2G Spectrum and Tapped Phone Conversations.

I am certainly not an expert in analyzing Indian politics or happenings in India, but it seems to me that the 2G spectrum issue will probably malign reputations of several political and business leaders that have been earned over a life time.

See the chain of events after the 2G spectrum scam came to light.
1. Tapped phone conversations between Nira Radia (Lobbyist?)) and several people are leaked to the media.
2. Leaked conversations include those with Ratan Tata.
3. Ratan Tata is unhappy and gives an interview to NDTV about governance and all. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101126/wl_nm/us_india_tata_scandal]
4. Ratan Tata praises the PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh as being honest. Why now?
5. Sonia Gandhi appreciates Ratan Tata for his interview.
6. Ratan Tata moves Supreme Court to get an injunction on the tapes.

All these make me think if some one got the tapes containing conversations with Ratan Tata leaked on purpose and then are pushing him to praise the PM. Who could that be????

All this is happening around the same time when the opposition is pushing the government to order a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee). According to the Parliament rules (?), Prime Minister in answerable to JPC but not the Public Accounts Committee. Governemnt wants the probe to be done by PAC and not JPC.

If Dr. Singh is indeed honest as we all think he is, I think he should go ahead and set up a JPC becuase he may come out with his reputation enhanced. Ratan Tata's worry that India will become a "Banana Republic" will then be unfounded. [http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4632721]

Mera Bharat Mahan!!

PS: I am just a "aam aadmi". Please don't tap my phones for posting my thoughts on this blog.

Satyam and Tiger Woods: A New Partnership?

Tiger Woods, was (is?) a global icon for the sport of Golf and a champion player. He was also the famous face of Accenture, one of the largest IT services companies in the world. At almost every Airport, there was a big hoarding of Accenture with Tiger Woods on it that said ("We know what it takes to be Tiger").

Last November, Tiger woods was involved in a "car accident", which received wide coverage in the media and blogosphere. Soon, corporate sponsors deserted Tiger ending their advertising contracts. He became a Fallen Icon.

Satyam, once the 4th largest Indian IT outsourcing services company and a competitor to large US IT services companies like Accenture, was thrown into turmoil when its founder CEO & Chairman, Ramalinga Raju revealed that Satyam's accounts were falsified for over 8 years and Satyam did not have the $ 1.4 Billion in its accounts as was shown in their balance sheet. The company almost collapsed, but given the strength of their practice and help from Indian governement, was bought over by Mahindra. The company is now rebranded as Mahindra Satyam and trying to regain some of its lost glory.

Ramaliga Raju in his resignation letter mentioned that cooking the books was like: "It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten".

Connect these dots. Tiger, Iconic past, Satyam, Iconic past, Riding a tiger, re-discovery.

Does it seem that Mahindra Satyam should Sign up Tiger Woods and come up with a tag line "We know what it takes to be a wounded Tiger". Good PR.. What Say?

Ramalinga Raju: Raju Garu!!! What did you do?

The first time I came to know about Ramalinga raju was when going through the Data Quest Top 20 IT companies in India list in 1995. Satyam was not one among the top 20 IT companies in India at that time, but was top 50 company holding a lot of promise for the future.

Having people very close to me working at Satyam, I closely followed the growth of Satyam and was very proud that a Telugu Bidda has won international recognition. My respect for Ramalinga Raju grew when he started the EMRI as a not-for profit organization and quickly ramped up operations to 10 states covering more than 100 million population. India badly needed an Emergency Management Service and EMRI was there at the right time. The EMRI model would have been an ideal model to replicate in all the developing countries, with the technology that ran EMRI being talked about as the best in the world.

On December 16th 2008, when the Satyam-Maytas deal was proposed, I found myself in the small minority of people who thought it was a good synergy. I think India has a great potential in implementing new technologies in the real estate vertical. I did not believe that Raju & people around him were a greedy bunch out to loot Satyam.

Then can Jan 7th. I was shocked to read the news that the guy ran a massive fraud for 7 years. Satyam almost collapsed and the guy went to prison awaiting trial.

A man who seemed like a beacon for the people of Andhra has deceived everyone. I don't know if it can analyzed and explained as to why he did what he did, but he seems to have gotten the bulls eye when he said he rode a tiger not knowing how to get off it.

It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.

Raju garu, you almost became the best son of AP in the last 50 years, but threw it away. Why did you do this SIR?

RESIGNATION LETTER FROM MR. B. RAMALINGA RAJU

Shashi Tharoor: Cattle Class & Apology

Mr. Shashi Tharoor ran into a controversy by calling the economy class in flights as cattle class. With 169000+ followers he has, he probably gave some fresh piece of news with his Cattle Class comment.

The Kangress party reacted the way they were expected to.

As expected, Mr. Tharoor apologized too. But was it an honest apology? IMHO, apologies are best when there are no ifs & buts associated with them. Read his apology here (http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/18/stories/2009091860420100.htm)

Having learnt “belatedly of fuss over my tweet” in reply to a journalist’s question whether he would travel “cattle class” to Kerala, Mr. Tharoor said the phrase cattle class was used by the scribe and he had only repeated it. Further, according to the Minister, “it’s a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy class travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle”.

Of the view that many had misunderstood him, Mr. Tharoor in another tweet observed that he had been told it sounds worse in Malayalam; especially when said out of context: “I now realise I shouldn’t assume people will appreciate humour. And you shouldn’t give those who would wilfully distort your words an opportunity to do so.”

In yet another reply to a query he got from one of his 169,096 followers on Twitter, the Minister said: “Holy cows are NOT individuals but sacrosanct issues or principles that no one dares challenge. Wish critics would look it up.”

I still wonder how this guy being a diplomat, tweeted this rubbish. He of all people should know that you don't use the same words media uses and have a filter between your brain and mouth.

Dude, you seem to have lost the opportunity to ever become the secretary general for United Nations because of you undiplomatic (if this is a word) skills

I respected you for what you were and all, but now you lost it.

Sorry mate!

Is Chiranjeevi a Leader?

A leader is one who does not follow an established path. He who creates his own path is a leader.

There is a lot of euphoria among Telugu Prajaneekam in Andhra Pradesh and other parts of the world. The euphoria is because of the expectation and perhaps the impending entry of one of the icons of Telugus into the political landscape of Andhra Pradesh. The euphoria is befitting of the stature and status of the person. We have seen his entry in over a hundred films spanning over two decades. It is always with a Big Bang!!

The introduction is perhaps enough for every one keeping a tab on Andhra Pradesh politics to understand about whom this article is about. Chiru: The Mega Star of Telugu cinema. A lot has already been written and spoken about his charitable activities. There are a lot of people who perhaps have contributed more in charity than Chiranjeevi has. So what differentiates chiru from others?

As a kid, growing up in Andhra Pradesh in 80’s and 90’s, one is most probably a fan of chiru by default and only then a fan of any other Hero. What has made him so special?

If the Telugu movie landscape of late 70’s and early 80’s is observed, the aging NTR and ANR were still the leading super hero’s followed by not so young Krishna and Sobhan Babu. Each had their own genre of movies to cater to. And then there were other heros who catered to various niche segments, but could not gain super stardom.

Chiranjeevi started out as an anti-hero and slowly graduated into a hero and was fortunate to have acted in some good movies with excellent themes packed with lots of action and entertainment like Challenge, Khaidi, Abhilasha and etc. He got hold of the pulse of various segments of the audience with excellent selection of themes. His movies had good and interesting stories, coupled with awesome songs, dance and pulsating action sequences. His dance and fights were choreographed with some cool steps that caught the attention of kids and youth alike. He has created a new path of cinema packed with action, dance and gripping story with awesome screenplay.

He has created his own path to be a leader among his contemporaries. So can this answer that question if he will be a leader?

Design of Yahoo Shine Logo

Does the red dot on 'i' on the Yahoo Shine logo a representation of Indian woman's Bindi? Hoping this to be a concious design of the logo, Yahoo needs to be commended for its recognition of THE INDIAN WOMAN.

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Aryan Invasion Theory: Incredible India

Does the Indian Government support the Aryan Invasion Theory?? Based on the History page of http://www.incredibleindia.org, it appears that it does!!.

"......The coming of the Aryans around 1500 BC, gave the final blow to the collapsing Indus Valley civilisation. At the dawn of Vedic ages the Aryans came in from the North and spread through large parts of India bringing with them their culture and religious beliefs. The Four Vedas or the important books of Hinduism were compiled in this period....."

Link to the page