By Jagdish Bhagwati
more at projectsyndicate
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday held a meeting with senior Cabinet colleagues ahead of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee submitting its report on Telangana. The panel's term ends on Friday.
The meeting, attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, discussed the options available and the political fall-out in case the demand for a separate State was accepted, official sources said.
It also discussed the security arrangements for Andhra Pradesh to meet any law and order situation. The Centre has sent 5,000 security personnel to the State to deal with any emergency.
more at thehindu
One is numbed to a stupor — the magnitude and the brazenness of it all. And not to speak of the convoluted logic belted out to defend the indefensible and stonewall: well, nothing exceptional, for like day following night, after the crime comes the belligerence!
The CWG scam, the Adarshgate scam, the 2G Spectrum scam, the Karnataka land scam — the litany goes on and on; every bit surreal and growing. Each is as unconscionable as the other and something that modern India had never ever had seen before and, hopefully, never will, in future.
Lest anyone has any qualms and reservations about a humble unelected and unelectable individual like me making bold to write about these touch-me-nots and question-me-nots that bristle everywhere and riddle everything, let me make it clear upfront that I write this as a lay citizen of this country and that I have an inalienable right and a bounden duty to do so.
more at expressbuzz
For scams, whose total size runs into 13-digit numbers, the names they are known by are short -- 2G, CWG and IPL.
Going by the estimated size of these scams, the total for the year 2010 could be well beyond Rs 2,00,000 crore -- a 13-digit figure -- although much of the loss is presumptive in nature.
The scam with the shortest name -- 2G -- alone, according to various accounts, deprived the government coffers of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in potential revenue.
2G is the acronym for second generation mobile telephony and it ran into a scam cloud over allocation of spectrum, or radio waves, at prices that were not market-determined.
more at rediff
more at indiatoday
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began interrogating a former telecoms minister A. Raja on Friday in the country's biggest corruption case, a move the government hopes will help ease a crippling political row with the opposition.
Here are details on four major scandals that have broken out recently:
TELECOMS LICENCE ROW
India may have lost up to $39 billion in revenue when the telecoms ministry gave out lucrative licences and radio spectrum in 2007/08 at below-market prices, the state auditor has said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) report last month also said rules were flouted when the licences were given out which led to many ineligible firms getting licences.
more at deccanchronicle
The best possible solution is to treat the greed virus with available spiritual tools.
It is an irony that an ancient civilisation like India where highest human values like universal love, environment worship, Nara-Naryana (God in every human being), charity, kindness, bravery and forgiveness was taught; where a hungry child fondly shares a loaf of bread with a street dog, has produced a self-centred and greed infested society. The societal behaviour change to lead a lavish lifestyle contributes to the growth of scamstars like Harshad Mehta, Ramalinga Raju, Ketan Parekh, P S Subramanium of UTI scam, Bhansali, Sanjay Agrawal, Rastogi, Telgi, Dalmia and Goyal who plundered more than Rs 16,000 crore from Indian public. The 2 G scam of Rs 1.74 lakh crore size has paralysed the winter session of parliament. Scams are popping from time to time. Fodder scam, mining scam, Noida land scam, Adarsh Housing Society scam, LIC Housing finance scam, MFI scam and the list is getting longer. It seems there is something terribly wrong in our family, schools, educational institutions and organisational culture which have sown the seeds of greed and negligence in the minds of our youth. It is not the means but the ends to acquire wealth becomes the governing principle.
more at deccanherald
Transparency International’s latest corruption rankings which showed India as having slipped three ranks did nothing to move us. No body really understands these rankings. But when the outgoing Chief Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha said that almost one-third of Indians were “utterly corrupt “and half were “borderline”, we couldn’t but agree. His remarks came at a time when India was perhaps passing through the worst phase in its scandal-ridden history. The numbers – of scams and zeroes – continues to increase as we end this decade, forcing us to call 2010 the year of corruption.
While Indians know that their politicians can’t keep their laundary clean, what really hit us bad was that even the game of cricket, the country’s Army as well as journalists were not spared the blot. While the ownership patterns of the Indian Premier League’s teams was questioned and cost Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor their powerful posts, real estate scams in Maharashtra and Chandigarh seems to have sullied the image of the Army or at least those associated with it. The Nira Radia tapes have left many top journalists and business honchos red-faced for exposing an allegedly sinister nexus between politicians-businesses-media. This inturn is part of the mega 2G spectrum allocation scam attributed to former Telecom Minister A Raja, which has even raised questions on the PM’s authority as also his silence. Another fall out of the 2G juggernaut is that perhaps for the first time in our history, the credibility of the CVC too is under scanner.
more at zeenews
India's main opposition alliance is due to hold a major demonstration against alleged corruption involving the ruling Congress-party led government.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led group plans to hold anti-sleaze protests in Delhi and across the country.
India has been rocked by a slew of high-profile corruption cases.
Among them is an alleged telecoms scandal in which phone licences were sold for a fraction of their value.
Ex-telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, who resigned over the scandal, is expected to be questioned soon by India's top investigation agency, the CBI.
Mr Raja, who denies any wrongdoing, is a member of the DMK party, a member of the Congress-led ruling coalition.
Parliament has been deadlocked over opposition demands for a major inquiry.
more at bbc
If there's nothing to hide...
Magnanimous though it may seem to Congress partisans, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to answer questions relating to the allocation of 2G spectrum the question of why his government is so keen to avoid the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Dr. Singh said that, like Caesar's wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion and hence his willingness to be questioned by a committee whose chairman is the formidable Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart, Murli Manohar Joshi. Sticking with Roman references, however, many will say that having crossed the inquisitorial Rubicon, the Prime Minister ought to have no reservations about appearing before a JPC either. This newspaper has argued before that the scale and dimensions of the spectrum scam give rise to questions that are well beyond the remit of a PAC whose job, normally, is confined to examining audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and that a comprehensive enquiry by a JPC was a political imperative. There has been some talk in government circles of expanding the mandate of the PAC in the 2G spectrum matter but the onus really is on the Prime Minister and his advisers to sit down with the Opposition to ensure an agreement that will allow the spectrum scam to be probed and the Budget session of Parliament to take place unhindered.
more at thehindu
Do Wikileaks and Radiagate spell the end of privacy as we know it? Or did they just usher in a brave, new world of hyper-transparency? Is WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange a hero or a villain? Are you smiling or hiding as contents of a certain Ms Radia’s telephone conversations tumble out bit by explosive bit? Whatever be one’s views on these questions, one thing is crystal clear. Like it or not, the age of leaks is here.
In the world that looms ahead, “superempowered individuals who can expose conversations far beyond their borders — or create posses of ‘cyber hactivists’ who can melt down the computers of people they don’t like — are a reality”, as Thomas L. Friedman noted in a recent column in the New York Times. Governments and corporations typically crave secrecy and will double their efforts to safeguard their secrets. But in today’s globalised, internetworked world, when increasing numbers of people can access the most powerful tool ever for finding out what’s really going on and inform others at the flick of their fingers, such determination will be matched, and often surpassed, by the zeal of those bent upon ferreting out that privileged information.
more at asianage
It is the time of the year when pundits look for a theme that unites the year and, as far as India is concerned, 2010 was, more than anything else, a year of scams (with the caveat that the word has been overused, sometimes entirely out of context, by India’s hyperactive 24x7 media).
The previous year, 2009, was overshadowed by the elections and 2008 by the terror attacks in Mumbai. But this year, which will end in two weeks, has been marked by disclosures of corruption in, among other things, the organizing of the Commonwealth Games; the allotment in Mumbai of flats in an apartment building meant for war heroes and war widows to politicians and senior defence officers; and the allotment of spectrum and licences to telcos (in 2008).
There have been other scams —indeed, Mint’s political bureau insists there is or has been one in every state in the country and a large one for almost every month of the year—as well, ensuring that newspapers, magazines, and television channels were never at a loss for a sensational subject through the year. Ironically, one of these, relating indirectly to the allotment of telecom licences, came back to bite the media late in the year, when it was revealed that several worthies from the profession had been indiscreet at best and dishonest at worst in conversations with a powerful lobbyist.
more at livemint
Corruption is hardly a new phenomenon in India, but in the past few months, we have seen corruption of a scale never witnessed before and involving institutions that seemed to have been beyond its clammy reach. Every week brings a new scandal, and each seems to involve a fresh set of players. Corruption seems to have moved beyond its permanent abode—politics and the bureaucracy—into sports, the military, media, the judiciary, religion and godmen and corporate India. Every segment seems steeped in corruption and every pillar of the society, economy and polity appear to have been compromised. It is clear that the problem does not relate to isolated individuals, but is of a systemic and institutional nature.
Of course, corruption is by no means unique to India, but we do manage a very impressive 9th rank in the world corruption charts with countries such as Cambodia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Senegal, Uganda and Liberia...
more at financialexpress
We have all known about corruption in Indian political and business life. Many of us have had to give bribes to municipal officers, electricity or water suppliers, for telephone connections in the old days or for getting a gas cylinder. Few of us get the chance to take bribes. This is the side of the bargain we only hear about. Recently, since Obama left Delhi and the Hindu New Year began, there has been an avalanche of corruption stories. Parliament has been disrupted for most part of the winter session and no resolution is in sight. While the battle for a JPC to investigate the 2G spectrum scam has been going on, we already have the newly-appointed CVC compromised. The CWG corruption is still being probed, but by the CBI, which is a guarantee that no one with any connections with the ruling coalition will be harmed.
more at financialexpress
The current corruption allegations being discussed in India are unprecedented. They have exposed a web of complicity between so many powerful actors on a scale that almost no one could imagine. These allegations bring to light three incontrovertible trends. First, that the scale of rents government can now extract from sectors it controls—infrastructure, land, and licensing granting powers—has increased with the growth in the economy. Second, capital is still totally dependent upon the state. Much of what we see as the lobbying of capital is not so much for special favours, as it is to make sure that entry barriers to particular sectors do not remain closed. But this is a game only big corporates can play. Indian capital is also extraordinarily timid; always at the beck and call of politics.
more at financialexpress
At the beginning of 2010, management guru CK Prahalad gave a figure of Rs 2,50,000 crore for the annual cost of corruption in India. He got to this number by adding up the costs of elections and assuming a 10X return on those risky investments. That sounds like a huge number, so let me reduce it by converting it to US dollars (after all, still the world’s reserve currency). That becomes about $55 billion. That still seems like a lot— an annual cost that exceeds Mukesh Ambani’s known wealth. But let’s put it into perspective. India’s GDP is about $1.2 trillion. So Prahalad’s estimate is only 5% of GDP. That does not sound too bad.
more at financialexpress
THE GOVT MUST NOT ONLY PUNISH CORRUPT OFFICIALS, BUT CORRUPT POLITICIANS TOO Accountability has to be ascertained at all levels of work, both in the public and private sectors, so that people are scared of indulging in corrupt activities. Unless radical steps are introduced, a solution to this menace seems difficult
CORRUPTION IN public life in India has to day attained such draconian proportions that almost all major government projects in various corners of the country are get ting delayed and suffering from massive costescalations.Wehave,unfortunately ,reachedsuch a sorry state today that people consider corruption awayof life.Eveningettingpettyroutinechoresdone in government offices, such as getting clearances for constructing a house or getting a driving licence, one has to pay bribes, which does not augur well at all for thedevelopmentandfutureof thecountry .
Therefore, when the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation started its journey, my primary focus was to ensure that my team of engineers and other professionals steered clear of this evil. I knew that if corrupt officials entered DMRC, they would erode the organisationfromwithin.
Ialsobelievethatonlyregularmonitoringandtaking disciplinary action cannot eradicate corruption entirely . Therefore, I stress on value education for all employees. Whenever an employee joins the DMRC, he is given a copy of the Gita Makaranda, which contains a wonderful treatise on Bhagwad Gita teaching thesecretsof leadinganhonestlife.IstillreadtheGita regularlymyself.Alltheemployeesarealsotaughtyoga and meditation in the DMRC's training school at Shastri Park, because a healthy body is an index to a healthymind.
I am happy that the DMRC has at least been able to restoresomeof theconfidencethatthemasseshadlost inthepublicsector.However,itistheresponsibilityof theentirecountrytodaytoerasetheimageof Indiaasa corrupt nation. According to the global watchdog, TransparencyInternational,Indiaranksalowly87th among 178 nations in the world corruption index. Obviously , we have faltered badly , otherwise a great nation like ours with an illustrious history and civilisationwouldnothavereachedsuchanadir.
I am also presently heading an organisation under the name "Foundation for Restoration of National Values" (FRNV) as its president. The Foundation is dedicated to creating a more ethical and value-based leadershipinallwalksof life.Ourworkisdrivenbythe conviction that leadership with integrity creates the mostappropriateconditionsinourdemocracy ,forallroundnationaldevelopment,andthegoodof all.
more at financialexpress
The Radia recordings and WikiLeaks confirm two basic, related political insights—one global, the other more local—that have sharpened over the past decade.
The first is about the nature of power. Power in the modern world rests as much on information and its control as it does on weaponry or treasure: Besides the Seventh Fleet and Wall Street, it is the networked data server, buried deep in cyberspace, that is a repository of power. And it is the rogue memory stick, the renegade photographic image, or the on-screen financial rumour, that can acquire viral velocity and at once puncture the complacencies of markets as well as the strategies of states. In this crucial sense, what were believed to be the conventional markers of power—military might, financial muscle— remain premised for their effectiveness on legitimacy, on their sustained credibility in the realm of public opinion or of markets. If that dissipates, so too does effective power. It’s a lesson that the US has learned the hard way over the past decade; and it’s a lesson that any would-be aspirant powers need to grasp early.
more at livemint
We, in this world, are constantly striving to manage and prevent catastrophes from happening. For this, we are ready to employ great effort and technological sophistication to effectively communicate the size and scope of potential damages due to these catastrophes. However, this communication assumes that people understand what the large numbers in terms of deaths or potential harm convey and are ready to act upon them when presented with them. The question is whether people really understand large numbers.
Recent behavioural research shows that people have a very poor understanding of large numbers and often tend to underweigh the large number, especially when these numbers do not communicate any form of feeling to us. The result is that we often respond to help a single person in need on the street; however, we often fail to prevent catastrophes like mass genocides or to take appropriate measures to reduce potential damages from natural disasters like those of climate change.
more at mydigitalfc
To speak of a tsunami of scams in India today would be palpably wrong. However disastrous a tsunami’s long-term effects, it is essentially a brief phenomenon. By contrast, corruption has become an integral part of India’s life and permeates the entire bodypolitic. This term is, by no means, confined to politicians in power and their bureaucratic henchmen all too happy to collude with their venal bosses. It includes the judiciary, the media, private sector tycoons, power brokers and so on, as the Niira Radia tapes have established so eloquently. Santosh Hegde, Karnataka’s intrepid Lokayukta, has practically said so.
The corrosive menace, let us admit candidly, is not new but rather ancient. Over 2,500 years ago Kautilya could record “40 different ways in which the king’s minions would cheat him of his revenues”. Hyderabad’s charming euphemism for graft, mamool or customary, has its roots in the Mughal times, Mumbai’s substitute of it, hafta or weekly payment, in the British Raj. The trouble is that what in the past — including the earlier years of Independence — was only a trickle is now a relentless torrent. Having increased arithmetically first and then geometrically, corruption on a mammoth scale in this country is now taking a quantum jump. It has indeed become the country’s fastest growing and least-risk industry. How and why this has happened is best exemplified by the 2G spectrum scam — the mother of all scandals since the tryst with destiny.
more at deccanchronicle
The Prime Minister addressed several thorny issues this morning as he inaugurated a celebration of corporate India.
He spoke on wire-tapping and called more than once on Indian corporations to step it up on ethics, which he said included both transparency in their dealings with government, and fairness in sharing profits with the communities affected by their businesses.
We noted and were glad to see these remarks:
– “Businesses, by their very definition, need to be profitable. But the manner in which they use natural resources and the extent to which they are sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the common man is also critical to their own long-term survival and growth.”
– “Ethical and responsible behavior needs to become the cornerstone of corporate behavior, as indeed our national outlook.”
– “It is the large companies that have to set the pace in this regard. The rest of the corporate sector will quickly follow as this becomes a national norm.”
more at wsj
You media people…” when a close friend began a sentence like that and assailed journalists for focusing on scam after scam, it gave me pause.
This was especially so because the speaker is a non-political industrialist, not given to analysis of the media. His irritation started with the Commonwealth Games muddle and continued through the 2G scam, the Radia tapes and so on. “Don’t you guys ever find anything good to report?”
more at dna
One person in four worldwide paid bribe during the past year while 54 per cent Indians say they greased the palms of authorities to get things done, says a study released today to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.
"Corruption has increased over the last three years, say six out of 10 people around the world, and one in four people report paying bribes in the last year," the Berlin-based non- governmental agency, Transparency International (TI), said.
more at economictimes
SONIA GANDHI, the head of the ruling Congress party, laments that India’s “moral universe” is shrinking, as newspapers fill with ever more galling cases of political corruption. Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, says he feels like a schoolboy facing a series of agonising tests as scandals break one after another. Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Group, hints that the scourge is hurting the economy; officials’ expectations of bribes, he said, put him off launching a domestic airline.
It is tempting to hope this “season of scams” will concentrate the minds of India’s leaders. This month Congress sacked two prominent officials over graft. Suresh Kalmadi, who oversaw the Commonwealth games in Delhi in October, was sent running on November 9th as evidence of dubious contracts emerged. On the same day the party also toppled Ashok Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra state, over a housing scam. His relatives and associates had taken flats in a new tower block that was supposedly set aside for veterans and war widows.
more at economist
Corruption is again dominating the news in India. Long-standing issues, such as broad attempts to avoid taxes, have simmered back to the surface and been joined by new accusations against the wealthy, major companies, and the government. Scandals have crossed finance, property, and telecom.
Crimes have been committed and the guilty should face justice. The biggest culprit, however, faces no punishment and, indeed, is looking to further recent gains. That culprit is the Indian state.
Earlier this year, criticism began to be leveled in India at the underground or “black” economy. This includes illegal activities but also legal activities that are not declared.
more at reuters
The Supreme Court (SC) has been of late seized of cases relating to alleged corruption in the allocation of 2G spectrum and appointment of PJ Thomas as chief vigilance commissioner (CVC).
While the SC decision on the matters is anxiously awaited, it was surprising to see the Union government seeking to rubbish the challenge to the charge-sheeted Thomas.
The nonchalant government said “impeccable integrity”, which Thomas allegedly lacks, could not be the only criterion for making an appointment to the high constitutional position of CVC.
more at dnaindia
Corruption has scaled unimaginable heights in the reforms era driven by private capital seeking to manipulate public policy.
NOVEMBER 2010 could well go down in the history of independent India as a watershed month in terms of corruption exposes and the social and political impact they made. Revelations about multiple corruption scandals took in their sweep politicians, governments, the administrative and defence services as also national and international corporate houses and generated a sense of disquiet across the country. In the process, political heavyweights such as Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan of the Congress and Union Minister for Telecommunications A. Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were forced to resign, while Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party at the Centre, fought a fierce tactical battle to continue in office. The silence and inaction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in responding to allegations of corruption in 2G spectrum allocation involving A. Raja was questioned by the Supreme Court itself. Both Houses of Parliament came to a standstill from day one of the winter session, with the Opposition demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations on 2G spectrum allocation. more at frontline
In a season for scandal, allegations of large scale corruption have captured political India's attention. The instances to which such allegations relate are many, varying from the sale of 2G spectrum and the mobilisation and/or disposal of land and mining resources to purchases made as part of large and concentrated public expenditures (as in the case of the Commonwealth Games). If even partly true, these allegations that corruption may have increased in scale, overwhelm the evidence of small scale corruption among petty bureaucrats and local government functionaries.
Associated with such instances of the possible misuse of powers held by state functionaries for substantial private gain is huge profit for some of the richest individuals and for leading domestic and foreign business groups. This leads to surplus accumulation among two groups. The first is among those serving the state apparatus in high positions. The suspicion that this could be occurring is strengthened by the growing nexus between politics and business and the huge increases over time in the assets reported by individuals contesting elections to parliament and the legislatures. The second set of potential beneficiaries consists of the business groups which derive gains from the purchase of pecuniary benefits for a small price. If we go by the Comptroller and Auditor General's estimate, the loss of revenues to the state from the mispricing of 2G spectrum alone is Rs. 1.76 lakh crore or close to 10 per cent of Gross Fixed Capital Formation in the economy in 2008-09. If a large share of that loss is being transferred to those acquiring spectrum it points to huge benefits.
more at thehindu
India has been rocked this year by a series of corruption scandals that have embarrassed the ruling Congress party, rattled markets and delayed reform bills as the opposition stalls parliament.
The country, 87th in Transparency International's rankings based on perceived levels of corruption, is no stranger to scandals.
Here are some of the biggest in the last two decades:
2010—Loan bribery case
The case broke after a year of investigation on November 24 when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested eight people, accusing them of bribery for corporate loans.
The arrests included the chief executive of state-run mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance and senior officials at state-run Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India.
While the size of the scandal is not yet known, local media have reported it could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The CBI is probing 21 companies involved in India's booming infrastructure sector for links, but has not named them.
The bribes were allegedly paid by private finance firm Money Matters Financial Services, which acted as a "mediator and facilitator" for the loan beneficiaries, the CBI said.
Companies whose officials have been arrested have all denied any wrongdoing. Individuals arrested have not yet commented.
Government officials, including ministers, have said this is a case of individual wrongdoing and not a widespread scam.
2010—Telecoms licence row
Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja was sacked after a report by India's state auditor said his ministry sold licences and spectrum below market prices, depriving the government of up to USD 39 billion in revenues.
The scandal swept up as high as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had to explain to the Supreme Court why he sat on a request for permission to charge Raja with corruption.
In its report, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) also said rules were flouted when the licences were given in 2007-08 which led to many ineligible firms getting them.
The CBI has launched an investigation into alleged corruption at the ministry. Nobody has been charged yet and Raja has denied any wrongdoing.
The CAG said Unitech units got licences despite having inadequate capital, Swan Telecom got a licence even though there were monopoly issues and Reliance Communications got undue benefits as it sought permission to offer services under the more popular GSM technology.
Revenue authorities have questioned Nira Radia, a top lobbyist, as part of an investigation into whether money laundering and forex laws were broken when the licences were purchased. Radia has denied any wrongdoing and has said she is cooperating with the probe.
more at moneycontrol
Seldom has the nation been so stricken by corruption. Scandal after scandal has surfaced relating to the Commonwealth Games, the Adarsh housing scheme (ostensibly for Kargil war widows) in Mumbai; the shenanigans in Prasar Bharati and its controversial award of telecast rights for the CWG; the tragedy of the collapse of an illegal and sub-standard multi-storeyed tenement in Delhi that took such a heavy toll of life and limb; the inordinate delay in granting the CBI permission to prosecute a senior official charged in a scam entailing fixing a contract bid called by the National Highways Authority of India and much else. The 2G Spectrum scam crowned them all.
IAS officers have been caught with crores of illicitly-garnered money; the Reddy Brothers, ministers in Karnataka, have defied the law and the Lok Ayukta despite mining and exporting iron ore illegally; Yeddyurappa, Karnataka’s BJP chief minister has been exposed for denotifying land to benefit his sons and family to the extent of an estimated `500 crore; about 750 candidates drawn from across the political spectrum were fielded in the just-concluded Bihar polls despite having criminal records. The list could go on. The stench is overpowering.
India's Somdev Devvarman on Tuesday won the men's singles tennis gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.
Somdev dominated his higher ranked opponent from the start, storming to a 4-0 lead in the first set. Istomin managed to win just one game in that set.
In the second set, Istomin put up a better fight as the pair exchanged breaks. But he wasn't good enough to keep Somdev away from his second gold in the Guangzhou Games.
Somdev's feat has given India's its seventh gold at Guangzhou.
more at indiatoday
A resolution backing India's quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been referred to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs for necessary action, two weeks after President Barack Obama endorsed its candidature during his visit to New Delhi. The House Resolution 1729 by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida) gives the "sense of the House of Representatives that the U.N. should forthwith take the procedural actions necessary to amend Article 23 of the Charter of the United Nations to establish India as a permanent member of the 15-member body." Lauding New Delhi's commitment to global peace and development of the South Asian region, the resolution noted that India is the largest democratic country in the world in which all political views are freely expressed and respected. more at rttnews
After the exit of A Raja, Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi, the Opposition has tasted blood. It is not relenting in its campaign against corruption, the new demand being the constitution of a JPC to look into the mega 2G Spectrum scam. A JPC would help to keep the issue alive virtually on a daily basis with its members briefing the media regularly. The Supreme Court and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament are already seized of the matter.Realising that corruption is becoming an issue agitating India’s middle class, as it once did in the mid-1980s, the Congress moved into a damage control mode and sent Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi packing. But it took the Congress a week to show A Raja the door. The time lost was the Opposition’s gain. For, the exit of the controversial telecom minister was seen to be done under pressure from the Opposition and the media, which bayed for his blood afresh, after the CAG report indicted him in the mindboggling Rs 1.76 lakh crore scandal. Had Raja stepped down along with Chavan and Kalmadi — his exit has been on the cards for some time — the Congress might have been on surer footing. The delay meant Advantage Opposition, whetting its appetite for more.
more at expressbuzz
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been forced to explain to the Supreme Court his failure to probe a huge telecoms scam, as the investigation into a $31 billion scandal gathers pace. Here are some details of the scandal, the investigation, and the potential fallout: WHAT IS THE SCANDAL ABOUT? Former Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja is accused of selling 2G telecom licences at deliberately low prices to companies, some of which were ineligible, during the 2007-2008 tendering process. Raja, who was sacked at the weekend, denies the charges. An audit report into the licence sales, released on Tuesday, estimated a loss to the state of up to $31 billion, and has stoked opposition demands for a full-scale parliamentary investigation. more at reuters
ndia’s biggest growth industry isn’t outsourcing, pharmaceuticals or auto manufacturing – I believe it’s political corruption. In the last week, three top Indian officials have resigned for three different scandals. They all deny wrongdoing but corruption, long an issue in India, has again become topic number one for public debate.
The magnitude is mind-boggling. According to the Indian government’s Comptroller and Auditor General, the Indian exchequer has lost anywhere between $22 billion and $45 billion in the most sizable of the three current scandals: the alleged mishandling of a second-generation spectrum auction that favored a few bidders.
This isn’t the British Members of Parliament expenses scandal, where MPs were accused of overinflating expense reports; the biggest pilferer in that scandal made off with less than $1 million. In the U.S., lobbyist Jack Abramoff took in less than $100 million for his misdeeds
more at wsj
There should be zero tolerance for corruption, India's well-meaning law minister Veerapa Moily told a meeting of federal investigators last year. In a forceful pitch to stamp out corruption, the erudite Mr Moily invoked some 15 writers and leaders, including Plato, Gandhi, Lincoln and Gladstone, to drive home the point that endemic corruption destroys societies. "While we all know that the cancer of corruption has seeped into the blood stream of our polity, the million dollar question that stares us in the face is what can be done other than what we have been doing in the name of combating this evil all along," wondered Mr Moily with his characteristic flourish.
more at bbcPrestigious Vizag Steel plant conferred with Navaratna status. There are several benefits with navaratna status including independent decisions.
China Tops India for Most International Students Studying in U.S. Colleges
China Surges Past India as Top Home of Foreign Students
The number of Chinese students studying in the United States surged 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, making China, for the first time, the top country of origin for international students, according to “Open Doors,” the Institute of International Education’s annual report.
“When the Minister (Raja) did not listen to my counsel, I told the joint secretary concerned that I would not sign any files on licensing matters, therefore no files should be put up before me,” Mathur said over the phone from Bhopal.
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Median Household Income: $114, 204
While it has traded the top spot with the neighboring Fairfax before, Loudoun County has had the highest household income average since 2007. Taking the top spot isn’t hard to do when 17% of households in your county make more than $200,000. Conversely, only 16% make less than $50,000, the national average household income.
“The entire process of spectrum allocation was undertaken in an arbitrary manner. The Prime Minister had stressed the need for a fair and transparent allocation of spectrum, and the Ministries of Finance, and Law and Justice had sought that the decision regarding spectrum pricing be considered by an Empowered Group of Ministers. Brushing aside these concerns and advices, the Department of Telecommunications, in 2008, proceeded to issue 122 new licences for 2G spectrum at 2001 prices, flouting all rules and procedures to be followed in a parliamentary democratic set-up,” the CAG said in its report.
“The Minister of Communications and IT, for no apparent logical or valid reasons, ignored the advice of Ministry of Law, and Ministry of Finance, avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission to allocate 2G spectrum, a scarce finite national asset, at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators. TRAI, the regulator, also stood by as a helpless spectator when its recommendations were being either ignored or misused,” it added.
more at businessline
Abstract:The Telangana people’s movement is rooted in a historical context and a developmental model that the Indian rulers have been pursuing. The regional disparities-economic, social, cultural -are a part of this process. After formation of the linguistic State, every economic or developmental mode-be it green revolution or neo-liberal globalization-ended up with sharpening of the differences and widening of the disparities. Added to it is the reckless Urbanization leading to imbalanced and unplanned growth of the city of Hyderabad. This city is geographically in backward Telangana region but attracted a lot of capital investment giving rise to endemic claims and counter claims on the city. This entire direction of development sharpened multi layered contradictions. The ongoing movement is a search for some resolution of the contradictions without the necessary political creativity or capacity in responding to the challenge. This is the dialectic of development one discerns in one of the ongoing movements in a backward region of India.
I feel it a privilege to deliver Prof. B. Janardhan Rao memorial lecture for varied reasons, firstly, I had the privilege of being a teacher of Janardhan; secondly, Janardhan has grown into a scholar in his own right; thirdly, Janardhan combined in his approach of studying the society a conceptual framework and painstaking field based research. Above all he had a passionate involvement in the upliftment of the marginalized sections, tribals being the most neglected segment of the society. Janardhan was also an activist concerned and engaged with politics of transformation. At the time he passed away, he was deeply involved in Telangana statehood movement. He persuasively argued with me and did all that was possible to convince me when I had some reservations about the desirability and the final outcome of such a movement. His life has been cut short and the immense potential and promise he held remained unexpressed. It is not only a personal loss to some of us but a social loss. It is also sad and unusual that a teacher should be delivering the memorial lecture of a younger colleague. The topic chosen for the memorial lecture is the Telangana People’s Movement: The Unfolding Political Culture. This is an area that is close to Janardhan’s heart, an area that I would have liked to discuss with him, if he were alive.Google Adds Instant Previews to Search Results
Google on Tuesday unveiled Instant Previews, a feature that will let users get a glimpse of search results pages by hovering over a magnifying glass icon next to the link.
“Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine,” Raj Krishnan, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post.
After searching for something, Google will return search results as usual, but next to the star icon that lets you favorite a link, there will also be a small magnifying glass. Hover over that icon and Google will pop up a preview of the page in question. Those without a mouse can see the preview by hitting the right arrow key; hit the down arrow key to continue seeing results.
The option will help people navigate results faster and not waste time waiting for pages to load, Krishnan said. Google will also highlight in orange the text that matches your search query to locate relevant content as fast as possible.
more at pcmag
President Barack Obama heralded the relationship between the United States and India as a "defining partnership" of the 21st century Monday during a grand ceremony marking his visit to the world's largest democracy.
Obama's limousine was escorted to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the palatial residence of India's president, by guards on horseback. Obama greeted Indian dignitaries, then stood with his hand on his heart as a military band played the U.S. national anthem.The president spoke briefly, thanking the Indian people for their hospitality and saying he hoped his trip here would strengthen the friendship between the two nations."The partnership between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Obama said.Following the arrival ceremony, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama placed a wreath at Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mohandas Gandhi. As a sign of respect, the Obamas removed their shoes before placing a large white wreath on a flower-covered tablet in front of an eternal flame.more at yahoo
In his first comments on Pakistan, on this four-day India trip, US President Barack Obama said, "Pakistan is a strategically important country, not just for America, but for the world." Obama was responding to a question from a student at the St Xavier's College in Mumbai, who asked why United States had refrained from calling Pakistan a terrorist state. "I must admit that I was expecting it," said the US President as he responded to the question
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“We will always remember the events of 26/11; not only the sorrow, but also the courage and humanity that was displayed that day. The United States stands in solidarity with all of Mumbai and all of India in working to eradicate the scourge of terrorism, and we affirm our lasting friendship with the Indian people.”
Those were the words U.S. President Barack Obama wrote in the guest book at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in Mumbai Saturday afternoon in his first engagement of his three-day trip to India. He picked up the theme in his first remarks, speaking outside a hotel where dozens died in terrorist attacks two years ago. He linked the attacks of November 2008 to the assault of Sept. 11, 2001, declaring India and the United States to be “two partners who will never waiver in the defense of our people or the democratic values that we share.”
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In the 'Human Development Report 2010' by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that covered 169 countries and territories, India's position is way below China (89th spot) and Sri Lanka (91).
Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said that country's goal was to improve overall human development and not merely ensure economic growth.
"The ultimate growth is human development, not only economic growth," Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu said.
He, however, added that economic growth and rise in income levels were necessary for carrying out human development initiatives like providing access to education and health, gender equality, poverty eradication and so on.
more at rediff
The record-holder for the smallest frog in the world apparently makes up for its miniature size by packing a wallop of poison, research reveals.
With a body that's only 10 millimeters long, the Mount Iberia frog (Eleutherodactylus iberia) from Cuba currently holds the Guinness World Record for smallest frog.Investigating these dwarf frogs is painstaking work, said researcher Miguel Vences, an evolutionary biologist at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany."You have to crawl on your knees and move leaf by leaf," Vences told LiveScience. "And when you discover one of these frogs, they usually jump away immediately so that you have to start all over again."When Vences found his first specimen, he smelled a bitter odor and suspected it might be coated in toxic alkaloids. (Morphine and caffeine are alkaloids.)"At the time I just mentioned this as a crazy and rampant speculation - I was sure it would prove to be wrong, and was even more surprised when my chemistry colleagues sent me the first results, stating they indeed had found alkaloids in the skins," Vences said.Four decades ago the oriental white stork became extinct in Japan, the victim of rapid industrialisation and modern farm practices and heavy pesticide use that destroyed its habitat.
Today, the graceful migratory bird soars again over restored wetlands around the small town of Toyooka in western Japan, now a showcase for an ambitious conservation effort called the Satoyama Initiative.As Japan hosts a UN conference on biodiversity this week, the high-tech nation is pushing the initiative to promote some of its ancient village wisdom as a way to heal battered environments worldwide.The initiative draws lessons from before Japan became studded with megacities and crisscrossed by bullet train lines, when most people lived in villages near rice paddies, bamboo groves and forests.With all the media available today, baseball wise men can seem a dime a dozen, so it’s a privilege when someone with genuine wisdom appears for 45 minutes of pre-game chatter as Felipe Alou did Saturday night.
Alou, now 75, managed the Giants from 2003-2006 after leading the Montreal Expos for 10 years, including the 1994 team that included Larry Walker, Cliff Floyd and Marquis Grissom and was the best in baseball heading into the strike. He was one of the game’s first Latin stars and managers, and he paved the way for a generation of Dominican talent.
Here are the significant thoughts of Sri Sri Ravishankar on Diwali from his discourse on the topic. According to him, Diwali is Celebration of the light of wisdom.
~The rows of lights are lit on Diwali to remind you that every aspect of life needs your attention and the light of knowledge.~Lights are lit on this day not just to decorate homes, but also to communicate a profound truth about life. Light dispels darkness and when the darkness within you is dispelled through the light of wisdom, the good wins over the evil in you.~Bursting crackers is like a psychological exercise created by ancient people to release bottled-up emotions. When you see an explosion outside, you feel similar sensations within you as well. Along with the explosion, there is so much light. So when you let go of the suppressed emotions, you become hollow and empty and the light of knowledge dawns.~Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.~Any celebration has to be spiritual as a celebration without spirituality has no depth. Celebration is the nature of the spirit and every excuse to celebrate is good.~In celebration, you should not only have a party; you must remind yourself of the wisdom. For the one who is not in knowledge, Diwali comes only once a year, but for the wise, Diwali is every moment and every day. Be wise and celebrate Diwali every moment and everyday of your life.Light the lamp of wisdom in you, acquire knowledge. Awaken all the facets of your being.HAPPY DIWALI!!A new type of dolphin with a short, spoon-shaped nose and high, bulbous forehead has been identified from a fossil found in the North Sea.
The Platalearostrum hoekmani was named after Albert Hoekman, the Dutch fisherman who in 2008 trawled up a bone from the creature's skull.Up to six metres in length, the dolphin lived two to three million years ago.The so-called rostrum bone and a model of the dolphin are on display at the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.As museum researchers Klaas Post and Erwin Kompanje write in the museum's journal Deinsea, the North Sea has been a rich source of fossils in recent decades as bottom-trawling has become more prevalent.The practice has yielded tens of thousands of pieces of the fossil record - many of which defy classification.Advertising spend in India in the twelve months period ended June this year stood at $6.7 billion (around Rs 29,727 crore) across mainstream media, posting the highest annual growth rate of 28 per cent in the Asia Pacific region, according to a survey.
The Nielsen Company's survey that covered a dozen countries in the region, estimated that ad spends across television, newspaper and magazine in India witnessed 32 per cent growth in the second quarter (ended June) of this calender with total ad spend of $1.92 billion (around Rs 8,520 crore)."...the largest proportion of India's media spend was garnered by newspapers, growing at 32 per cent year-on-year (Y-O-Y)," the survey said. The newspaper segment grossed a total of $3.9 billion (around Rs 17,300 crore) during the period.Television followed newspapers in ad spend growth at 24 per cent Y-O-Y in India and stood at USD 2.4 billion (around Rs 10,648 crore). Magazines saw an eight per cent increase YOY at $393 million (about Rs 1740 crore).Over and above the mainstream media ad spend, other media such as radio, outdoor, pay TV, cinema combined showed a growth of 31 per cent in the twelve months up to June 2010 in India totalling $1.2 billion (about Rs 5,320 crore).Describing people as India's biggest asset, visiting Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday said at a time when the industrialised world is aging rapidly, India has the advantage of a young population.
Taking part in the Khazanah Global Lecture Series 2010 on "India's Development Experience here, Dr. Singh said the dependency burden in India is expected to keep falling for another 20 years."It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan. However, a young population is an asset only if it is educated, skilled and finds productive employment. If this were to happen, our objective of realizing India's potential to grow at ten percent or more per annum for a substantial period of time can become a reality," he added.During the interaction, Dr. Singh reflected on some key features of the new phase in India's economic development. He highlighted six key elements facilitating India's drive towards development and economic well being.First, India seeks rapid economic growth that will create wealth for its people and also generate surpluses to fund our ambitious social development programs.
The United States has dropped out of the "top 20" in a global league table of least corrupt nations, tarnished by financial scandals and the influence of money in politics, Transparency International said on Tuesday.
Somalia was judged the most corrupt country, followed by Myanmar and Afghanistan at joint second-worst and then by Iraq, in the Berlin-based watchdog TI's annual corruption perceptions index (CPI).
The United States fell to 22nd from 19th last year, with its CPI score dropping to 7.1 from 7.5 in the 178-nation index, which is based on independent surveys on corruption.
This was the lowest score awarded to the United States in the index's 15-year history and also the first time it had fallen out of the top 20.
more at reuters
The singer and guitarist John Mayer, whose prolific posts on Twitter drew nearly four million followers, shocked fans in mid-September by closing his account.
But Mr. Mayer hasn’t gone away. He’s switched from Twitter to Tumblr, a free blogging service that has become a hit among Internet enthusiasts. Tumblr, based in New York, says it is drawing 30,000 new members a day. Mr. Mayer, whose heavy Twitter use was said to have upset his girlfriends, posted that “I have an even larger Tumblr addiction.”
The allure of Tumblr and a similar service called Posterous is in their social features and their simplicity. They are only slightly more complicated than Twitter to figure out. Yet they allow you to go well beyond 140 characters of text per post, and to include photos, videos and excerpts from other users’ posts. Mr. Mayer, for example, used Tumblr to share a touching fan letter.
Tumblr’s ad hoc community of users includes Robert Reich, the former labor secretary, who is now a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. “Tumblr is incredibly easy to use, wonderful to navigate,” Mr. Reich said in an e-mail. His Web site, robertreich.org, is actually a Tumblr blog, or “a Tumblr” or “tumblelog” in online jargon.
But the undisputed king of Tumblr is Anthony De Rosa, who has collected nearly 11,000 followers at his SoupSoup page. Mr. De Rosa, a 34-year-old resident of Hoboken, N.J., posts a hard-to-categorize jumble of other people’s blog posts, photos and videos he finds interesting. A picture of Lady Gaga before she became famous. A news item about Internet wiretaps. A parody of bad science reporting. You could easily imagine Stephen Colbert pawing through SoupSoup for joke fodder.
Mr. De Rosa said in an e-mail that when he started using Tumblr in 2007, he saw it as little more than a way to upload photos from his phone.
“Not long after that, I discovered following other people on Tumblr, which means you get all their posts sent to you in your Tumblr dashboard,” he said. “And reblogging, which allows you to take posts from other Tumblrs and place them on your own, usually adding your own commentary on the post. It didn’t take long for it to occur to me that there was a lot of depth that other platforms, like WordPress, were lacking.”
Well-known publications including Newsweek, The Atlantic and Politico have set up their own Tumblrs.
more at nytimes
Ram Gopal Varma' s Rakta Charitra
Bottom Line:
Rakta Charitra-I is executed well, with not as much violence or controversy as is projected, and makes you look forward to seeing Rakta Charitra-II within the next one month. The first-time experiment of two-part release seems to be worthy a wait on the part of the audience and a confident move on the part of the makers. If you are used to seeing violence on the screen in all recent films where the protagonist goes around carrying ordinary and designer weapons and using them more frequently than the antagonist may use one, this film is probably not very violent for you. Some scenes depicting violence are unsuitable for children! (And, that is, of course, why the film received an 'A' certificate from the Censor Board. Please discourage children from watching any and all such films - it's against the law.) However, given that the film attracts only various pockets of target audience - it's a given that this film may not be suitable for family audience - how it rings the box-office is a wait-and-see affair. Rating 3.5 / 5
Rating 3.5 / 5
Rating 3.25 / 5
Why are some people incredibly powerful? Are there certain traits that we can learn from the Steve Jobses of the world?
A new book from Stanford University professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, Ph.D., delves into this very issue. Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, released his book, Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don't last month. Pfeffer's argument is that there's a crucial skill set that separates alphas like as Steve Jobs and Google ( GOOG - news - people ) cofounder Larry Page from the omegas--and that potentially matters more than I.Q., charisma, and even hard work.
more at forbes
Freedom fighter Bholaram Das marked his 100th birthday this weekend, announcing he was going back to school.
Mr. Das has enrolled for a PhD programme in Gauhati University, perhaps the oldest university student in the country.“In my 100 years, I have done many things in the sphere of society, politics, governance and religion,” said Mr. Das, dressed in a suit, tie and Gandhi cap at his birthday celebrations on Saturday. “I thought I must work towards a PhD that could satisfy my hunger for learning.”Mr. Das was 19 when he was jailed for participating in a 1930 protest against British rule. He spent two months doing hard labour and went on to study commerce and law. In 1945, he joined the Congress that led India's drive for independence.Mr. Das worked as teacher, lawyer, magistrate and district court judge before retiring in 1971.As many as 30 rural borrowers have committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh in the last few months following their inability to pay back loans taken from microfinance institutions at exorbitant interest rates.
With one more case of suicide due to harassment by a microfinance institution coming to light, the Andhra Pradesh government has been jolted into action against the serious irregularities and arm-twisting methods for recovery of money that MFIs adopt.Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah, while issuing a stern warning to the microfinance institutions against charging exorbitant rates of interest and harassing the rural poor, said that the state government will promulgate an ordinance to regulate the activities of the MFIs and will not allow the harassment and exploitation of the poor and women.Rosaiah, who also had a meeting with the officials and the bankers on the issue on Wednesday, has convened a cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss the MFI issue.
Even as the gold rush continues at the Commonwealth Games, New Delhi, India has crossed its Manchester Games tally.
Heena Sidhu, Annu Raj Singh win gold
It's the shooters who have done India proud again and helped India overcome the Manchester 2002 Games tally. And it happened when shooters Anuraj Singh and Heena Sidhu won the Gold in 10 m Air pistol pair. India, Australia and Canada were tied on 759 but India won on countback. India now have 31 gold.
Tejaswini Sawant settles for silver
India's first women world champion, Tejaswini Sawant, had to settle for the silver medal in the women's 50 metre rifle prone event. Tejaswini was beaten to gold by Scotland's Jen McIntosh.
Samresh Jung & CK Chowdhury win silver
Samresh Jung combined with Chandrasekhar Kumar Chowdhury to win silver in men's 25-metre standard pistol pairs. Jung scored 561 and Chaudhary 542 to win silver with a score of 1103.
Gagan Narang misses out on 5th gold
However, there was also disappointment after Gagan Narang and Hari Om Singh missed a medal in 50m rifle prone pairs after finishing fifth. The result robbed Gagan of the chance of bagging his 5th gold of the Games.
Soumyadeep enters men's singles semis
In table tennis, Soumyadeep became the first ever player to enter semi finals of the men's singles. Soumyadeep beat Cai from Singapore in 4 sets to reach the semi finals.
P Ghatak , Mouma Das advance to semis
There was more cheer in table tennis as Indian women's doubles team of Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das have advanced to the semi finals. Ghatak and Mouma beat their Aussie opponents in tough 5 sets to advance to the last 4.
more at timesnow
Amitabh Bachchan is one of Indian cinema's greatest legends. He is an international superstar who has influenced millions for over four decades. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" and has since acted in some of the biggest blockbusters. Bachchan is today seen in films, television, advertisements and is active online as well in blogs and tweets. He is married to Jaya Bhaduri and has a daughter Shweta and son Abhishek. His daughter-in-law is Aishwarya Rai. We at inhtenews.in wish Amitji a very happy birthday!
more at in
Quiz time with Amitabh Bachchan
Big B’s 68th Birthday! Amitabh Bachchan Penned down his thoughts
KBC 4 to be Aired on Sony TV From Amitabh Bachchan 68th Birthday
"I'll work until I drop": Bachchan, 68
And the winners are...
There's a new No. 1 in town: tech powerhouse SAS. Yes, even in a tough job market, some employers dole out perks like on-site saunas, discounted massages and classes on Wii bowling. Meet this year's top 100; profiles include maps, contact info and more. More
SAS
Edward Jones
Wegmans
Google
Nugget Market
• See the top 100
DreamWorks Animation
NetApp
Boston Consulting Group
Qualcomm
Camden Property Trust
more at cnn
Analysis
Mahesh Babu returns to screen after three years with Khaleja. Is it worth the wait? To put things straight, the film is a huge disappointment. No doubts about it. Forget about expectations and the long gap that the hero has taken, the problem lies in the handling of movie by the director Trivikram. He falters in narrating his flimsy story with dexterity. As a director he gave Atadu, one of the best films in Mahesh’s career and Jalsa, a super Pawan Kalyan’s career, in the past but this time his ideas seem to have lost in execution. First half of the movie is so boring with forced comedy - none of the comic scenes evoke laughter. Towards the climax, it picks up the momentum but by then one would exhaust with lethargic two hours of run time. Only in the climax, the movie spells the magic. The film has Mahesh’s star power to cast a spell, but the proceedings are so dull that his performance and his charisma fail to lift the movie at any moment. No doubt the movie has gloss and superb camerawork, but it takes plenty of time to unravel the crux of the story.
Trivikram’s screenplay is confusing in the first place - it clearly looks like he wanted to run the movie with same age-old ‘prasa’ jokes as he has no story to tell before the interval but his jokes and punch dialogues are trite in this movie. Normally one finds some good writing in Trivikram’s movies but here he fails both as writer and the director. Moreover, he drags the movie on and on and on. And songs come at inappropriate time. Most of them are dream songs and interrupt the proceedings.
more at Telugucinema
Pundits have been predicting the death of the PC for some time now. The introduction of each new exciting computing device or software app considered outside the narrow scope of the traditional PC triggers the same, tired PC obituary again and again to the point of a Groundhog Day experience.
But from my industry vantage point, Punxsutawney Phil is nowhere in sight. To the contrary, each new, disruptive innovation is actually a sign of health, and of sustained public desire for the life-enhancing benefits of personal computing and being connected online. In many ways, we've only just begun to experience what a truly "personal" computing experience can look and feel like.
First, millions of people around the world are just now purchasing their first PC, millions aspire to buy one, and millions who already have a PC or multiple personal computing devices would love to do more than their current ones allow.
more at forbes
India has swept all the three gold medals that were at stake in wrestling today. This coupled with the superlative performance by shooters in winning two golds, propelled India into the second position in the medals tally. Australia continued to lead the tally with 9 golds.
India's Wrestling trio of Ravinder Singh, Sanjay Singh and Anil Kumar won in three different weights in Greco Roman category.
The Indian shooters came up with an excellent performance winning two Golds and as many silvers medals .
Ace marksman Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang opened India's gold medal haul in the mens 10 meter air rifle pairs event with a games record.
Their feat was followed by a superb display of calm nerves and dead centre shooting by women's duo of Rahi Sarnovat and Aneesa Sayeed, who added the second gold in the women's 25 meter pistol pairs event, with the championship record.
The silver medals were earned by Deepak Sharma and Omkar Singh in the men's 50 meters pistol pairs event and the women's duo of Tejaswini Sawant and Lajja kumari Goswami in 50 meter rifle 3 position.
Indian Boxers also had a good day in the ring, with Amandeep making a winning start in the 49 kg light fly weight. Joining him were Manoj Kumar in light welter category.
In weightlifting 62 kg category for men, Malaysia's A. Jumith won the gold, India finished fourth in this event.
In Badminton mixed team event, second seeded India blanked trounced Barbados 5-0 in their second pool D match of the Badminton mixed team event. India will take on wales tomorrow.
In tennis, India's top player Som Devdevvarman outclassed Devin Mullings from Bahamas 6-4 6-2 in the first round.
In Archery all the Indian recurve archerous barring Tarundeep Rai in Men and Bombayala Devi in Women reaching the quarter finals.
In cycling, Olympic and World Champion Anna Meares of Australia won the Women's 500 meters time tria with a games record.
In men's hockey, Pakistan, looked far from impressive but still carried enough firepower to down Scotland 3-0 in a pool A match.
England, the highest ranked team in the women's hockey competition scored a 4-1 win against arch-rivals Wales .
In swimming, Australia continued to dominate the pool. Cristian Springer set a new games record in the 100 meters breastroke. In the women's 50 meter breaststroke the first two positions went to Australia.
World champion Liam Tancock and Francesca Halsall gave England their first two gold medals in the Commonwealth games pool with Halsall up setting world champion Marieke Guehrer of Australia of the Women's 50 meters fly.
Robert Renwick opened the gold medal tally for Scotland winning the Men's 200 metres freestyle. Kenrick Monk of Australia captured the silver.
Australia took the gold in Women's team gymnastics the Silver going to England and Canada picking up the bronze.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games Organising committee chairman Mr. Suresh Kalmadi today announced that school children and the poor would be given free entry to watch the games.
Sania Mirza in the spotlight again!