambhar vada was not very good. The vadas were too hard and were not soaked well in the sambhar. Also, the sambar idli that came with the mini-tiffin was kind of disappointment. Earlier, they used to serve mini-idlis soaked in sambar. But this time it was just the plain idli. Otherwise the food was pretty good. I would say the best South Indian Vegetarian food in Southern California. Saravana Bhavan is still the best food of this kind in California (may be in the US).
The main culprit for the traffic jam was the games that were going on today in LA. UCLA played Arizona, USC played Washington and Dodgers played their last game of the season :( against Mets.
Viral Infection outbreak in India...
At present, India is facing sort of epidemic because of two viral diseases that is spreading very fast...
In the north, Dengue fever has proved to be fatal killing upto 20 people in and around Delhi...
"Dengue fever (IPA: ['deŋgeɪ]) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics, with a geographical spread similar to malaria. Caused by one of four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae, each serotype is sufficiently different that there is no cross-protection and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyperendemicity) can occur. Dengue is transmitted to humans by the mosquito Aedes aegypti (rarely Aedes albopictus)."
Here is the news about Dengue fever...
In the south, it is Chikungunya. Although not fatal, many people have been affected because of this viral fever. Even my grandma is one of them. She is suffering from severe arthiritis pain because of this. The doctors have told her that she will be having this joint pain for weeks if not for months :(
"Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus (Tiger mosquito). This was the cause of the actual plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to the Mediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetings of health officials in France, Italy, and Spain."
Here is Indian Government's notification...
"As confirmed cases of both dengue and chikungunya continued to rise, the Union Government on Saturday said the country would remain vulnerable to both till November — when temperatures are expected to dip — and sought citizens' help in containing the "public health situation.""
More...
In the north, Dengue fever has proved to be fatal killing upto 20 people in and around Delhi...
"Dengue fever (IPA: ['deŋgeɪ]) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics, with a geographical spread similar to malaria. Caused by one of four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae, each serotype is sufficiently different that there is no cross-protection and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyperendemicity) can occur. Dengue is transmitted to humans by the mosquito Aedes aegypti (rarely Aedes albopictus)."
Here is the news about Dengue fever...
In the south, it is Chikungunya. Although not fatal, many people have been affected because of this viral fever. Even my grandma is one of them. She is suffering from severe arthiritis pain because of this. The doctors have told her that she will be having this joint pain for weeks if not for months :(
"Chikungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, though recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris claims the virus has suffered a mutation that enables it to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus (Tiger mosquito). This was the cause of the actual plague in the Indian Ocean and a threat to the Mediterranean coast at present, requiring urgent meetings of health officials in France, Italy, and Spain."
Here is Indian Government's notification...
"As confirmed cases of both dengue and chikungunya continued to rise, the Union Government on Saturday said the country would remain vulnerable to both till November — when temperatures are expected to dip — and sought citizens' help in containing the "public health situation.""
More...
Wipro
Here is an impressive story of how Azim Premji transformed a mediocre vegetable oil company to a IT outsourcing powerhouse...
Rean on...
Also Morarji Desai's ultra-socialist policies had some positive effects...
Says Premji, "As the years went on, I oversaw Wipro's diversification into other products, including soaps, wax and tin containers. But things really changed in 1977, when IBM left the country after India's then-socialist government required them to have a staff that was at least 60% Indian.
"That opened the door for home-grown computer scientists and stepped up the government's push for increased computer education throughout the country.
"We seized that moment and began to find ways to capitalize on the computer's growing popularity and utility. By 1981, Wipro was producing its own computer. That profoundly changed my family's company.
"It changed me, too. When I started out in business, I was an electrical engineering student. In 1994, I went back and finally finished my bachelor's degree."
Rean on...
Also Morarji Desai's ultra-socialist policies had some positive effects...
Says Premji, "As the years went on, I oversaw Wipro's diversification into other products, including soaps, wax and tin containers. But things really changed in 1977, when IBM left the country after India's then-socialist government required them to have a staff that was at least 60% Indian.
"That opened the door for home-grown computer scientists and stepped up the government's push for increased computer education throughout the country.
"We seized that moment and began to find ways to capitalize on the computer's growing popularity and utility. By 1981, Wipro was producing its own computer. That profoundly changed my family's company.
"It changed me, too. When I started out in business, I was an electrical engineering student. In 1994, I went back and finally finished my bachelor's degree."
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