Rebranded Logos - Post Recession

Here are very catchy logos proposed for some brands post recession. 

Source: Anonymous

Top 10 free iPhone Apps - My list

Following are 10 iPhone Apps that I am really impressed with ----

Bloomberg: One of finest apps I have ever come across, this app gives you comprehensive financial information. Gives one the ability to track stock prices instantly, maintain his own portfolio and obtain finance news. The interface is also very lively.

Google Maps: This is the app with max utility to me. In addition to maps, iPhone's embedded GPS makes this app indispensible. I have almost never had any problems with iPhone trying to pick up my current location. 

AroundMe: With this app, you can find electronics stores, retailers, gas stations, banks, grocery stores and what not, that are within your vicinity. I find this app very handy, especially when I have to shop unwittingly. By the way, it is not uncommon to find yourself shop unwittingly if you are married. In midst of shopping for some groceries, you may be required to find another store or mall which has a better version of this product in question and that is when AroundMe comes to your rescue. Personally, this app was of immense help to me during Thanksgiving weekend when I had to arbitarily choose some stores in a mall.

Word Wrap: This app is poor man's Scrabble. Remember the good old 'Text Twist'. This is a condensed version of scrabble which is a good way to pass time when you are stuck in traffic or when you have to take an extended break in the rest room :). I am mostly hooked to this game in my free time.

Midomi (or Shazam): How useful is an application which gets you the song when you hum 10 seconds of the tune? Immense, I would say. Thanks to Midomi, I was able to get hold of masterpieces like 'Ehsan tere' and 'Naam gum jayega' - two songs whose lyrics I had lost over time. It is great for hindi songs; I haven't had any problems trying to retreive hindi songs, no matter how old the album was. 

Google Earth: More than its utility, this app can be worth downloading for the sheer amazement and views it generates. Of course, the speed and display doesn't match with the PC version but nevertheless, it is useful and beautiful.

The Weather Channel: Inspite of having a default 'Weather' app in iPhone which displays weather stats for a week, it misses the level of detail that 'The Weather Channel' has. The weather news bulletins are very useful and it is great to know accurate weather forecasts.

Jott: I love this 'voice to text' app in the sense, I can just read my 'To Do' list to the iPhone. It records my voice and though it takes some time to output it in text format, I will have my notes ready when I need them. It takes around a minute to convert some 3-4 sentences. It is particularly handy when I am driving and need to note down something I feel is important. I haven't yet tried posting to my blog through 'Jott'.

GraphCalc: For someone like me, who is Math freak, GraphCalc is really cool. You get to plot some complex equations. And the best part is, you can take a screen shot of the graph and email the graph to yourself. 

Vocabulistic: A cool application that explains words with examples and usage. I normally use this application in conjunction with Spell Check (which is $0.99). A good pair of vocabulary apps, which can be of great help when you are kicking yourself to remember a word.

Kudos to all app developers.

SMSes after Mumbai Attacks.

There are many SMSes going around after the latest Mumbai terror episode. Here are some of them. My favorite is:

True enemies are not the ones who came in boats, but those who came through votes.

Here are the rest.

·Where is Raj Thakre and his 'brave' Sena'? Tell him that 200 NSG Commandos from Delhi (NO Marathi manoos, ALL South & North Indians!) have been sent to fight the terrorists so he can sleep peacefully. Pls fwd this so that it finally reaches the coward bully!

·Least paid, but bravest, they make biggest sacrifice, our jawans and officers. Selfless saviors. If only v cud paradrop our politicians on nariman hs or only if Dec 13 parliament attack had succeeded, our country wud hv been a safer place.

·He will screw terrorism the way he screwed the economy…introduce service tax on terrorism and fringe benefit tax on NSG (on P. Chidambaram replacing Shivraj Patil as Union Minister for Home).

·Let us hope Chidambaram will be successful in bringing down terrorism the way he brought down share prices.

·I dnt want 2 light a candle 2 bury my remembrance 4 those who hv died. My heart's full of anger, resentment, pain n revenge. I see no victory. I see no reasn 2 clebrte. I see no reasn 2 hoist my national flag outside Taj hotel. 10 terrorists had d power 2 make d entire nation go crazy for 60 hrs.V must fight back. If d governmnt wont save us, let d army rule this country. The subtle speeches of Manmohan Singh & Ptatibha Patil fail 2 extinguish my anger. For d 1st time in my life I dnt feel proud 2 b an Indian, a country which is unsafe, volatile n corrupt. We want Reaction. India needs Leaders. Its Time 2 Wakeup. For Gods sake, don't delete this msg. Pls fwd this msg 2 yr entire contact list in yr mobile. Don't u want a better India 4 yr children? Pls fwd.

· Don't worry about those who came thru boats Our forces can defeat them WORRY about those who come thru votes Those our are REAL ENEMIES Send 2 every true Indian.

.Change of guard in India's security agencies and MHA…Narayanan to be replaced by arnab goswami ass nsa, barkha dutt in place of madhukar gupta, praveen s…

.Forgiving the Terrorists is GOD's responsibility. But fixing their appointment with God is entirely OUR responsibility.

. The biggest ever hostage situation is still underway. Over a billion people are hostage to 545 terrorists who call them selves MPs. Hostages are paying their salaries too. Please pass this on to all other fellow hostages.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Terror in Mumbai. Inefficiencies in our System.

It has happened again. I strongly feel that we have no sense of accountability in our system. Consider the following facts -

- NSG is stationed only in New Delhi. In case of an emergency, like this attack in Mumbai, NSG commandos have to be flown in all the way from the capital. Isn't it common sense to have an emergency and counter-terrorist reponse teams in major cities in the country? Should states contact New Delhi and wait for help be dispatched?

- Even more pathetic is the fact that these NSG commandos on their arrival in Mumbai had to be taken in local city busses - BEST, to the attack sites. Localized reponse teams will lead to precise action.

- When authorities in Mumbai requested 200 NSG commandos at around 11 pm on the night of attack, NSG headquarters realized that the only plane that can take 200 men, the IL 76, is in Chandigarh. And plane was summoned and reached Delhi at 2 am. Hadn't it been wise if they sent two or three planes to accomodate 200 commandos immediately after the request rather than wait for the jumbo flight to take all 200 at once? Or, they could have asked IAF to airlift?

- There were reports that some deaths caused to mumbai police were cases where bullets actually pierced through cops 'bullet-proof' vests. It would have been lot better if money allotted for infrastructure upgrades were used to upgrade combat devices and uniforms rather than get new cars and guest houses for senior officials.

Both quality of response and time taken to respond will obviously play a crucial role in countering these attacks. Experts say that unless a response is mounted within 30 minutes of an attack, the enemy can assume key defensive positions. And NSG reached Mumbai nearly 9 hours after the attack. More than the abilities of our commandos, the efficiency of our system needs to be addressed to. Good that we were able to keep the death toll to around 170 but the damage could haveen reduced drastically further with good response.

Nevertheless, I am very proud of NSG commandos. It is also a good sign that India, for once, did not give in to any submission. There should not be any negotiations with terrorists, lest it will only make them ask for more. Mumbai has bounced back many a time and I am confident it will cripple to normalcy. But what affected citizens more is the apathy of administrators. I was shocked to hear the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, RR Patil, refer this incident as 'small'. It is 'small' to politicians as long as it doesn't happen to them. It is upto the citizens to refrain from getting drawn into useless issues on caste and regional hatred and first stand up as Indians. Once we overcome hurdles among ourselves, we can vote worthy politicians and help India become an organized country.

iPhone 3G - What's hot and what's not !

It's been over two months that I have been using Apple's iPhone and wanted to share my experiences and my version of the phone's pros and cons.

Apple's strength has always been aesthetics and quality and the iPhone is a testimony to this. These two features together with Apple's brand make this a coveted product. What really prompted me to purchase the iPhone apart from the abovementioned qualities are it's functionalities as (in my order of preference)

- Efficient personal organizer
- Internet communicator
- iTunes & App Store friendly device
- iPod player
- Cool phone

I don't intend to describe these functionalities or features (Apple has a comprehensive support site for that), but it is to mention some tangible features that are otherwise unavailable. I use iPhone mostly as a personal organizer. I rate it very highly as a personal organizer. I have my Calendar synced up with my Outlook. I made it a point not to have office mail on my phone but am always logged in my GMail. The Clock and 'Notes' features are very handy. The Notes feature is similar to Google's notebook that allows me to save random thoughts and reminders. Stocks and Weather apps on the home screen are very useful. I track my portfolio constantly using the Stocks App and have nearly a dozen cities tagged to the Weather Apps. I have a habbit of adding all cities that I visited or plan to visit to this Weather App. It is weird but nostalgic too.

iPhone as an Internet communicator is a decent pass. Safari is adequate in the sense it opens most of the commonly used sites with minimal fuss. I haven't tried any highly secure logins, but browsing, booking flights, catching cricket or tennis updates can be done in a trice. One needs to get used to the 'proxy' keypad. Youtube is a very abridged of its original self. Videos or not sortable, which sucks, but it is again a decent feature.

A third important asset that lets Apple dominate its competitors is iTunes. While iTunes has a proven track record, App Store which is bundled in iTunes barges Apple's success. The fact that App Store enables developers sell their apps to iPhone users is a win-win situation for developers and users. And in the heap, Apple takes 30% of the revenue generated by App sales. 70% proceeds to the developer. This turns out to be a great strategy by Apple which Microsoft and even Google to some extent are trying to mimic. Also, because the App Store fosters apps from independent developers and organizations alike, the ensuing competition to develop user-friendly and productive apps gets intense much to the liking of consumers like me. I have around 20 apps in my iPhone ranging from Google Earth to AroundMe, TWC, Jott, Who and a whole lot of games like iGolf, Chess, Sudoku, iBowl etc.

That iPhone has an embedded iPod is a huge gain in itself. And an iPod that can connect to the internet directly to download podcasts and songs is all the more beneficial. I am always hooked on various podcasts, Knowledge@Wharton is my personal favorite. Audio & video quality and transmission are extraordinary. I don't listen to songs much but that doesn't hamper me from having close to 100 songs on my device. Who cares when you have 8GB of space?

iPhone as a phone - I would rate it as standard. Nothing revolutionary but has everything that is necessary. I like the details included in Contacts information and the ability to have personalized ringtones and photographs to be displayed for callers but that is not exactly new. Call reception and other technical stuff are good.

As with any revoultionary device, iPhone also has its share of cons. Some are really striking. Some are subtle, but very frustrating. 'Copy and paste' is a hackneyed shortcoming of the phone but it stands out because of its impact. While iPhone offers email friendly apps where one can send docs or notes instantly through email, it is frustrating not to have copy and paste options. Another commonly stated drawback is the camera and its inability to record videos. For a device which outstandingly organizes audio and video files and has an amazing iPod embedded, the lack of ability to record videos or frame high resolution pics is dissapointing to many. I don't expect my iPhone to be a substitute to a camera or worse still, a camcorder. So, I have no qualms regarding this or rather lack of this feature.

Sometimes you feel it would be great if you have the ability to personalize ringtones and obviously without any fee. I am impressed with Apple's cognizance regarding web security et al. But, I don't think it needs to delve too deep and prohibit users from using ringtones outside of App Store. There were ways to trick iTunes and get other ringtones to iPhone, but the latest release of iTunes prevents this. It is just not enough to change file extensions to .m4r and drop it into iTunes library. Sooner or later, someone will find a way to trick the present version too but it would be great on Apple's part to leave the choice to users to personalize their ringtones. A prudent way would be have a pre-fixed number of personalized ringtones - atleast 3 or 4. Anyway, this isn't major either and I wouldn't worry about it much. There are some trivial drawbacks like lack of bluetooth stereo, lack of mms capability, no removable battery etc which, to me, aren't the break-the-deal type.

Overall, iPhone is a slick and trendy communication device with excellent iPod and is also a very efficient PDA. I have no issues with it and would highly recommend it. It has style and substance in equal proportions.

Aamchi Mumbai or Anarchy Mumbai?

I am and have been a huge fan of Mumbai. As a child, I cherished the word 'Bombay' and always wanted it to top lists in my geography and social classes i.e., for biggest city, highest population, highest exports etc. I used to go ga-ga over 'Bombay' pages in Manorama quiz book. I liked the terms related to Mumbain in the quiz book - Mazagon docks, Nariman Point, Santa Cruz etc. I visited Mumbai for the first time in 2004 when I was short-listed at SP Jain. I was in love with the city instantly. I liked the vibes around me. I liked the liveliness of the city. I liked the local-train rides. I liked the crowd. More than all, I liked the freedom. Aazadi, you know.

My friends pointed out that just because I had a fascination for this city, everything there appeals to me. Could be. I did not care then. But now, when I read some news articles about Mumbai, Marathi manoos, MNS etc., I feel a prick in my heart. There were many instances of violence in Mumbai. Right from colonization to the Black Friday and quite a few that followed. But I don't think Mumbai felt this vulnerable. And the reason is quite obvious. Mumbai was united throughout its struggles. But this time, it is struggling to be united.

Would Mumbai have survived if this regional divide existed in those crises? Definitely not.

So what has changed? Did we move over religious divisions and re-invent regional divisions? Are we sending out a message to terrorists across our borders that we don't need them to hurt our nation and that we are capable enough to do so ourselves? Why are we as a nation getting so indulged in emotional dilemmas and in essence preventing the coutnry from going forward?

Politicians are clever. As I mentioned in my earlier post, they want to divide people for their personal gain. 'Divide and Rule' is not something new. They know what strings to pluck that can stir regional, religious or caste sentiments. They know people, no matter if they are educated or not, are susceptible to these sentiments. And when these sentiments are aroused, reason gives way to hysteria. This is what is happening right now in Mumbai. In what is a clear power struggle between Shiv Sena and MNS, the latter has managed to unleash the regional sentiment and make the Marathis feel represented. Anyone would agree with reservations for locals. But are harassing, abusing and even killing the so-called 'outsiders' acceptable?

I came across an article in 'Times of India' where the author mentioned couple of things.

"At Mankhurd station, a north Indian boy standing at the door was deliberately hit on the head by someone in the surging crowd. The man then quickly disappeared inside the compartment but continued to pass snide remarks to provoke a fight."

"On Thursday night I found an autorickshaw driver weeping at Gokuldham in Goregaon. I asked him what was wrong and he said that his previous passenger, a Marathi man, had refused to pay and slapped him when he asked for the fare."

Quite appalling. Isn't it?

There are two ways people can deal with retrenchment or displacement. The smart way is to upgrade your skill set, retrain and relocate. It may take time but is the ethical way to handle recession. The other way is retarded. It is to campaign against 'outsiders', malign them, burn busses and what not. Not that doing this can earn them their jobs again. But this is the only way they can vent out their helplessness.

An important aspect that is totally left out in this second approach is that we are in a global recession. Recession may not be as rampant in India as it is in the US but certainly there are ripple effects and those are being felt. And due to this, jobs are retrenched here and there is no policy in place to retain 'outsiders' and lay off locals. It is happening everywhere and not just in Mumbai. But given the fact that Mumbai is the heart of India's economy, more pain is felt here. But what have the common men who have migrated from UP/Delhi/Bihar, or for that matter, anywhere from India got to do with it?

It is flurrying to notice people put aside reason and go with their instincts. It is not humane to act by instincts. Reason that is attainted by involving heart and mind is what makes one a human. Now, freedom in Mumbai is at stake. Only when we put aside these regional feelings by realizing that it is fodder for fools and make ourselves immune to political gimmicks we can claim to be independent. I hope Mumbaikers realize this sooner than later and get back Azaadi to Mumbai and not lead it to Anarchy.

We, the people of India

We, the people of India, supposedly have the power to either make or break the nation. And of late, efforts to enforce the latter are surfacing more frequently than the former. In its sixty first year of independence, India is still struggling to stamp its authority on the global front. We are yet to make our mark in a number of fields and disciplines.

Do, we, the people of India, want our country to be considered as an 'emerging economy', 'a potential superpower' or worse still 'a country with its potential unrealized' for eternity?

Do, we, the people of India, want our country to be in eternal strife not with our neighbors or enemies but with its own people?

Do, we, the people of India, want our country to be looked down by its western counterparts for its poverty, illiterates and lack of development?

Any citizen who has an iota of gratitude towards our nation will have a negative answer to the above questions. But, is a negative answer adequate? Is feeling bad for an adverse situation enough to change its state? The answer is a big NO. Feeling bad for our nation is not sufficient for it to come out of dire straits it is currently in. And more than bombs or terrorists or anti-social elements destroying the country, it is us that are hurting our nation more by not acting. It is WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, who are and who should be responsible for our nation's undoing in ways more than one.

Why are some people so selfish? They place nation's pride and its development on the altar for personal and political gains. They need to come to power for their personal gains. And for them to come to power they need people's support. And for the support they need to stir people's sentiments. And that is exactly what they are doing. This syndrome is not specific to a state or region. It is rampant all over the nation - from Jammu & Kashmir through Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and all states between them.

If there is a political outfit fighting for Maharashtra Navnirman there is a similar one fighting for Telangana. Throw in the fight for Tamil's pride in Sri Lanka and the ageless Kashmir dispute and we have necessary fodder required to stir sentiments. And what does this vote-bank politics finally bring to the common man. Nothing. It is foolish to assume that leaders of these outfits are fighting just for that pride in attaining their state or status for their region/caste or whatever. The real reason is power. Ideally, with great power comes greater responsibility. But in India, with great power comes greater MONEY. And what else do our politicans need?

I am pretty sure these politicians have not read our constitution's preamble in the first place. Agreed, the Preamble does not bestow any rights to individual or entity. But it serves as a guiding tool for the interpretation of the Constitution in its entirity. And what fraction of the preamble are today's politicians adhering? 1%? How about 0.5%? Here is an excerpt from our preamble.

"to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all"

Justice, Liberty, Equality. Aren't these terms sounding odd and out of context? Don't they seem anachronous? They do and that is the state of our politics. When our constitution was drafted and the words 'WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA' were put together, it was meant to signify that power is ultimately vested in the hands of people of India. We, as a nation, cannot claim to have justice, liberty and equality now. Many things have changed over the last 61 years. Many political/religious and frantic outfits have been established. Running to power and Ruining the nation seems to be the 'IN' thing. Poor have become poorer and rich have become richer. The divide between rich and poor, educated and illiterate and ultimately good and bad has widened. But one thing hasn't changed.

One thing hasn't changed.

The power is still in the hands of WE, THE PEOPLE. All of the abovementioned banes like rich-poor divide, castesism, regional chauvinism etc have crept in because the power to lead nations and state was placed in unworthy hands. Political leaders are still trying to capitalize this and are targetting gullible PEOPLE. They are targetting sensitive issues that are region-based or caste-based. They are instigating animosity within communities that can be devastating. And these targets that they claim to achieve may bring about infinitesimal good together with abundant harm. And the worst part is that people are still falling to these baits.

'The power of One' is often understated. More often than not, we think a single person cannot bring about the required changes to the society. We think he can easily be suppressed and get his intentions overruled. Seldom do we think about a fact that if each and everyone of us stands up for a common cause or an objective we can achieve that objective effortlessly. And obviously this is not as easy at it sounds. For sure, it needs lot of wisdom and courage. And character. And if each of us understands his or her responsibility and is righteous in electing his or her leaders, that can change our politics. Here comes the bigger problem. Whom to choose? If all leaders are corrupt and all are equally bad then whom should you choose. Well, this is not a overnight process. To cleanse up an entire nation, it is definitely going to take a good number of years. Remember, Rome is not built in a day. My point is, if each of us feels responsible to the nation and shows our patriotism by not being corrupt and by not getting carried away by regional or caste-based feelings, we can contribute to our nation's well being. And then, slowly but certainly India will arise from the dumps it is currently in.

Justice, Liberty and Equality are common virtues found in developing countries. The point here is not to ape developing countries but to understand the fact that these three virtues play a vital role in a nation's development. And if India needs to get anywhere close to becoming a superpower, we need to get our basics right. And We, the people of India need to be aware that each of us play a crucial role in contributing to India's success.

Best of CAT (Common Admission Test) - 2

This post is the second in the series of my efforts to solve some of the best CAT problems in both theory and programming. It gives me a great pleasure to solve and then verify the answers to some puzzles using C++ or Python and sometimes SAS.

Here is an interesting puzzle that will make you look like a geek (or a nerd - depends on how you look at Mathematics) when you pose it to a group.

Question: There is a certain number X which when divided by Y, where all Y ε [1,10] yields a remainder (Y-1). That is, when X is divided by Y, which takes all values from 1 through 10, the remainder is (Y-1). To be more clear, if X is divided by 10 then the remainder is 9, if X is divided by 9 then the remainder is 8, so on and so forth, if X is divided by 3 then the remainder is 2. The condition should hold good for all numbers from 1 to 10. What is the least number X can take to satisfy this condition? (Hint: X is less than 3000.)

Solution: I programmed this in C++ and it is pretty straight-forward.

The same thing can be implemented in SAS. Let me withhold the answer for now.

Coming to the more important part - to solve this problem by implemting theoritical concepts. This problem pertains to Number Theory. 'Least Common Multiple' doesn't need any introduction. When there are a set of divisors that yield the same remainder (Remainder = 1 in this case), the least number that satisfies this condition =

LCM of those divisors - Common remainder.

By solving, the LCM of numbers 1 through 10 is 2520. Hence the answer = 2520 - 1 = 2519.

All multiples of LCM have the same property. (5040 - 1), (7560 - 1) etc, all have the same property. The objective here is to obtain the least number which satisfies the condition which is 2519. More often than not, confusion prevails in CAT. Also, time is premium in these tests and so the standard method of obtaining LCM may not work well if the divisors are too many or too big. Taking cues from the answers and back solving will be lot helpful. In this problem, it is stated that division by 10 yields 9 which implies that the last digit is 9. That holds the key to solve this problem.

Google's Chrome: What's the strategy?

It is disconcerting to even start thinking that Chrome was launched just to take on Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Mozilla's Firefox. I am pretty sure that this is not high on the 'Mission' list of Google, though a direct competition is intentional and inevitable. That leads to the question - What could be the strategy behind this move. Google is always known for its innovative projects and subtle debuts. They have a vast repertoire of such products and you never know what is coming next. This unpredictablity is Google's greatest weapon. Anyways, moving on to Chrome.

Let me start from the basics. Why do we need a computer? In no particular order - we use computers for casual browsing, news, personal (music/media), chat, office work (technical & non-technical stuff). There could be couple of other things that I may have missed out. Most of these, infact all of them, have been traditionally on desktop software. And this is Microsoft's stronghold. There are some conventions that we got used to - like saving our files on our hard-disks, transferring files using optical media, using the computer to access internet. And then came Google, riding the internet wave.  And it had a web-based business model. In other words, Google wants to use the potential of internet as an application platform and move the market away from conventional PC-based environment to a web-based one. And the starting point for this transition is Chrome. 

One may wonder the necessity to come up with a new browser when big guns IE, Firefox and Safari have saturated browser market. Well, for a complete integration of all its web-based applications it is no-brainer that Google will want to come up with an in-house browser than rely on a 'third-party' browser. It will give them better control on scalability of their applications and control over the evolution of various components related to their business. The beta version of Chrome is adequate. Firefox and IE 8 are far superior in features and reliability to Chrome but it is foolish to compare these three at this point. Chrome is in its infancy and is building a base to lauch its horde of services. Google's core business - its search engine is, ofcourse, web-based. The applications they provide like GMail are on the network. Google docs, a direct competitor to MS Office, is web-based. All of these help Google rake in advertising. So, what's the need for desktop software? Read Windows, Office.

It is too early to predict the penetration of Chrome into the browser market. The features are minimal but the potential is maximal. Once Google is ready to integrate its applications to Chrome, imagine this, all one needs to do is boot the computer and open Chrome. You can search from Chrome's navigation bar, open office suite from Chrome, chat through Chrome, watch movies here and what else do you need to do?

And what could be the impact of Chrome on Microsoft? Microsoft is tied to its legacy model of selling licenses of Windows & Office and is now realizing the potential of internet. Microsoft Office has a lion's share in Microsoft's revenue. And if Google can capitalize on its online office suite, it would be a huge blow to Microsoft. But, it'd be naive to write off Microsoft. Who know what they have in store. Are they transitioning to an online-office model? Not easy but not impossible either. For their benefit, I feel Microsoft should stop worrying about 'fancy vista' stuff and concentrate on functionality and user friendly apps/suites. Else they could find themselves swimming upstream very soon.

So, Chrome is here to stay. It cannot be compared to IE or Firefox right now, but I feel it has the ability to better both these browsers and above all, be more useful to the user. There are many 'to-do' items for Chrome of which the most important are stability and security. It's still a beta so chill and wait for the real version to roll-out.

Lehman Brothers Bankrupt - Why and how it happened.

As a prospective MBA student and one really keen on investment banking - Lehman Brothers is a big name to me. It is the same with many prospective and current MBA students across top B-Schools all over the world - IIMs, ISB, Wharton, Harvard and what not? A glimpse at Wharton's MBA placement statistics for 2007 shows that Lehman recruited 18 grads. It could be around the same number of students placed across other top B-Schools here in USA. And the doomsday came on 15th September. Lehman filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This is what it posted on its website at midnight of the 14th.

"Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Announces It Intends to File Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition; No Other Lehman Brothers' U.S. Subsidiaries or Affiliates, Including Its Broker-Dealer and Investment Management Subsidiaries, Are Included in the Filing."

It is indeed a red letter day in USA's corporate history. A 158-year old company has filed for a bankruptcy and wrecked Wall Street and rattled the global finance system. Also rubbing salt to the finance industry's wound, is Merrill Lynch's demise (read as acquisition) by Bank of America. Two majors down on a day. But what actually happened at Lehman? This is my two cents on the issue.

"Know when to stop before you begin" goes the saying. Lehman got this messed up. Investment banking was always about high-stake bets and huge borrowings but it also demands high level of strategy. It is believed that Lehman borrowed too much money and invested it in 'very high' risk domains, namely real estate. Success in IB is proportional to the ability of that company to take risks. But there is thin line that separates risk from imprudence or over-confidence. More so when we speak of real-estate investments in this economy. Clearly Dick Fuld, Lehman's CEO got his priorities and numbers wrong. 

But as the credit crunch worsened, Lehman's leverage - borrowings relative to capital - continued to grow. This is in contrast to other major IBs. One instance of Lehman's miscalculated investment is its leveraged buyout of Archstone, a big apartment developer. Lehman paid $22.2 billion for this transaction (in partnership with Tishman Speyer) in Oct 2007. By then, real estate woes have already begun. But how prudent is that investment? Lehman's shares have lost 94% of their value since the beginning of this year due to its exposure to subprime debt crisis.

And on 15th of September came the bang. The filing shows that Lehman is closing its doors with more than $600 billion of debt. The bank has total debts of $613 billion against total assets of $639 billion. Its filing with the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York shows that Lehman had more than 100,000 creditors. The move into bankruptcy came after last-minute talks with Barclays PLC  and Bank of America faltered Sunday, leaving few options for the 158-year-old firm.

Many of us know that Lehman is actually a 14 year company with a 158-year name. That is because it was acquired by American Express in 1984 and spun-off in 1994 as a standalone company. Sadly, over the last week or so, Lehman was like a bug dying on your windscreen: you want to focus on the road but are compelled to watch the stricken insect’s last moments.

Good-bye Lehman.

A paradise called Ventura!

What was supposed to be a business trip turned out to be an immensely relieving and refreshing personal trip as well. My conference at in Ventura, CA gave us some wonderful moments to cherish and even better weather to relish. 

There are very few things that I am a captive of. Nature is foremost amongst them. And nature in any form of water – lakes, rivers, seas or oceans, enthralls me the most. My hotel was on the pacific coastline. My room overlooked Pacific Ocean. What more can I ask. I spent hours effortlessly watching the waves splash the coast. Whenever I had a break in my conference, I was back in my balcony watching nature at its best. 

For someone from Phoenix which has an average summer daytime temperature of 110F, 70F on the coastline is a dream come true. Throw in a resort-type atmosphere, a laid back but interesting conference and paid trip into the mix and the outcome is very satisfying. It is not an overstatement that this is the best personal trip I’ve had. I did not attend the casual dinners that were included by my conference sponsor. All the 4 days, I had my dinner out with my wife, after we spent hours on the beach sand. I could see the ocean meeting the sky at the end of horizon on all the three directions and it was a treat to watch.

 Sometimes, I tried preparing for the conference and the presentation that I was supposed to deliver  by sitting on the balcony deck that faces the ocean front and all that I ended up doing was watching the endless magical waves. I strongly recommend Ventura and its surroundings as a very good vacation spot. I see myself visiting Ventura often in the coming days, thanks to US Air.

Federer reigns.

As expected (and as I hoped), Federer won US Open and with that created record of sorts. He is the first player in the history of tennis to win five successive titles at two different grand slam events (Wimbledon & US Open). 6-2 7-5 6-2 showed how stark the difference was between Federer and Murray, a first-time grand slam finalist. Federer started the match with an ace and from then it is history.

There is something I always believe is true about Roger Federer. He is the best tennis player ever. I admired Borg, Sampras, Agassi but none so much as I did Federer. That is because of his versatility. His all-court mastery coupled with extraordinary athleticism and determination puts him way across the rest (excluding Rafael Nadal, who is not very far off). But Nadal has lots to prove and achieve to even be compared with Federer. He has a long way to go and the more tougher part is remain consistent as Federer to be considered as a great player. Federer was stung by mononucleosis which affected the way he played over the last couple of months but it is a great time to come back and prove your fans and detractors wrong. Isn't it?
All said and done, I still do not like Federer winning in straight sets. I like to see someone (Nadal for instance) stretch Federer into 5-sets like in this year's Wimbledon final. And then I like to see Federer win. That extracts the best tennis from Federer. Some of his shots under pressure are a treat to the eye. The angles that his cross-courts create are mind-boggling. That is what I yearn to see from Federer - high quality tennis and not 6-0 6-0 6-0 domination stuff.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. And so is Federer's tennis.

Purchasing a Car.

My research into economics and efficiencies of various cars finally culminated on Aug 15, 2008 and I chose Honda Civic LX Sedan amongst nearly a dozen similar cars. Though it is slightly more expensive than the nearest rival, Toyota Corolla, Civic's more urbane interior more specifically its digital dashboard tilted my decision in going for the Civic. People like me who find it tough to keep an eye on speed will love this feature. Speaking of my speed, incidentally I happened to cruise at 40 mph in a 15 mph school zone in my DMV driving license test. Luckily, I got my license on that day with a minor warning as other aspects of my driving that day were perfect.

Coming back to the dashboard, I love the digital speedometer that helps me keep track of my speed continuously. I strongly recommend a Civic for someone who has a similar problem. Moreover it is highly fuel efficient with 25/36 mpg, a boon in this economy. Another very good feature in Civic is its overall handling. The car is compact yet spacious and easy to drive. Throw in Honda's historical resale value and high security standards and you can get the best bang for your buck. Initially I had concerns over Civic's style but as I saw it as a prospective car of mine and delved a bit further into its details, I started to like the styling. For a comprehensive review (US News) on Honda Civic click here.

Toyota Corolla isn't far behind though. 2009 version is far stylized than its predecessor. In fuel economy it has the best figures in the segment with 26/35 with many consumers reporting 27-28 in city. Corolla doesn't seem to have any significant cons but has most of the features on a basic level. For someone who isn't concerned about styling/handling as much as fuel economy Corolla is apt. Corolla is overshadowed by its sibling Prius, which is way more fuel efficient albeit lacking in power. US News' review on Corolla can be found here.

I also compiled a list of vital stats of compact cars and it can be accessed here. I spent nearly a month in finalizing my choice. Test driving the cars that I short-listed was the crucial factor that enabled me take a decision. My order of factors in determining the car to purchase were suitability (through test driving), price, fuel economy and security. I hope you find this helpful to decide the car of your choice.

Federecession

Roger Federer, synonymous to perfection in tennis, is in a recession and this is obvious. 2 grand slam finals, 1 grand slam semi-final, 2 ATP titles and 47-12 singles record in 2008 is great for mortals but not so for Federer. What's more disconcerning is the way he is losing. It is one thing to lose to Rafael Nadal, who by the way is on cruise control, and is totally different and dismaying to lose to Simons and Blakes of the world. But the writing is clear that Federer is not in command of his game (I wouldn't use 'no longer' yet). The beating at Wimbledon was more than what the scoreboard read. It inflicted a greater damage on his confidence and mindset. Nadal grabbed Wimbledon's keys from Federer's closet, ofcourse when the latter was watching.

For someone familiar with Federer's game, there is one aspect in his game that looks to be strikingly unfamiliar. His volleying. Federer is one of the unique players who is equally strong in serve-and-volley and baseline styles. All-court mastery is his forte and that enables him to chip in classy backhand crosscourts and equally poised shots at angles that others can merely dream of. But after Roland Garros 6-0 whipping and more so after Wimbledon's epic five-setter Nadal has managed to breach into Federer's confidence, a territory untouched for about 5 years. He was thus brought down from his pedastal and looks like a pale shadow of himself ever since.

Agreed, every champion has to fall and change in guard is inevitable. But tennis is not yet ready for a change in guard. I was revetted to my screen when Federer conquered Pete Sampras, another favorite of mine, in 2001 Wimbledon. I was so craving for Sampras to hold and it was deja-vu in 2008. This time it was Federer who was hanging. Hats-off to Rafael Nadal. One great quality in Nadal is his never-say-die spirit. There were moments in Nadal-Federer encounters where Nadal looked lost. Other players gave up. But, what sets Nadal apart is that he simply never gave up and in turn, forced Federer to give up. These matches were huge tests of persistence and mental strength in addition to skill. But as the saying goes, will is greater than skill. Ultimately, both of them bring great tennis to fans and what else do we want.

I personally hope Federer rediscovers his touch and brings back his magic to US Open. Last week he lost his World #1 ranking (which he held for a record 237 weeks) and I hope this ranking doesn't topple further. Since beginning of 2004 (till early 2008) he has compiled a match record of 315-24 => 92.9% win percentage which shows how indelible his stamp was on the tennis circuit. This menancing record has started to liquidate. Though it is only Nadal (in top 10) who has a better one-on-one record against Federer others are fancying their chances against the wounded tiger. I am eagerly waiting in anticipation to see how strong Federer's resilience is. And I am pretty sure he is not a rabbit caught in headlights.

Vamos Rafa..... !!!!

When is a tennis match called a classic? It is when you cannot decide whom to applaud the most - the winner or the loser. And yesterday's Wimbledon's final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is right up there as an all-time classic.

I have never had such a dilemma as to whom I wish should win. Deep in my heart, I am always a die-hard Roger fan. His class and composure cannot be matched. Period. But, back in 2005 when Nadal outclassed Federer in Roland Garros semi-final, I had a feeling that Nadal will be the one who can constantly challenge and outshine Federer in years to come. My feeling fortified in their subsequent clashes - Miami, Monte Carlo and Roland Garros again. Check out this link that highlights Federer-Nadal rivalry. But when Nadal demolished Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 in the 2008 edition of French Open, I was shocked. 6-0 against Federer, no matter what surface, is truly remarkable and exceptional. The last time Federer lost a set 6-0 was in 1999 when he was 18 and was a non-entity.

Then the big thing happened. But, many saw it coming. Bjorn Borg was one. He tipped Nadal to win 2008 Wimbledon. I believed that after 2008 French Open final. I did not want Federer to lose, especially at SW19 where he won 5 Wimbledon titles in a row. But the way Nadal played, I did not want him to lose either. Had Federer won a 6th consecutive title, he would have been the first to do so in 122 years of Wimbledon history. But destiny had other ideas. Federer's 65 grass-court victory run (40 of them at Wimbledon) finally ended. And a new run has begun. I won't term it as change of guard. Not yet. But definitely phenomenal. Beating Federer on grass, in Wimbledon, in 5 sets is phenomenal. Nadal is now on a 24-match grass-court victory streak and has won French Open and Wimbledon back to back. How many times can he repeat it?

The Federer-Nadal rivalry has only beefed up with this match. Nadal is now 545 points shy of Federer's 6600 ATP points as World No. 1. With only US Open left this year, Nadal has a very good chance to dethrone Federer (again). I don't think I will see such a match again, where every point was fiercely competed and every stroke elegantly matched. I am also happy that Federer has true competition now and that will extract the best tennis out of him. And what is more blissful than watching Federer on the flow. But if Federer is an paint brush, Nadal is a sledge hammer. If Federer is an alpine craftsman, Nadal is a gladiator. And that adds beauty to their rivalry. I look forward to many more such encounters. And before I sign off, here is congratulating Rafael Nadal for his magnificient 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8), 9-7 Wimbledon victory. He was leading 5-2 in the third set. From Federer perspective, only solace is - How would 6-4 6-4 6-2 have been?

Vamos Rafa........

Best of CAT (Common Admission Test) - 1

After a relatively refreshing hibernation, I am back to my web log to write a simple terse article, which is the beginning of a series of such articles that deal with some of the best CAT puzzles I encountered. Computational Mathematics - a domain that I am wildly passionate about, is trying to solve these puzzles in both theory and programming. I will start off with a very simple CAT problem that I encountered sometime back. It was rather interesting and deals with Number Theory, which is one of my favorite areas in Mathematics. I transitioned this logic in C++ and it was truly a good exercise.

It is to determine number of zeros in a given number's factorial. Determining the number of zeros in say, 10! is pretty straightforward. But to determine number of zeros in 100! for example is unwieldly - especially from an examination point of view.

Question: What are the number of zeros in 100!

Solution: To determine number of 0's, it is equivalent to determine how many 10's make up the number. For that 10 = 2 x 5 and (2,5) are co-prime. Hence the number of 10's in number N can be determined by N/5 + N/5^2 + N/5^3+ ..... + N/5^n, as long as N/5^n > 1. '^' stands for exponential operator.

=> 100/5 + 100/5^2
=> 20 + 4 = 24.

Answer: 24

I built this into C++ and the code is intuitive.



Click on this code image to enlarge. Also, edit your headers/libs as necessary.

I will keep posting similar problems (especially from CAT) and I believe this would be mutually beneficial.

Microsoft yahooing?

Last week ended (atleast for now) speculation about Microsoft acquiring Yahoo. But the intent and the way Microsoft carried on this process left a sour impression on techie community and consumers in general. Check out this letter that Steve Balmer, Microsoft CEO wrote to Jerry Yang, Yahoo CEO.

May 3, 2008

Mr Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!.

I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!'s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.

I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace.
Our decision to offer a 62 per cent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions. In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 per cent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31.
Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.

Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.

We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a "hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:

• First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!'s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.

• Given this, it would impair Yahoo's ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.

• In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.

• This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.

• It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google's search services.

Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!

We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.

I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.

But clearly a deal is not to be.

Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.

Sincerely yours,

Steven A Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

It is a win-win situation for Microsoft. Irrespective of whether or not Yahoo accepts their offer, Microsoft is set to gain from this episode. Yahoo is now in dire straits. Their shares fell down by 18%. I feel Microsoft knew in the first place that Yahoo will decline their bid. After fending off months of threats by Microsoft Corp, Yahoo Inc's directors still will have to fight for their jobs as the company's own irate shareholders plot a mutiny. I feel it is a very clever strategy from Microsoft to de-stabilize Yahoo. Their motive must have been to severely weaken Yahoo (as a competitor) or to acquire it. Either one is good for Microsoft - the latter, a better option. Now, with these diversions, Yahoo will either retrace back to Microsoft or will take a long long time to recover.

Rare Plane Images

P.S: I am not 100% certain if these aircraft exist or have existed. They might be prototypes or plain photoshop skills.

Idioms in Code (Google Blogoscoped)

It's been a while that I came across such innovative 'verbal' programming. A great compilation...

// idiom 1
cop[0].goodInPercent = 100;
cop[1].goodInPercent = 0;

// idiom 2
isCrowd = personCounter >= 3;

// idiom 3
injury += insult;

// idiom 4
1: board.draw();
goto 1;

// idiom 5
if (bird[1].feather == bird[2].feather) {
 bird[1].flock(bird[2]);
}

// idiom 6
a = getThickness('blood');
b = getThickness('water');
assert(a > b);

// idiom 7
a_spade_a_spade();

// idiom 8
die(1000);
function die(max) {
 for (i = 1; i <= max; i++) {        cut();    } }  // idiom 9 prey = 'worm'; time = getCurrentTime(); if (time >= 4 && time <= 8) {    bird.catch(prey); }  // idiom 10 while ( rome.fire() ) {    doFiddle(); }  // idiom 11 function getValue(garbage) {    return garbage; }  // idiom 12 take(salt * .01);  // idiom 13 var here = false; var there = false;  // idiom 14 if (i == 2) {    tango(); }  // idiom 15 days = 365; for (day = 1; day <= days; day++) {    if ( random(0,100) <= 50 ) apple++; } if (apple <= days) doctor();  // idiom 16 if ( !dogs.sleep() ) {    disturb(dogs); }  // idiom 17 function tunnel() {    var dark;    for (i = 0; i < dark =" true;" dark =" !dark;" a =" 0;" b =" 1;">= 1;
}

// idiom 23
if (cooks >= 3) {
 broth = null;
}

// idiom 24
if (a != 'cake') a.eat();

// idiom 25
doesStand = you == me;

// idiom 26
var location = getLocation();
if (location == 'rome') {
 do( location.getCitizen() );
}

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Idioms in Code (Take a Guess)

ISB in Top 20 (!)

Though I am not a firm believer in MBA rankings, I definitely welcome the Financial Times MBA rankings to place ISB (Indian School of Business) 20th best B-school in the world. ISB ought to receive recognition for its innovation, boldness and strategy. I reserve my judgment if it is really worth to be in the Top 20 and at the outset, it appears to be a bit premature. But, as is true with other rankings, there is no smoke without fire and FT has numbers to give this rank to ISB - which is great.

In recent times, the credibility of MBA rankings has surely taken a beating. Major reason is the mushrooming of sources that issue the rankings. It is surprising to see London Business School in #2, ahead the likes of Harvard and Stanford. But, FT is based in London and so may be they had other assessments too (?). Wharton leads the race for the umpteenth time.

Coming to India and ISB, I believe the diverse class profile, course delivery, cost of the program, duration and the return of investment worked in its favor. The average GMAT for the incoming class is high compared to most other schools in the FT list, which is largely driven by Indian applicants. It is an unprecedented and truly remarkable achievement for the six-year old school. One reason why the IIMs missed the bus, to me, is their over dependence on CAT for admission which eliminates any chance of diversity. I have high regards for CAT (it is the toughest entrance exam to crack) but I feel if IIMs reduce the weightage for CAT (and not compromise on the cut-offs and thus the quality of intake) and implement the currently non-existing requirements like admission essays, work experience in selecting the class, then they (A,B,C) would be on par with the best.

Anyways, it is great to have an Indian school in the list and it only increases ISB's responsibilities to maintain its standards and surge ahead.

India Rising!

An excellent article on India - A Pakistan editor's perspective.

"The two Ambani brothers can buy 100 percent of every company listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and would still be left with $30 billion to spare. The four richest Indians can buy up all goods and services produced over a year by 169 million Pakistanis and still be left with $60 billion to spare. The four richest Indians are now richer than the forty richest Chinese.
In November, Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex flirted with 20,000 points. As a consequence, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries became a $100 billion company (the entire KSE is capitalized at $65 billion). Mukesh owns 48 percent of Reliance.

In November, comes Neeta's birthday. Neeta turned forty-four three weeks ago. Look what she got from her husband as her birthday present: A sixty-million dollar jet with a custom fitted master bedroom, bathroom with mood lighting, a sky bar, entertainment cabins, satellite television, wireless communication and a separate cabin with game consoles. Neeta is Mukesh Ambani's wife, and Mukesh is not India 's richest but t he second richest.

Mukesh is now building his new home, Residence Antillia (after a mythical, phantom island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean ). At a cost of $1 billion this would be the most expensive home on the face of the planet. At 173 meters tall Mukesh's new family residence, for a family of six, will be the equivalent of a 60-storeyed building. The first six floors are reserved for parking. The seventh floor is for car servicing and maintenance. The eighth floor houses a mini-theatre. Then there's a health club, a gym and a swimming pool. Two floors are reserved for Ambani family's guests. Four floors above the guest floors are family floors all with a superb view of the Arabian Sea . On top of everything are three helipads. A staff of 600 is expected to care for the family and their family home.

In 2004, India became the 3rd most attractive foreign direct investment destination. Pakistan wasn't even in the top 25 countries. In 2004, the United Nations, the representative body of 192 sovereign member states, had requested the Election Commission of India to assist the UN in the holding elections in Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah and Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan. Why the Election Commission of India and not the Election Commission of Pakistan? After all, Islamabad is closer to Kabul than is Delhi.

Imagine, 12 percent of all American scientists are of Indian origin; 38 percent of doctors in America are Indian; 36 percent of NASA scientists are Indians; 34 percent of Microsoft employees are Indians; and 28 percent of IBM employees are Indians.

For the record: Sabeer Bhatia created and founded Hotmail. Sun Microsystems was founded by Vinod Khosla. The Intel Pentium processor, that runs 90 percent of all computers, was fathered by Vinod Dham. Rajiv Gupta co-invented Hewlett Packard's E-speak project. Four out of ten Silicon Valley start-ups are run by Indians. Bollywood produces 800 movies per year and s ix Indian ladies have won Miss Universe/Miss World titles over the past 10 years.
For the record: Azim Premji, the richest Muslim entrepreneur on the face of the planet, was born in Bombay and now lives in Bangalore.India now has more than three dozen billionaires; Pakistan has none (not a single dollar billionaire).

The other amazing aspect is the rapid pace at which India is creating wealth. In 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh and Anil Ambani's father, left his two sons a fortune worth $2.8 billion. In 2007, their combined wealth stood at $94 billion. On 29 October 2007, as a result of the stock market rally and the appreciation of the Indian rupee, Mukesh became the richest person in the world, with net worth climbing to US$63.2 billion (Bill Gates, the richest American, stands at around $56 billion).

Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome haplogroup. We have the same genetic sequence and the same genetic marker (namely: M124). We have the same DNA molecule, the same DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it that Indians have and we don't?

INDIANS ELECT THEIR LEADERS and here we are .......who keep cursing Indian democracy and deploring the situation!!!!!!!!! "