Stocks on my ICICI Watch List

Banking/Finance	CMP
RELCAP	717.5
YESBAN	151.15
Cement
BIRCOR	237.55
JKCEME	153
Construction
HINCON	97.5
Consumer Durables
TTKPRE	120.95
WHIIND	27.95
Engineering/Capital Goods
BIRYAM	27.45
FMCG
ESSPAC	72.4
Information Technology
COMSYS	22.5
GEOSOF	129
KALCON	100.5
MASSYS	353
MOSBAE	357.1
SARELE	127
Media/Entertainment
BALTEL	165.55
PRIFOC	560.1
Others
ADHMET	47.95
HINFC	585
SANIND	78.05
TRIGLA	38.9
Pharmaceuticals
TASPHA	57.7
Power
POWTRA	56.65
Telecom/Telecom Equipment
VINTEL	90

Nice way to get Organized :))

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Poster in my Bldg Entrance.

As If the notice wasn't funny enough, some smartass decided to add his skills to the fun :))

Roadmap to Peace

I am a strong believer in the peace dividend between India and Pakistan, I blogged about The Road Map to Peace on a blog called The Pakistani Spectator

 

Check it out at http://pakspectator.blogspot.com/

 

 

Smart City to generate 90,000 jobs in Kerala

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/25jobs.htm

 

Forget the article juss Read the Discussion Board, hilarious comments and verbal duels.

 

 

 

 

Free Wi-Fi Connectivity at Sahar and Santacruz Airports in Mumbai.

Sahar and Santacruz airports to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access. There's good news for passengers using the Santacruz and Sahar airports in Mumbai. Now you can send and receive e-mails, chat with family and friends, download files and attachments, and access the Internet to browse and surf Web sites while resting at Mumbai's domestic or international air terminals. Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), in association with Bharti Airtel, has launched a wireless network that will provide *free Wi-Fi service throughout the domestic and international terminals. Passengers transiting through Bombay's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Sahar International airport) and Santacruz domestic airport can now access the Internet with a Wi-Fi enabled device like a laptop, PC, cellphone, or PDA when in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi access 'hotspot' point. This Wi-Fi service is offered free of charge for all passengers carrying Wi-Fi enabled laptops.  News via http://blog.mobissimo.in/

Movies I wanna watch..

• The Namesake
• Bheja Fry
• Mr. Bean's Holiday

The reviews and feedbacks from freinds have been good and hence I wanna watch them ASAP and before everyone bugs me with the storyline.

I am off to get hold of the DVD's :))

Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2007

When : April 23rd to April 26th, 2007
Where : Sheraton hotel Doha, Qatar

What : http://www1.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D3962F13-3693-4D6D-B78B-C3CAF9E1177C.htm

Why : Al Jazeera is quite bold and taken on issues normally untouched by the world media. I think its would a good experience to check out some of the documentaries.

I wanna watch Images you didn’t see by Anand Patwardhan, its banned in India. I tried calling on the Phone numbers given at the site for details but dint get any response so dashed an email to them for the Tickets rates.

You can try calling these numbers.

Tel: +974 - 4670049
Tel-Fax: +974 - 4651454
Email: festival@aljazeera.net

Update : Aljazeera just replied back, Entry is FREE :)

Gulf.. Points to ponder

Got this email forward :))

* Local calls are free
* Petrol is cheaper than water, Payment for drainage too
* Any building construction finishes in 3 months
* Unqualified get more salary than Qualified
* Show-off matters more than real quality & performance
* Laborers are paid less than what they can earn back in their own country
* Companies can kick out their employees without any reason
* Wastas (recommendation) are more powerful than money
* Cleaners have more Wasta than officers
* Watchman has more Rights than the Building Owner
* Office boy & Drivers have more influence on Boss than Manager
* Gulf climate changes so fast, in one hour u can see raining, dust storm, hot / humid / chilling weather
* Gulf is located in desert, still u find greenery everywhere
* If u can't earn money in the Gulf, u can't earn anywhere in the world * In Gulf, time goes very fast, Friday to Friday comes u never know, its sooo fast
* Every bachelor has a dream of getting married and buying a house in India
* U love your parents, friends, relatives 100 times more than when you were together
* Being at home is more painful than being at work
* Indians appear/pretend to be more religious/God fearing than they really are
* Theatres are full of Arab nationals whenever there is a movie of Salman / Sharukh
* Gulf girls sing Hindi songs but don't understand anything
* Prostitutes available, but cheaper than beggars
* Dance Bars and Pubs more than that in B'lore
* A ladies hair saloon every 5 meters
* Food/Grocery delivery to the car
* A Starbucks every 10 meters
* Hard Rock Cafe with no alcohol
* A Shopping Mall located every 5km
* Highway lanes differentiated for slow & fast drivers
* Getting a license is more difficult than getting a car
* Smashed cars are more than bugs
* Parking charge: 2 Dirham for 1 hour - 5 Dirham for 2 hours & so on
* No Queues for women
TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN GULF:
* GREEN : Signal to go for Americans, Europeans and Indians
* YELLOW : Signal to go for Egyptian

Exactly a month later...

The Explosion called Sivaji will be released on May 17th 2007.

Keep your thinking hats and brains at home and yenjaai the Audio Video, Spzl Fx Dhamaka of the Boss himself :))


Sivaji: The Boss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Living Dangerously in Bombay

Living Dangerously in Bombay, originally uploaded by Expat from Bombay.

Dont have the details of the person or which station the accident happened but this guy survived the ordeal.

Update


Location Kandivli station, the guy was too shocked to say anything

Uganda: President's Statement On Mabira Riot

http://allafrica.com/stories/200704140116.html

Unlike in the 70's where Idi Amin asked his country to throw the Indians out , this time the government & President is sane and is calling for peace and restoring order.

The current conflict
The mob was protesting at the move by the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (Scoul), part of the Indian-owned Mehta group, to expand its sugar estates by cutting the Mabira rain forest- one of Uganda's last remaining patches of natural forest
The government gave The Mehta group the Mabira Forest despite protests from Ugandans who say that large part of the forest would be cleared off creating an environmental problem.

Most Desis are well off compared to the locals which further fuels the crises, and the inaction of the Indian embassy and government make life for desis really difficult in Uganda.


Some Gyan
About Idi Amin, the earlier president of Uganda who expelled Indians after a dream where God told him to expel desis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin

S&P Launches Investable Indices For GCC

S&P GCC Composite index, which comprises 151 companies across five Gulf States, had an unadjusted market capitalisation of more than $110 billion as at March 27, 2007, representing nearly one-third of the total capitalisation of the five GCC member markets.

The market weightings in the GCC are as follows: UAE 20.2%; Kuwait 54.4%; Qatar 13.6%; Bahrain 6.4%; Oman 5.4%.

The five new country indices - S&P/IFCI Bahrain, S&P/IFCI Kuwait, S&P/IFCI Oman, S&P/IFCI Qatar, S&P/IFCI United Arab Emirates - in addition to a GCC Composite Index - include only stocks to which foreign, non-GCC residents have unrestricted rights to trade and hold.

I personally think that Indians inspite of being 50% of the population in the GCC region havent been able to participate in the Stock markets for reasons both legal and business wise. I think things will change for the good and I think the GCC stocks which are at thier lowest levels may see some good times soon afterall thier economies are speaking for itself, now its time for the indices to speak .

More info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperation_Council_for_the_Arab_States_of_the_Gulf

Melon Aids Rumour

In Qatar, a widely-circulated SMS text message spread panic amongst the population, claiming that over one million melons had been smuggled into the country, injected with the Aids virus, reports The Peninsula
After investigation, the The Ministry of Interior sent out the following statement. "During the past 24 hours there was a circulation of rumour through SMS text messages saying one million melons injected with AIDS virus have been smuggled into Qatar through Al Shamal road. The Ministry of Interior confirms what have been stated in the SMS messages is false and did not come from any official source. We think there is no justification for the circulation of this SMS or cause of worry because of this false rumour", the statement issued to media said. The Ministry also flashed its statement through SMS texts to the immediately available mobile numbers."
Update: According to Judeooscope, a similar text message is spreading through Saudi Arabia ,claiming melons entering the kingdom from Israel are infected with AIDS causes frenzy.

I'm sure this news would make all melon eaters happy now that Summer is here :).

Google Maps

Go to Google Maps http://maps.google.com  and enter a search from any
North America city (New York, Chicago, Toronto, etc) to a European city
(London or Paris work best). Let Google search out the directions and
then look on the list. Go down until you reach the part about crossing
the Atlantic Ocean.

Someone at Google has a sense of humour! ;)

Via Chirag's funnyjunta :)

Finally Iraq has something to cheer about.

 

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10767

The kid who turned down $1 billion!

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/10face.htm

Nice article on Mark Zuckerberg, the 22nd yr old founder of Facebook.

Its high time we Indian made something real cool .. Sabeer Bhatia & Rajesh Jain seem so retro, we need to develop cooler products like those in Israel or Silicon Valley on a regular basis.

The only thing that came out of the Indian garage is Naukri.com

WTF is facebook : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

My Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/p/Satish_Vijaykumar/741165363

Busybee Forever.

Everybody has come place called home This is my home, Bombay. I would not live anywhere else if I was paid five month's salary in a lumpsum
- Busybee

Like all Bombayites I read the Afternoon only for Busybee's article on the last page, after his death I stopped reading Afternoon except on the rareTuesday's when my Dad asked me to get one for the Stock Market Supplement.

What RK Laxman's Common man was to India, Busybee & Mario's Cartoon was to Bombay, He was an icon who truly personified Bombay. His articles were simple,funny and crisp and always a real Bombay feeling to it.

I have a book of his articles since the day he started Afternoon, a must read for every passionate Bombayite.

Its 6 years since he died, Afternoon has a tribute

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=April2007_inbombay_standard12583


Busybee lives Forever
http://www.busybeeforever.com/

Wiki on Busybee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behram_Contractor

Bombay's Hero No. 1

Though I dont agree with Tehelka's findings but it surely shows who is in control in Bombay.

The Result

Bhavik's Atlantic Row - Journey of one Helluva Indian.

My freind Yo's(Harit) friend is rowing across the Atlantic.. SOLO... thought I'd forward his link in the interest of gathering some support!!.. feel free to drop in a message through his website. FYI.. some of his other mad stints include trekking through Siberia, 3000km bicycling through europe, wreck diving, reef diving, sailing... you get the point.

 

Feel free to cheer him up on free sms thru Iridium or drop him a mail, he is surely doing Indians proud. 

Bhavik's update

One month down.. two to go! Just in case you weren't aware, just over a month ago (28th Feb, 2007), I finally departed La Restinga after a few aborted attempts, and am now on my way rowing solo to Antigua. I'm about a third of the way across the Atlantic at the moment. To read my latest posts please visit; http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/bhavik/ Sincerely, Bhavik email: mail@bhavik.com web: http://www.emerginginterest.org

 

The Expat Dream Merchants

One of the most common topics that one hears from Expats in Qatar is that all want to do some side business to supplement their income due to lower or none savings due to risings rents and inflation. Everyone from a Pathan to Kasargod Malbari to Lebanese expat to Delhite has a business plan which he intends to do or already done it.
I am the usual suspect when my friends have ideas and offbeat business plans mostly over Sheesha, Alcool or Tea I respect everyone's ideas, dreams and I see to it that whatever lil inputs I can give makes common sense and doesn't sound disrespectful.

I can't share the names of my friends as it could hamper their current job profiles, I shall use abbreviations like all the Gulf Newspapers.

• S.A wants to invest in a Dairy Farm in Bangalore with 4 cows which hopes to give him income of 1 lakh per month.
• R.L wants to buy a trailer from Jordon, its dumper from Qatar and lease it to a Qatari Const company for 2 years and get regular monthly income of 7000 Riyals after paying the EMI on the trailer loan.
• A.Y wants to take a big loan from the Qatari Bank at a low interest rate and invest in the Indian Stock Market... Carry Trade's new avatar.
• R.B has invested in a 3 acre farm in Coimbatore to grow vegetables & fruits and export to Kerala.
• S.K wants to setup a MLM scheme for Laptop Computers at 500 Riyals.
• D.K wants to start a Jatropa refining plant in India.
• A.V has bought a small Rubber Estate to supplement his family income in Kerala
• B.T calls up his sources in India about latest mobile prices, buy the phones in Qatar and sells it at a profit on landing, which pays for his flight tickets.
• F.E has invested in a Taxi in Jordan giving him about 2000 Riyals per month.
• W.D is making a e-commerce site for Qatari population.
• JK has a Laundry Business at home which he operates after work in Doha.
• AK wants our company to start a Driving School in Qatar as he thinks the company can make much more in doing this than selling IT solutions :)

Its seems easy for someone for think hey India this stuff is so cheap lemme try to import this and flood the Qatari market & vice versa, then the million dollar question is if it was so easy why isn't everyone doing it are you the only wise guy in town?

But then there will always be arbitrage opportunities around the world including risky things like Blood Diamonds or Blood Cocoa , what the next El Dorado will be is anyone's bet :)

As for myself I am happy doing my lil stock investments but am open to small ideas like Buying & plying 4-5 Rickshaws in Bombay, Microfinance, Investing in a T-shirt Design Co, Doing an Online Flea Market to Re-entering the commodity markets after my earliar bad experience.

So many things to do & I've not even done half the journey thanks to the the vicious cycle of money-time-opportunity.

Something Doha can surely do with..

http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/april/154663.htm

Doha needs atleast 5000 more taxis, I wish I could import some Khali-peelis from Bombay :)