A Tribute to all who lost their lives in Mumbai Terror Attacks!  

Posted by NoeL in , ,

A Tribute to all who lost their lives in Mumbai Terror Attacks!
I don't know you,
But yes I do
We all are humans,
Just like you

Thanks for freeing me
And helping me die
But why did you make
My loved ones cry

Why did you let tears?
Roll down their cheeks
It was just happiness
For them I had seeked

A mother out there
Is waiting for me
My orphan dead body
Is all hers to see

She taught me to walk
And helped me read
She natured a dream
To see me succeed

Why did you kill me?
Before her dream came true
Don't you have a mother?
To love and care for you

My children are waiting
For my return
They don't know yet
They are orphan

They don't know much
About this world of greed
There is no one there
To fulfill their needs

Why did you kill me?
Before they could grow
To help them to see
A better tomorrow

The lady beside them
Is my loving wife
She used to care
A lot for my life

I had promised her
To stay beside
To share her sorrow
And her pride

Why did you kill me?
And leave her alone
To fight with life
All on her own

Why did you kill me?
Before death time
Don't you have a caring
Family like mine...


Epilogue:-

You Might be HERO for someone, who sent YOU here...
But not for US... 
They know you are a HERO...
But what WE know is... You are not a HUMAN...

Cheers
NoeL

Source: Unknown

Height of Cost cutting  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

Due to global liquidity crunch all companies are going for extensive cost cuts. So, be ready for this...!

Cheers
NoeL

Gateway Peace March - 3rd December 2008  

Posted by NoeL in , , , ,

Thousands of people turned up for the Peace March at the Gateway of India, Mumbai on 3rd December 2008 and they were loud and clear about what they wanted..... 
"A Change & Action not Bhashan (Lectures!) " 
Following images will tell you what the people of Mumbai & India felt about our so called Babus and Netas ( Local Terrorists or Corrupt Politicians).



























Cheers
NoeL
NB: I will be posting a couple of more posts related to the recent attacks on Mumbai and India by certain anti-social anti-Indian elements. Keep watching this space.

Inspiration For Living an Extraordinary Life  

Posted by NoeL in , ,


Inspiration For Living an Extraordinary Life
By Spencer Michaels

Life is About Correcting Mistakes!  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

I found this very interesting and touching!! Planning to do something like this when i get married!! :). Happy reading!!

Priya married Hitesh this day. At the end of the wedding party,

Priya's mother gave her a newly opened bank saving passbook.

With Rs.1000 deposit amount.

Mother: 'Priya, take this passbook. Keep it as a record of your marriage life. When there's something happy and memorable happened in your new life, put some money in. Write down what it's about next to the line. The more memorable the event is, the more money you can put in. I've done the first one for you today. Do the others with Hitesh. When you look back after years, you can know how much happiness you've had.'

Priya shared this with Hitesh when getting home.  They both thought it was a great idea and were anxious to know when the second deposit can be made.

This was what they did after certain time:

  • 7 Feb: Rs.100, first birthday celebration for Hitesh after marriage
  • 1 Mar: Rs.300, salary raise for Priya
  • 20 Mar: Rs.200, vacation trip to Bali
  • 15 Apr: Rs.2000, Priya got pregnant
  • 1 Jun: Rs.1000, Hitesh got promoted ..... and so on...

However, after years, they started fighting and arguing for trivial things. They didn't talk much. They regretted that they had married the most nasty people in the world.... no more love...Kind of typical nowadays, huh?

One day Priya talked to her Mother:

'Mom, we can't stand it anymore. We agree to divorce. I can't imagine how I decided to marry this guy!!!'

Mother: 'Sure, girl, that's no big deal. Just do whatever you want if you really can't stand it. But before that, do one thing first. Remember the saving passbook I gave you on your wedding day? Take out all money and spend it first. You shouldn't keep any record of such a poor marriage.'

Priya thought it was true. So she went to the bank, waiting at the queue and planning to cancel the account.

While she was waiting, she took a look at the passbook record. She looked, and looked, and looked. Then the memory of all the previous joy and happiness just came up her mind. Her eyes were then filled with tears. She left and went home.

When she was home, she handed the passbook to Hitesh, asked him to spend the money before getting divorce.

The next day, Hitesh gave the passbook back to Priya. She found a new deposit of Rs.5000. And a line next to the record: 'This is the day I notice how much I've loved you thru out all these years. How much happiness you've brought me.'

They hugged and cried, putting the passbook back to the safe.

Do you know how much money they had saved when they retired? I did not ask.  I believe the money did not matter any more after they had gone thru all the good years in their life.

"When you fall, in any way, Don't see the place where you fell, Instead see the place from where you slipped."

Life is about correcting mistakes!

The Economic Cycle  

Posted by NoeL in , , , , ,


 Seems like the good old days are gonna be back soon!! So hang on guys!! :)

Cheers
NoeL

I have added Sudoku application to my Blogs. (Wandering Thoughts from My Life! & Dream MBA). Scroll down for the same...!! Happy Solving!!

BusinessWeek 2008 Rankings Are Out!  

Posted by NoeL in , , , , , ,

BusinessWeek released its much awaited biannual, full-time MBA rankings. The rankings showed slight movement: Columbia went from #10 in 06 to #7 in 08. Wharton went from #2 to #4. Kelley climbed from #18 to #15.
Frankly, don't pay too much attention to the absolute ranking or even slight movement. Take advantage of BW's rich, informative database and fantastic resources for applicants. Then choose what's important to you and do your own ranking.
Top 30 U.S. Programs
  1. University of Chicago
  2. Harvard University
  3. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
  4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
  5. University of Michigan (Ross)
  6. Stanford University
  7. Columbia University
  8. Duke University (Fuqua)
  9. MIT (Sloan)
  10. UC Berkeley (Haas)
  11. Cornell University (Johnson)
  12. Dartmouth (Tuck)
  13. NYU (Stern)
  14. UCLA (Anderson)
  15. Indiana University (Kelley)
  16. University of Virginia (Darden)
  17. UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
  18. Southern Methodist (Cox)
  19. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
  20. University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
  21. Texas - Austin
  22. Brigham Young (Marriott)
  23. Emory University (Goizueta)
  24. Yale University
  25. University of Southern California (Marshall)
  26. University of Maryland (Smith)
  27. University of Washington (Foster)
  28. Washington University (Olin)
  29. Georgia Tech
  30. Vanderbilt University (Owen)
Top 10 Non-U.S. MBA Programs 
  1. Queens University
  2. IE Business School
  3. INSEAD
  4. Western Ontario (Ivey)
  5. London Business School
  6. ESADE
  7. IMD
  8. Toronto (Rotman)
  9. IESE
  10. Oxford (Saîd)
BW bases its rankings on employer and student surveys as well as school research output or "intellectual captial." This year for the first time, in a nod to the economic crisis, it is also including a ranking based on ROI  and years to recoup the MBA investment. Not surprisingly, European schools, which tend to be one-year programs, are at the top of the chart. More surprising: HBS ranks 50 out of 50 in this chart. I guess assumptions matter.
Cheers
NoeL

BusinessWeek 2008 Rankings Are Out!  

Posted by NoeL in , , , , , , , , ,

BusinessWeek released its much awaited biannual, full-time MBA rankings. The rankings showed slight movement: Columbia went from #10 in 06 to #7 in 08. Wharton went from #2 to #4. Kelley climbed from #18 to #15.
Frankly, don't pay too much attention to the absolute ranking or even slight movement. Take advantage of BW's rich, informative database and fantastic resources for applicants. Then choose what's important to you and do your own ranking.

Top 30 U.S. Programs
  1. University of Chicago
  2. Harvard University
  3. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
  4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
  5. University of Michigan (Ross)
  6. Stanford University
  7. Columbia University
  8. Duke University (Fuqua)
  9. MIT (Sloan)
  10. UC Berkeley (Haas)
  11. Cornell University (Johnson)
  12. Dartmouth (Tuck)
  13. NYU (Stern)
  14. UCLA (Anderson)
  15. Indiana University (Kelley)
  16. University of Virginia (Darden)
  17. UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
  18. Southern Methodist (Cox)
  19. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
  20. University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
  21. Texas - Austin
  22. Brigham Young (Marriott)
  23. Emory University (Goizueta)
  24. Yale University
  25. University of Southern California (Marshall)
  26. University of Maryland (Smith)
  27. University of Washington (Foster)
  28. Washington University (Olin)
  29. Georgia Tech
  30. Vanderbilt University (Owen)
Top 10 Non-U.S. MBA Programs 
  1. Queens University
  2. IE Business School
  3. INSEAD
  4. Western Ontario (Ivey)
  5. London Business School
  6. ESADE
  7. IMD
  8. Toronto (Rotman)
  9. IESE
  10. Oxford (Saîd)
BW bases its rankings on employer and student surveys as well as school research output or "intellectual captial." This year for the first time, in a nod to the economic crisis, it is also including a ranking based on ROI and years to recoup the MBA investment. Not surprisingly, European schools, which tend to be one-year programs, are at the top of the chart. More surprising: HBS ranks 50 out of 50 in this chart. I guess assumptions matter.

Cheers
NoeL

ISB: Practising what it preaches  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

The pitch is unique. “we have scripted our version of a T20 victory,” is how Ajit Rangnekar, Deputy Dean, Indian School of Business (ISB), broke to students the news of the young B-School making it to the Financial Times list of Top 20 B-Schools in the world late in January this year. Later, reflecting on the impact of the ranking on the school, Dean M. Rammohan Rao told Business Today: “The FT ranking has led to a lot of interest in the school.” Such publicity is particularly welcome as ISB seeks to attract more international students (it is targeting 8 per cent in its next batch, compared to 4-5 per cent at present) and more resident faculty (31 now)... 

“The challenge has been to market the school globally,” says V.K. Menon, Senior Director, Admissions, Financial Aid & Career Advancement Services, at ISB. And by the looks of it, it is already getting there. “Last year, our students were placed in 23 countries around the world,” says Menon...

To read more:- Business Today - Indian school of business: Practising what it preaches

Cheers
NoeL

Chandrayaan - India's First Mission to Moon - in Trouble  

Posted by NoeL in , ,

 
Chandrayaan - India's First Mission to Moon - in Trouble
Cheers
NoeL

I Too Had a Dream - Dr. Verghese Kurien  

Posted by NoeL in , , , ,


Cheers
NoeL

MBA Preparation  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

Dear all,


I plan to aggregate links on MBA and related topics here, whenever I stumble upon one.

General Reading
  1. Mergers & Acquisitions
  2. When the bubble burst - An Article on the present Financial Crisis
Admissions
  1. Full-Tuition Fellowships from Top B-Schools
  2. Accepted Admission Almanac - MBA Scholarships
GMAT
  1. Beating GMAT & Beyond
Related
  1. What Blog Men! (Blog of PaGaLGuY Admin, Apurv)

Keep visiting for more...

Cheers
NoeL

I will be updating this post as and when I stumble upon a new Blog / Link!

MBA Student Blogs  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

INSEAD
Chicago GSB
  1. Run Forrest, Run (There is a post on good B-School Interview Tips)
HEC Paris
  1. RAMBLINGS OF A FREE MIND
Asian Institute of Management
Cheers
NoeL
I will be updating this post as and when I stumble upon a new Blog! Meanwhile, you can also viist www.pagalguy.com for MBA related information.
Last Updated :- 18/11/2008

A Blog Post by Singapore 's Youngest Millionaire Adam Khoo  

Posted by NoeL in , ,

Are You Living Like a Prostitute?

Some of you may already know that I travel around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand and Su Zhou (China ). I am in the airport almost every other week so I get to bump into many people who have attended my seminars or have read my books. 

Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, 'How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?' My reply was, 'That's why I am a millionaire.' He still looked pretty confused. This again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth (which I wrote about in my latest book 'Secrets of Self Made Millionaires').    

Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo  Boss, Rolex etc. (I shop at G2000 by the way) and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment they earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires (not those lucky bast**ds who inherited money) are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of  value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so  much faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income  while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, mother in law, 2  maids, 2 kids, etc. to support). Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.

When I joined the YEO (Young Entrepreneur's Organization) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business) I discovered that those who were self-made  thought like me. Many of them with net worth’s well over $5m, travelled  economy class and some even drove Toyota 's and Nissans. I noticed that it  was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers' and tycoons' sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family's wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank god my rich dad (Oh no! I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start  my business. 

Then some people ask me, 'What is the point in making so much money if you  don't enjoy it?' The thing is that I don't really find happiness in buying  branded clothes, jewelry or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while. It does not last. 

Material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you  live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.                          
                                                                               
Instead, what make ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing  and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see my companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone's  life. What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful post about how this BLOG is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must  come from doing your life's work (be in teaching, building homes, designing, trading, winning tournaments etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product.

If you hate what you are doing and rely on the money you earn to make you happy by buying stuff, then I think that you are living a life no better than a prostitute.

NB:- This is an article I stumbled upon while browsing the internet. You can find the actual blog entry here. Are You Living Like a Prostitute?

Subprime Crisis - Explained Graphically!  

Posted by NoeL in , ,

You will love this!

The Subprime Primer

NoeL

NB: I got this link from www.pagalguy.com. Someone had shared it there. I don't know who the author is, but whoever he/she is, has done a wonderful job!

End of Investment Banking?  

Posted by NoeL in , , , , ,

This is THE BIG question that is being asked by many all over the world, today! Yes or No? With the latest developments with the last standing BIG 2, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., we are forced to believe so!!

On Sunday, Sept. 22, 2008, the standalone investment bank died quietly, after a brief but dramatic illness. It was 75 years old. Hope you all know which one I am referring to here!!

On Sunday night, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley said they would become bank holding companies, submitting to the authority and oversight of federal banking regulators. After the collapse of Bear Stearns, the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers and the agreement by Merrill Lynch to be acquired by Bank of America, Goldman and Morgan were the last remaining investment banks. Goldman noted that the move would make it the fourth biggest bank holding company in the U.S. Morgan said it was seeking “maximum flexibility and stability to pursue new business opportunities as the financial marketplace undergoes rapid and profound changes.”

Christine Harper and Craig Torres at www.bloomberg.com says “The Wall Street that shaped the financial world for two decades ended last night, when Goldman Sachs Group Inc. andMorgan Stanley concluded there is no future in remaining investment banks now that investors have determined the model is broken.”

For more reading:-

  1. Bloomberg.com - Goldman, Morgan Stanley Bring Down Curtain on an Era
  2. Business Week - And Then There Were None
  3. CNNMoney.com - Goldman, Morgan Stanley To Convert To New Model
  4. MoneyControl.com - Fed bailout of Goldman, MS: End of I-Bank Era


I always wanted to be an investment banker. The very reason why I wanted to do my MBA was for this! Now what? What should be my long term and short term goals? I will have to readjust myself before the BIG interviews!!

Cheers
NoeL

Google Chrome  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

Here comes the next 'BIG' (?) application from Google. Earlier dubbed as Google Browser is now called Google Chrome.

You can find more details, with images and videos at the following links.
  1. A Fresh Take on the Browser.
  2. First Images of Google Chrome.
  3. Google Tackles Microsft in the Launch of Browser.
  4. A book - Google Chrome, By the Google Chrome team, comics adaptation by Scott McCloud
The Google is planning to release the first beta version for the users on 2nd September 2008, today!

The Google browser takes direct aim at Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which is by far the most widely used browser. In recent times, Mozilla Firefox has gained popularity as an alternative to Internet Explorer. Firefox holds nearly 20% of the market, compared with about 72% for the Microsoft Internet Explorer. The main reason for the 72% market share for Microsoft is because it comes installed for free with the windows operating system.

With this one and the slated Google Operating System to come, Google is trying to take control of the entire World Wide Web. With all these, what I feel is that this will be just another way to invade the privacy of the internet users. Already Google is collecting a lot of information (such as the user's browsing habits, web history, search history etc) through their internet explorer toolbar. With their own browser, this will be come just too easy for them!

What say?

NoeL

Update :- 03/09/08
After the initial hiccups with Google Chrome, finally it is available for download here.

Salary Hike - Some truths!  

Posted by NoeL in

Being in an automobile company, what I could dream of under the present market scenario was a maximum of 15% hike! On 1st August 2008, I was given the appraisal letter and as expected, the hike was in the range of 13%. Though it was in the expected line, I started searching to find out the percentage hikes given by the fellow corporate and automobile OEMs in particular.

During this search, I came across the following snippet from one of the news sites, rediff.com. 

Consumers may be reeling under an inflation of close to 13 per cent, but it should not be a cause for concern for India's second richest person Anil Ambani, whose pay package has grown by close to six times over past fiscal… From about Rs 2.4 crore (Rs 24 million) in the year ended March 2007, Ambani's full-year pay surged to Rs 13.4 crore (Rs 134 million) in the latest fiscal from the four listed group companies… In comparison, his elder brother Mukesh Ambani -- possibly the highest-paid business chief in India with an annual package of over Rs 44 crore (Rs 440 million) -- got a hike of just about 45 per cent over the past fiscal.”

I found this very interesting and also felt concerned! After all, I hold shares of both the Reliance groups.

NoeL

Respect the National Anthem  

Posted by NoeL in , ,



A Proud Indian
NoeL

Mahatma Gandhi with New Age Technology!  

Posted by NoeL in

This is an Ad by Telecom Italia which shows Mahatma Gandhi in it. They have kind of stated that "If Mahatma Gandhi had the power of Telecom Italia in those days then today would be a different place"... This is just my translation of what Italian words are written in the video using the wordreference.com



NoeL

How to Find All Unread Messages in Gmail?  

Posted by NoeL in

This was one thing which was bothering me for a long time. Today, after little bit of googling, I found out how! Here is how it is.

An Inbox, a huge Archive, starred mail, chats, Spam and all kinds of labels: ways to view mail abound in Gmail.

Where, though, is the unread mail — all the unread mail, be it in the archive or the Inbox or anywhere else, and only the unread mail? Fortunately, "unread" is an attribute that messages in Gmail carry like a label. This means you can search — and find — these unread emails easily.

Find All Unread Messages in Gmail
To view all (and only) unread messages in your Gmail account:
  • Type "label:unread" (not including the quotation marks) in the Gmail search field.
  • Click Search Mail.
If you do this search repeatedly or generally appreciate brevity, you can use "l:unread" or even "l:^u" instead of "label:unread".
Of course, you can combine the quest for unread messages with others:
  • "l:^u from:tim" finds all unread messages from "tim",
  • "l:^u l:^t" finds all unread starred mail, and
  • "l:^u l:^k subject:hi" finds all unread messages with "hi" in the subject that are in the Trash.
I got this from www.about.com
Hope this helps!

NoeL

Dr. Marc Faber on US Economy!  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

''The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I've been doing my part."

For more information about Dr. Marc Faber, Google his name. Alternatively, click here for his brief biography.

NoeL

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes - Severn Suzuki  

Posted by NoeL in ,

Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio De Janeiro, June 1992. Really Inspiring and Touching!



NoeL

A simple Question!  

Posted by NoeL in , , , , ,

Guys!

I came across a very simple looking, one line question. At the first look I thought it is simple.! Here it is for you!

Find out the minimum number of Yes/No questions one should be asking to find out correctly a ten digit telephone number from someone?

This question was asked to me by one of my friends. He even told me the answer. Now, I am trying to find out a suitable explanation for that.

Any / all types of comments welcome!

NoeL

Dr Kalam's speech to ENGINEERS of TATA MOTORS  

Posted by NoeL in , , ,

Address and interaction with the Engineers and Staff of Tata Motors, Pune. Date:- 29/Jul/2008


Automobile vision 2020: Internationally competitive Indian automobile system

“There are many Everest’s in the life of man.
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”.

Dear Friends, When I am with the TATA institution, I realize that you are born out of a vision. A great vision by a great soul in the early 20th century. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata laid the foundation for three important areas. The first was the sowing of seeds for TATA Iron and Steel Plant, second to create hydro-electric power station, third was establishment of an educational and research institute popularly known as TATA institute now Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, envisioned all these institutions in early 20th century (May 1904); the IISc-Bangalore opened its doors in 1911; The first ingot of steel rolled out from Tata Iron and Steel Plant in 1912; The hydro-electric power was switched on in Mumbai in 1915. Today, we see all these three institutions flourishing and what a contribution they have made to the national scene IISc has become a world class branded institution. Tata Steel has crossed the nine million tons per year steel output. The Tata Hydro Electric Station has given birth to many power plants in the country. Tata’s vision has brought a revolution in steel industry, power generation and education.
       
I admire this great visionary, a visionary revolutionist who evolved a new method of working towards India’s freedom through development of industry, power and scientific research. The light he lit in our country has lit many lamps and is still lighting.
Let me congratulate everyone in the Tata institutions.

During my visit to Europe and US cities, while traveling in their high ways, with cars of multiple nations whizzing past at 100-110 kms, dear friends, a dream always comes to me. I want to see the Indian designed car, Indian manufactured car running in multiple numbers in multiple nations. When will it happen? How to make it possible? Certainly, Tata has a great opportunity because of your visionary approach, core competence and innovative spirit.

When I am with you all, I would like to discuss the dynamics of automobile enterprises and particularly Automobile vision 2020: internationally competitive Indian automobile system.

TATA’s contribution to Automobile sector
Tata Motors has made history in the past many times. Well known commercial truck making company has shown the world that it can make customer friendly passenger cars . In recent years, the indigenously designed Tata Indica has brought a brand image to India in the Automobile sector. Launch of Indica in 1998and launch of ACE in 2005 have been important milestones in the country’s prowess in automobile sector.
       
Launch of innovative Nano in 2008 is an another important milestone in the world of Indian automotive industry. I would like to greet the TATA team for this singular contribution.

Integrated Capacities
My view is: the growth of automotive industry is powered by competitiveness. Competitiveness is powered by intensive knowledge in multiple fields. Intensive knowledge is powered by technology and innovation. I would like to suggest the TATA Team, to launch a world- wide marketing campaign for NANO and also plan to start multiple manufacturing centers in India and abroad, so that TATA can graduate from the present production of 2,18,000 (all types of passenger vehicles) to 1 Million NANO cars alone in a suitable product mix by the year 2015. In a globally competitive environment, you have to continuously trigger innovations which will capture the global market. You have to meet the multiple users needs in different countries with widely varying climatic conditions, achieving high gradient climbing capability, passenger comfort, safety needs, ease of maintenance and affordability. I would suggest TATA Motors to use their system design capacity, system integration capacity, system management capacity, manufacturing capacity and above all innovative marketing methodology in an integrated manner to produce a globally competitive passenger vehicle system.
You need to evolve this combination in an integrated way, so that million car production can be made possible. For that, what you need to do, is, thinking differently and acting differently with innovative leadership.

Suitable infrastructure for future automobiles
Whenever I meet young people they ask me thought provoking questions, that is: with Nano car coming on the road and becoming affordable for large number of people,. in that situation what will happen to the road traffic congestion? What will be the pollution level increase? What will be its effect on parking problem? When I hear these types of questions, I thought of sharing with you one experience:
When I visited Dubai – UAE in 2003, I met the Ruler of Dubai with his ministers. He said that Dubai is planning to increase the tourist arrival by five times. Once this decision was taken, I found, that the aviation minister was planning for a new airport and also addition of new types of aircraft needed for attracting the tourists. The surface transport minister was planning a number of additional road lanes required in the highways. The works ministry was planning for increase in the hotel accommodation for accommodating the tourists without disappointment. The health ministry had a road map for waste management and a plan for providing the additional clean water needed. This was the type of integrated response that I found in the whole government - a plan of action to fulfill the national objective from the vision of the Chief of the nation. We have to take the message coming out of this experience and plan for the multiple requirements simultaneously for promoting uninterrupted large volume car production and deployment. Your interdiciplinary team may have to study comprehensively various aspects like the loading on the already crowded high ways and city roads, parking facilities, complimentarity with public transport system and financing in affordable way and give valuable inputs to various specialist agencies.
       
Recyclable automobile systems
Dear friends, I would like to share with you a new development in the automotive industry reported in the book titled ‘Pulse’ by Robert Frenay, published in 2006. Carmakers have a history of reclamation and reuse, which they’re now expanding. A new sports car from BMW features a recyclable thermoplastic body that can be disconnected from its frame in twenty minutes. Audi has joined with Volkswagen and Preussag, the steel company, to set up a chain of auto-disassembly plants. With funding primarily from Ford, as well as from Xerox and GE Plastics, Carnegie Mellon University has developed ReStar – a software that analyzes disassembly tasks, McDonough and Braungart are working with Ford on another development, which has a goal to design a production model in which every material can eventually be reused. This technique apart from reducing the ‘embodied energy’ as in the case of construction industry will reduce the cost of the vehicle substantially and simultaneously reduce the pollution created by raw material manufacturing industry. I am sure this development will be of considerable interest to automotive researchers, designers and industry leaders.

Indian Automotive Industry
During the last two decades, Indian Automobile Industry has taken long strides. After 1983, the standard of automotive technology has got redefined and Indian consumers are able to get what their western counterparts are getting. I am also happy to note that many of Indian auto companies have started exporting their components to their original equipment manufacturers in the developed world. In this respect, globalization has done a lot of good in the Indian automobile industry. With the competitiveness arising out of globalization, our thinking has been refined resulting in enhancing our ability to face global competition through our core strength. In India the vehicle production is increasing at about 17%. While this is a welcome situation from the point of view of personnel and goods mobility, it has two major issues which have to be addressed: “environmental pollution and safety”. This has to be done innovatively while designing all our future cars.
       
Innovation is the capital
I was studying the Global Competitiveness Report for the year 2007-08. There I find in terms of Growth Competitive Index ranking US is ranked 1, Switzerland is ranked 2, Finland is ranked 6, Singapore is ranked 7, China 34 and UAE 37 and India is 48. Growth competitiveness is determined by the innovative ability of an organization. This innovation arises from institutional initiative and the R & D productivity of the firm, shaped by policies and nature of local institutions. National innovative capacity has to be the country’s important potential for producing competitive products. I would like to suggest to the TATA team assembled here, to concentrate on the following design criteria for competing in the national and international market:
  1. Work towards highest fuel efficiency for a given class of engine and car sizing.
  2. Work towards fossil fuel free automobile of the future: 
    • Solar power + fuel cell 
    • Electric
    • Ethanol or bio-diesel
    • Hydrogen.
  3. Continuously aim to decrease the overall weight of the automobile systems enabling higher payload capability through state of the art structural design.
  4. Designing the power plant to accept 100% bio-fuel, ethanol and emulsified fuel.
  5. Design to cost and quality
  6. Design of safety systems for providing high-level passenger Safety.
  7. Constantly increasing the electronics, communication and control in the automobile systems for realizing high reliability, self-healing and fail-safe system.
  8. Robotic Car
I realize that all the eight criteria are interconnected. Here I would like to emphasize that winner in the automobile industry will be the one who puts the automobile to run with 100% bio-fuel first in the market. It can be seen in Brazil the gas stations have provisions for various mixes of biofuel and ethanol including 100% biofuels. Automobile plying in Brazil roads have to get the design certification for using maximum biofuel and bio-diesel. Without that, they will not be permitted in run on Brazil roads. We should take note of the successful implementation of such programme in different parts of the world. Fully operated bio-fuel car is going to come to india. Which industry is going to be the pioneer, will you? If so then you will be the winner?

Automobile Research areas
Now, let me discuss some of the research areas where automobile scientists and engineers have to concentrate.
  • Improvement in Combustion Efficiency: For getting better control and precision over combustion and emission, we have to work on direct injection of gasoline for better exhaust characteristics. Gasoline direct injection permits combustion of ultra-clean fuel air mixtures under diverse operating conditions and hence can deliver higher performance with lower fuel consumption and lower emission.
     
  • Improvement in Diesel Engines: One of the important aspect of diesel engines is, the NOx (Nitrogen oxide) and particulate matter in the emission which has to be overcome by use of advanced combustion technologies which will reduce both. Indian Automotive Engineers have to work on this area and to offer the system for use in all types of diesel vehicles.

  • Alternate Fuels: While it is important, to continuously improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines, scientists have to concentrate on development of alternate fuels and renewable energy sources. The future generation cars and trucks have to use bio-diesel, ethanol and hydrogen. Bio-fuels are renewable and can be produced in short notice as against fossil fuels which have been produced over millions of years.

  • Emulsified Fuels: Emulsified fuels are found to give much better emission reduction towards reduced particulate and Oxides of Nitrogen emission reduction along with fuel saving that it is now implemented in most of the developed countries. In India, we are now successfully burning in a boiler in an industry emulsified diesel fuel with 25% water straight away saving 25% of the diesel fuel. The emulsified fuel costs 20% cheaper than the diesel fuel. If one such small boiler using emulsified fuel can save 40 litres of diesel in a day and equivalent amount of cash spent on the fuel, please think about the huge fuel savings and the cost benefits for over thousands of boilers and several external fired equipments running with oil in India. The savings for the country in oil import bill will be over 20% the present level. While combusting emulsified fuels for industrial firing needs no modifications it needs encouragement and educating the users. For automobile applications, TATA Need to work with Hydro drive emulsification technology and IIT Madras to experiment and introduce the emulsified fuels in the Diesel cars and diesel vehicles. Emulsified fuels will cut emissions and will bring down the operating costs including captive power generation costs. This singular research area alone has the potential to make TATA Motors to produce and market the most competitive commercial and passenger vehicle within the next two years.

  • Hydrogen powered fuel cells: Hydrogen powered vehicles are almost zero emission vehicles. We have to progressively move into fuel cell vehicles within a few decades.

  • Alternative Power Plants: Substantial research is required in battery technology to provide a reliable, low-weight, high density and cost effective battery to the large Indian rural population. Simultaneously, there is a need to work on hybrid electric vehicle for containing the growing environmental emission in big cities. Challenge for researchers will be in the development of drives, control electronics, transmission and low weight high capacity batteries.

  • CNT Based Solar PV Cells: Our scientists have to take up this challenge and come up with the development of a CNT based PV cell with an efficiency of at least 50% within the next three years so that it can go into the commercial production within five years. In addition, they can also take up the development of organic solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells and third generation solar cells. The automobile specialists should work with these energy experts to get the solar cells with 50% efficiency which can be effectively used in solar power driven vehicles. 
Conclusion

Dear friends, I have seen three dreams which have taken shape as vision, mission and realization. Space programme of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), AGNI programme of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) and PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) becoming the National Mission. Of course, these three programmes succeeded in the midst of many challenges and problems. I have worked in all these three areas. I want to convey to you what I have learnt on leadership from these three programmes.
  1. Leader must have a vision.
  2. Leader must have a passion to transform the vision into action.
  3. Leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path.
  4. Leader must know how to manage a success and failure.
  5. Leader must have courage to take decisions.
  6. Leader should have Nobility in management.
  7. Every action of the leader should be transparent.
  8. Leader must work with integrity and succeed with integrity. 
In order to achieve what I have discussed so far and to realize the goals in a specified time frame and to build TATA Motors brand, what we need is creative leadership. Creative leadership means exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For a non-linear growth in the Automobile Sector and transforming India into a world leader in the production and marketing of energy efficient, highly mobile, pollution free, safe and cost effective automotive system before the year 2020, the industry needs large number of creative leaders. I am sure, TATA Motors has such leaders who will transform TATA Motors into a one million passenger car per annum producer with 50% going to export market. For that leaders of this organisation should have courage.
Courage
"Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to combat the problems
and succeed,
Are the unique qualities of the youth.
As a youth of my nation,
I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all the missions".


May God bless you.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam,
29.07.2008

Famous Failures - An Inspirational Video  

Posted by NoeL in ,

Google infiltrates the knowledge sharing game  

Posted by NoeL in ,

Giving a perfect competitor to encyclopedia Wikipedia, Google opened its website Knol (knol.google.com) to the public on last Wednesday. Unlike Wikipedia, where those who write remain anonymous, Knol allows people to write with their bylines. "We are deeply convinced that authorship, knowing who wrote what, helps readers trust the content." said Cedric DuPont, product manager for Knol.

New York Times reports that Google's Knol - its term for a unit of knowledge - is a collection of user-generated articles on specific topics. Google said that the aim of the free service is to 'help people share their knowledge'. The company would not serve as an editor in any way or bless the content, instead, it would leave editorial responsibilities up to the author. But it will rank the entries according to its popularity to encourage competition.

It also plans to reward authors of popular posts by enabling them to profit from their entries, if they allow Google to place advertisements on their pages. The contributor can earn as per the number of page views the article gets.

Knol is considered as an attempt to boost the company's online advertising income by attracting some of the millions who use Wikipedia, which is non-profit and advertising-free.

Dupont denied Knol was designed as a 'Wikipedia killer', saying, "Google is very happy with Wikipedia being so successful. Anyone who tries to kill them would hurt us."

The highlighted knols on the site's front page were mainly related to health issues such as migraines or irritable bowel syndrome. Knol is widely perceived as a shift in Google's identity of 'organizing the world's information' to 'creating and publishing information' that could potentially compromise its neutrality in organizing search results.

Can/Will Google give a real competition to Wikipedia? We will have to wait and watch!!

NoeL

What happens If 1INR = 100USD  

Posted by NoeL in , ,

Guys!

I stumbled upon this article somewhere in the internet. I find it really interesting. So sharing it with you here. :)


Year : 2050

Place : IBM , USA
(Two Americans Talking)

Currency Conversion Rate : 1INR = 100USD

Alex: Hi John, you didn't come yesterday to office?

John: Yeah, I was in Indian Embassy for stamping.

Alex: Oh really, what happened, I heard that nowadays it has become very strict.

John: Yeah, but I managed to get it.

Alex: How long it took to get it stamped?

John: Oh, it was nasty man, long queue. Bill Gates was standing in front of me and they played with him like anything. That's why it got delayed. I went there at 2 AM itself and waited and returned by 4 PM.

Alex: Really? In India , it is a matter of an hour to get stamped for USA.

John: Yeah, but that is because who in India will be interested in coming to USA man, their economy has been booming.

Alex: So, when are you leaving?

John: Anytime, after receiving my tickets from the client in India and you know, I will be getting a chance to fly Air-India. Sort of dream come true.

Alex: How long are you going to stay in India .

John: What do you mean by how long? I will be settled in India , my company has promised me that they will process my Hara Patta... (green card) .

Alex: Really, lucky person man, it is very difficult to get a Hara Patta in India .

John: Yeah, that's why, I am planning to marry an Indian girl there.

Alex: But you can find lots of US girls in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.

John: But, I prefer Indian girls because they are beautiful and cultured.

Alex: Where did you get the offer, Hyderabad?

John: Yeah, salary is good there, but cost of living is quite high, it is Rs. 2000/- for a single room accommodation.

Alex: I see, that's too much for US people, Rs.1/- =$100/-. Oh God! What about in Bangalore, Mumbai?

John: No idea, but it is less than what we have in Hyderabad. It is like the world headquarters of software.

Alex: I heard, almost all the Indians are having one personal Robot for help.

John: You can get a BMW car for Rs. 5000/-, and a personal Robot for less than Rs.7500/-. But my dream is to purchase Ambassador, which costs Rs.2 ,00,000/- but has got a lovely design.

Alex: By the way, who is your client?

John: Subbarao and Apparao Associates, a pure Indian company, specialising in Embedded Software.

Alex: Oh, really, lucky to work in a pure Indian company. They are really intelligent and unlike American Bodyshoppers who have opened their Fly-by-night outfits in India . Indian companies pay you in full even when you are on bench.

My friend Paul Allen, it seems, used his bench time to visit Bihar, the most liveable place in India , probably world. There you have full freedom and no restrictions. You can do whatever you want! I wonder how that state has perfected that system.

John: Yeah man!, you are right. I hope our America also follows their footsteps.

Alex: How are you going to cope with their language?

John: Why not? From my school days I have been learning Hindi as my first language here at New York . At the Consulate they tested my proficiency in Hindi and were quite impressed by my cent per cent score in TOHIL i.e. Test of Hindi as International Language.

Alex: So, you are going to have fun there.

John: Yeah, I will be travelling in the world's fastest train, world's largest theme park, and the famous Bollywood where you can see actors like, Hrithik, Shah Rukh Khan and all. Esselworld is also near Bollywood.

Alex: You know, the PM is scheduled to visit US next year, he may then relax the number of visas.

John: That's true. Last month, Narayana Murthy visited White House and donated Rs. 2000/- for infrastructure development at Silicon Valley and has promised more if we follow the model of High-Tech City of Bangalore. Bill Gates also got a chance of meeting him. Very lucky
person.

Alex: But, Indian government is planning to split Narayanamurthy's Infosys.

John: He is a hard worker man, he can build any number of Infosys like this. Every minute he is getting Rs. 1000/-. It seems, if you keep all his money converted as Rs. 100/- notes you can reach Pluto.


Alex: OK, Good Luck John.

John: Same to you Alex. And don't go to Consulate in a "Kurta Pyjama" because they will think you are too Indianised and may doubt you will never come back and hence your Non-Immigrant Visa may get rejected. But don't forget to say "Namaste, aap kaise hai" to the Visa officer at Window 5. It seems he likes that and will not give you a visa if you don't greet him that way.

Interesting Huh?

NoeL

NB: I don't know whether the author of this piece of article was trying to be frank or sarcastic towards India!

SAPS Alumni Association Database  

Posted by NoeL in

This post is for all my fellow Sapsians*! Others, kindly ignore!

Hi fellow Sapsians,

In our Last Alumni Day, 26th Dec 2007, it was decided to create a database with information of all the alumni of SAPS. We were to come up with a brand new school website. (saps.edu.in). Due to various reasons the plan got delayed. Still, a temporary site can be found in the link above. Since the site is not ready as on date, we have decided to kick start the data collection in this manner.

Please spare your 2-3min and fill up the form below. Also, send / share this form to as many Sapsians as possible. We have to collect the details of entire alumni as our school is reaching its silver jubilee...!



If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online in Google Spreadsheets by clicking the link below.


School Websites :
  1. saps.edu.in (In the development phase!)
  2. www.stantonyspublicschool.org
School Orkut Community : SAPS


NoeL

*sapsian - Anyone who has studied, is studying in St. Antony's Public School, Anakkal, Kanjirapally, Kottayam, Kerala, South India.

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I study at European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel. The opinions expressed here are my own, and neither European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel nor any other party necessarily agrees with them.