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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Mumbai voter turnout only 43.52%

Mumbai recorded an extremely disappointing voter turn out of only 43.52 per cent.

The low voter turnout in Mumbai is quite surprising as the polling percentage had been expected to be high in the wake of the recent terror attacks. Also, this year many film stars like Aamir Khan were campaigning for people to come out and vote.

Maharashtra overall recorded 45 per cent polling.

Low voter turnout could be attributed to number of possibilities. 1st May being Maharashtra day is a public holiday. With 30th April also being a public holiday for voting there is a possibility that many people opted to take a long weekend off and plan family outing. Its a shame that people have failed to use their right and contribute towards growth and progress of our country.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Formula 1...Controversial diffuser design legalised


The FIA confirmed that the radical and controversial diffusers used by the Brawn, Williams and Toyota teams are legal and able to continue in this year's World Championship. Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and BMW had protested the use of controversial diffuser design the appeal for which was upheld.

Having already been deemed legal by FIA-appointed stewards on four occasions, the expected decision came on Wednesday morning. With the devices confirmed to comply within the regulations, the seven rival teams are likely to be speeding up their own development of 'double-Decker' or 'Split level' diffusers. The announcement also confirms the results of the first two Grands Prix, won by Jenson Button and Brawn GP.

Following announcement was made:
"Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations."

Renault has already confirmed use of a similar design in this weekends Chinese Grand Prix while Red Bull is expected to have their design ready for use by Monaco Grand Prix. It is believed that Adrian Newey has already canceled his trip to this weeks Grand Prix and instead would focus on rapidly developing a double diffuser solution for Red Bull.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

IPL season 2 schedule


IPL season 2 fever is all set to start from 18th April 2009. With the tournament rescheduled to South Africa it may add that additional element of twist in the outcome.

Following is the schedule on Set Max
Day   Date            Time     Match
Sat 18th Apr 2009 2 PM Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings
Sat 18th Apr 2009 7 PM Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sun 19th Apr 2009 2 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab
Sun 19th Apr 2009 7 PM Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Mon 20th Apr 2009 7 PM Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Tue 21st Apr 2009 3 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Tue 21st Apr 2009 7:30 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians
Wed 22nd Apr 2009 7 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers
Thu 23rd Apr 2009 3 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Darevils
Thu 23rd Apr 2009 7:30 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
Fri 24th Apr 2009 7 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab
Sat 25th Apr 2009 3 PM Mumbai Indians vs Decan Chargers
Sat 25th Apr 2009 7:30 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Sun 26th Apr 2009 3 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils
Sun 26th Apr 2009 7:30 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals
Mon 27th Apr 2009 3 PM Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings
Mon 27th Apr 2009 7:30 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians
Tue 28th Apr 2009 7 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals
Wed 29th Apr 2009 3 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Wed 29th Apr 2009 7:30 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians
Thu 30th Apr 2009 3 PM Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils
Thu 30th Apr 2009 7:30 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings
Fri 1st May 2009 3 PM Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Fri 1st May 2009 7:30 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sat 2nd May 2009 3 PM Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals
Sat 2nd May 2009 7:30 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings
Sun 3rd May 2009 3 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab
Sun 3rd May 2009 7:30 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians
Mon 4th May 2009 7 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers
Tue 5th May 2009 3 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab
Tue 5th May 2009 7:30 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Wed 6th May 2009 7 PM Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians
Thu 7th May 2009 3 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals
Thu 7th May 2009 7:30 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings
Fri 8th May 2009 7 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians
Sat 9th May 2009 3 PM Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab
Sat 9th May 2009 7:30 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals
Sun 10th May 2009 3 PM Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sun 10th May 2009 7:30 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils
Mon 11th May 2009 7 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers
Tue 12th May 2009 3 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Tue 12th May 2009 7:30 PM Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab
Wed 13th May 2009 7 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers
Thu 14th May 2009 3 PM Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings
Thu 14th May 2009 7:30 PM Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals
Fri 15th May 2009 7 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils
Sat 16th May 2009 3 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians
Sat 16th May 2009 7:30 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers
Sun 17th May 2009 3 PM Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers
Sun 17th May 2009 7:30 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils
Mon 18th May 2009 7 PM Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings
Tue 19th May 2009 7 PM Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Wed 20th May 2009 3 PM Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Wed 20th May 2009 7:30 PM Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab
Thu 21st May 2009 3 PM Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils
Thu 21st May 2009 7:30 PM Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Fri 22nd May 2009 7 PM Semi Final 1
Sat 23rd May 2009 7 PM Semi Final 2
Sun 24th May 2009 7 PM Finals

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tech Mahindra wins Satyam Computer

Tech Mahindra, the IT arm of auto major Mahindra and Mahindra won the bid for India's fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer.

Satyam's new board of directors, which met to select the highest bidder, chose Tech Mahindra following its bid of Rs 1,757 crore for 31 per cent stake in the scam-tainted IT giant.

Tech Mahindra offered Rs 58 for each Satyam share. Engineering major L&T and private equity firm WL Ross were among the other major contenders for the bid. L&T already holds 12.04 per cent stake in Satyam. While L&T’s bid was at Rs 45.90/share, WL Ross' bid for Satyam stood at Rs 20/share.

Earlier, all three bidders had qualified L&T, Tech Mahindra and Cognizant had qualified for the financial bidding stage after the technical bids were evaluated. Spice Corp, IBM and iGate were among those confirmed names that dropped out of the race after showing an interest in the company. iGate decided to drop out of the race for Satyam after concerns on falling revenues and not enough clarity on customers and margins. Spice Corp claimed that the bidding process lacked transparency and pulled out of the race.

At Rs 58 per share, Tech Mahindra will acquire a controlling stake of 51% in Satyam for Rs 2,889 crore, pegging the total value of the company at Rs 5,665 crore. In the first stage, Satyam will issue 30.27 crore shares to Tech Mahindra, representing 31% of the company’s share capital, which will infuse Rs 1,756 crore into the company. In the second stage, Tech Mahindra will make an open offer to Satyam’s existing shareholders for another 20%.


This new development will catapult Tech Mahindra to 5th position in terms of BSE market capitalization. Though as per many experts this deal will put Tech Mahindra in 4th position in the pecking order of IT firms as per revenues, after HCL Technologies... only time will tell if there is any Satya in revenues of Satyam.

Indian Loksabha Election 2009

India, the world’s largest democracy with 714 million voters, will pick a new government over five phases between April 16 and May 13, and the votes will be counted on May 16.

Making the much awaited announcement, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said that 124 Lok Sabha constituencies would go to the polls April 16, followed by 141 on April 23, 107 on April 30, 85 on May 7 and 86 constituencies on the final day on May 13.

The millions of votes cast in the mammoth exercise covering the length and breadth of the world’s seventh largest country would be counted May 16.

Gopalaswami said elections to the Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim assemblies would also take place along with the Lok Sabha battle. Assembly by-elections would also be held in Mizoram, Jharkhand and Karnataka (one seat each) and Nagaland (four seats).

The strength of the Indian electorate, more than the combined population of Russia and the US, has gone up by 43 million in 2004 to 714 million now, Gopalaswami said.

A total of 1.36 million electronic voting machines would be used.

Troubled Jammu and Kashmir as well as Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, would see polling spread over five phases while Bihar would have four rounds of balloting.

Maharashtra and West Bengal would undergo polling over three phases. Eight states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa and Punjab — would witness voting over two phases.

Fifteen states would end the exercise within a day.

This would be the first general election after the delimitation of the Lok Sabha constituencies. 499 constituencies have been redrawn in the delimitation exercise. Delimitation could not be undertaken in Andhra, Assam, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland.

Photo electoral rolls would be used in 522 of the 543 constituencies where polling would take place. In a house of 545, the president appoints two members of the Anglo-Indian community.

To ensure that polling is by and large peaceful, security arrangements will entail deployment of 40 lakh civil personnel and 21 lakh police personnel.

Following is the schedlue

Apr 16 : AP, Arunachal, Assam. Bihar, J&K, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, UP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman, Lakshadweep (Total 124 seats)
Apr 23 : AP, Assam, Bihar, Goa, J&K, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand (Total 141 seats)
Apr 30 : Bihar, Gujarat, J&K, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, UP, West Bengal, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu (Total 107 seats)
May 07 : Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi (Total 85 seats)
May 13 : Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry (Total 86 seats)

Counting of Votes : May 16, 09

15th Lok Sabha to convene before: Jun 02, 09


The ruling UPA is expected to have a significant edge in the coming Lok Sabha elections with the Congress projected to remain the single largest party like in 2004 with a 144 seat haul in a likely hung Parliament, according to a poll survey.

The Week/C Voter election survey gives the Congress-led UPA 234 seats if the seats bagged by Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi party, Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party are also taken to account though the Congress does not have any seat sharing arrangement with these parties. The Congress had 145 members in the outgoing House.

The survey said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is projected to get 186, way behind the UPA with BJP expected to get 140 seats, two less than in 2004.

The magic figure for a majority is 272. The survey projected that the prospect for the Third Front is weak with the predicted number of 112 seats including those expected to be bagged by AIADMK not being big enough to woo other regional parties.

Airtel 16 Mbps

The broadband internet speeds are all set to rise for the Indian net surfer with Airtel announcing the availability of 16Mbps broadband, which now claims to be the fastest DSL broadband in the country. This could just bring back the internet war which we havent witnessed since over 5 years now.

This service, powered by Airtel's Carrier Ethernet Network, will be initially available in the cities of Delhi NCR, Chennai and Bangalore with phased roll-out to additional cities of Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata. Airtel delivers its broadband service through a fibre backbone of Carrier Ethernet Network with last mile delivery on copper using ADSL2+ technology, enabling ultra high-speed broadband which is scalable and affordable.

Airtel is offering 2 plans with 16 Mbps broadband
A. Speed Combo 2999 - 16 Mbps broadband speed with monthly data transfer limit of 20 GB for Rs. 2999 per month
B. Speed Combo 4999 – 16 Mbps broadband speed with monthly data transfer limit of 50 GB for Rs. 4999 per month

Airtel Telemedia Services joint president K. Srinivas said, “We are the leading private broadband service provider in the country and pioneered 8 Mbps broadband. It gives us great pleasure now to be able to introduce the fastest, wired broadband service on DSL.”

“We will be able to offer 16 Mbps broadband to 70 percent of the households in Delhi and NCR (national capital region), Chennai and Bangalore,” he added.

Currently, two tariff plans are being offered by the company for its 16 Mbps broadband at Rs 2,999 and Rs 4,999. The data transfer limit under the Speed Combo 2999 is 20 GB, while that in the Speed Combo 4999 is 50 GB.

Recently Airtel was in news for its fair usage policy.

Following is their take on Fair usage policy.

Airtel’s Fair Usage Policy is designed in such a manner that we continue to provide the best of internet experience to all our customers.

* Why a Fair Usage Policy?
A very small number of customers use an excessive amount of the network bandwidth, to the extent that it can impair the experience of others. The intent of Airtel's Fair Usage Policy is to provide the optimum internet experience to all customers.

* What happens in Fair Usage Policy?
Under the policy we have defined fair usage levels for unlimited data transfer plans and needless to mention, the usage levels set are very generous such that most customers will not be affected by the Fair Usage Policy.
On reaching the fair usage level, the plan speed would be rationalized by up to 50% for the rest of the monthly billing cycle. You would also be redirected to a page which will inform you that the speeds for the rest of the billing cycle month would be as per the Airtel’s Fair Usage Policy.

Please note that the speeds would be upgraded to the normal speeds at the start of the next billing cycle.

* What’s the impact of Fair Usage Policy on data transfer limits?
We assure you that the data transfer limits remain unlimited and no change has been made in the same.

Tata Nano...is here

Tata Nano booking has finally begun....The sale of booking forms began from 1st April & Bookings will be accepted from the 9th of April 2009 to 25th April 2009, both days inclusive.Though the wait seems to be over booking a Nano will not be enough as Tata Motors has earmarked only 1,00,000 cars for the first phase to be sold through a lottery. Having said that company is offering individuals an option to retain their booking. The unsuccessful Applicants will have the option of intimating to Tata Motors about their willingness to retain their booking for delivery of Tata Nano Car after the completion of deliveries to the Allottees by filling in the appropriate box in the Application Form. Tata Motors will prepare a list of Applicants falling under this category using the result of the Allotment Process, used to select the successful Applicants and intimate them the priority number for the delivery of the car which shall be generated through the process using the computerized pseudo random number generation technique. Such Applicants would be informed of a six-month period in which the actual delivery shall take place.Tata Motors will pay an interest at 8.5% per annum in case period of retention is greater than one year but less than 2 years and 8.75% per annum, in case period of retention is greater than 2 years, on such retained amount from the date of allocations.

Booking can be done both offline and online. Yes, Tata has become Indias first company to facilitate online booking of a car.


Following is the procedure for online booking
* Visit http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_booking&task=step1

* The cost of the Online Form is Rs. 200/-.
* Fill out the application form online and proceed to make an online payment.
* Your application will then be directed to a third party payment gateway site
* You will then submit your payment through net banking. (No credit card or debit card accepted)
* The amount to be paid is the Cost of Application Form plus the Booking Amount.
* The site will confirm your payment by generating a transaction ID.
* You will be then guided back to the Tata Nano website where a Unique Identification Number (UIN) will be generated.
* Booking is now complete, you can take a print of receipt, an email is sent to you with the receipt


Following is the procedure for offline booking
# Buy an application form for Rs 300/- from any of the following locations. There will be an exclusive counter where you can purchase the application

1. Select SBI branches
2. Tata Motor Delearships
3. Croma Outlets
4. Westside stores
5. Tata Indicom Exclusive Stores
6. World of Titan Showrooms

# The application form will have 3 copies (Applicant's copy, the bank's copy and TML's copy) Please fill all of these copies before submitting it.
# You can submit your Booking Forms at the following locations:

1. Select SBI Branches
2. Tata Motors Dealerships
3. Croma Outlets
4. Westside Stores


Allotment Procedure
* Tata Motors would announce 1,00,000 successful applicants as allotees within 60 days of closing of booking window
* 1,00,000 succesful applicants would be selected using the pseudo random number generation technique
* The price of Tata Nano as announced on date of commercial launch (23rd March, 2009) would be applicable for all 1,00,000 allotees*
* You can check the status of your application by keying in your UIN on www.tatanano.com or by calling on the call center number 020-66495678
* Allotees would receive an allotment letter which would also mention the expected period of delivery
* A communication regarding the status of the application would be sent all applicants via SMS or email based on the contact details mentioned in the application form
* Refund (without interest) to all unsuccessful applicants who have not opted to retain their booking with Tata Motors would be processed within 90 days of closing of booking window


The Buzz is that tataNano.com the official website of Tata Nano attracted about 54 lakh visitors to the site within the first 24 hours of the car launch on March 23, according to Interactive Avenues, which handles online media planning and buying for Tata Nano.


With very strong +ve reviews for this cutey... its time for a Nano!!!