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Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Friday, March 28, 2014
Internet Marketing
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Know your keywords: One of the main issues lots of people finish off facing when attempting to generate earnings on the internet is they're approaching with content at random, with no apparent focus on some well-looked into keywords the keywords you choose to focus on within your content and throughout your website have a big impact on the keywords that you'll finish off ranking - and for that reason, you'll need to ensure you are spending time to have a look at keywords completely prior to deciding to ever start trying to create content around them.
Target keywords effectively: For individuals who've a wish to achieve high search engine rankings, it'll be very crucial that you realize that keywords need to be specific in not just the data on your website in addition, you are going to want to take notice to the title tags and image tags on your website, and so are going to want to want to ensure your website is fully enhanced - otherwise, you will not ever quite achieve your full potential with rankings for that site.
Get active with back-links: Most likely the most crucial aspects of search engine optimisation has returned links (links from another site that point people to your website), as each back-link is viewed just like a type of "election of confidence" inside the eyes of search engines lots of people increase the risk for mistake of supposing there is nothing they're able to do about back-links - however when you begin becoming active within your search for back-links, and start getting creative in your soul skill to restore links your path, it is easy to identify the back-links are turning up! Looking for the best seovolucion on the web? Visit us today!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Fight against Rape
To fight rape we need to shift the proportion of force which is present skewed in favor of rapists and against a survivor of assault.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is feels nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer . It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
French fries and Burgers are the biggest enemy of heart health.
A coke after that gives more power to this demon.
Avoid them for your Heart's Health
Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack...
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be theleft arm hurting .
Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line .
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.
Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.
60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.
A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
Misprint in HSC papers gives full marks to students
Here is some good news for HSC students. All students, who attempted questions of chemistry, physics-II and fisheries having printing errors, will get full marks.
For physics-II, the misprint was worth almost 10% of the total marks. Debashis Bhowmick, vice-principal of Nuva College and a PhD in physics, said, "Question number five was about finding the shortest wavelength for Paschen and Brackett series in hydrogen atom. However, instead of mentioning the symbol for angstrom, they printed a symbol which made no sense."
Sanjay Charalwar, principal of Mohota Science College, said, "The board has committed an error in printing and the usual practice is to give full marks to students who have either attempted the question or even written the question number in the paper."
There were two such errors in the chemistry subject, with one mistake each in paper-I and II. SS Goyal, lecturer at VB Junior College said, "In the first paper, there were numericals to be solved using Hess' Law but the data was wrong. They had printed H2O gas whereas H2O liquid should have been mentioned. The board has decided to give full four marks to anyone who attempted the question."
For physics-II, the misprint was worth almost 10% of the total marks. Debashis Bhowmick, vice-principal of Nuva College and a PhD in physics, said, "Question number five was about finding the shortest wavelength for Paschen and Brackett series in hydrogen atom. However, instead of mentioning the symbol for angstrom, they printed a symbol which made no sense."
Sanjay Charalwar, principal of Mohota Science College, said, "The board has committed an error in printing and the usual practice is to give full marks to students who have either attempted the question or even written the question number in the paper."
There were two such errors in the chemistry subject, with one mistake each in paper-I and II. SS Goyal, lecturer at VB Junior College said, "In the first paper, there were numericals to be solved using Hess' Law but the data was wrong. They had printed H2O gas whereas H2O liquid should have been mentioned. The board has decided to give full four marks to anyone who attempted the question."
Mumbai: Cops caught smuggling 500 liqour bottles
In a twisted irony, the Maharashtra state's stringent de-addiction policy sprang brazenly back in its face when 14 Navi Mumbai policemen were caught smuggling 500 bottles of alcohol from Goa. The cops, including an assistant inspector and two assistant sub-inspectors, have been placed under suspension pending further inquiry.
The incident happened on Wednesday night when the police team, on deputation with the Reserve Bank of India, were returning from the party capital after transporting an undisclosed amount of cash to the Panjim branch of the central bank, top sources from the government said. They had hired a private vehicle, inwhich they stashed 500 liquor bottles, little anticipating any interruption of their journey back from the official assignment.
But, acting on a tip-off, the Goa excise officials intercepted them, and found bottles of Royal Stag, McDowell's, and Imperial Blue among other liquor brands in the vehicle. The policemen were detained and the alcohol seized, sources said.
When word reached the state police, the embarrassment of the breach from within its ranks caught up with the higher echelons of the department. By midnight, Home Minister RR Patil asked Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed to suspend the policemen immediately. Javed said, "The liquor has been recovered in the jurisdiction of Goa. They will be looking into the investigations. Since these policemen were attached to the Navi Mumbai police, we have taken action against them. All those involved in smuggling the liquor have been placed under suspension. A departmental inquiry has been initiated."
According to the Navi Mumbai police, the staff of 14 policemen was attached specially for RBI security. The policemen were responsible forproviding security cover for the transportation of cashfrom Navi Mumbai to Goa.
Bootlegging cops
API Shivaji Raut, APSI Balu Gosavi, APSI Suresh Wagh, Constables Rajaram Ubale, Vishwanath Biwale, Bharat Pawar, Rajesh Patil,Ashok Rabade, Ratnakar Wankhede, Annasaheb Pawar, G V Kadam, H B Shinde, V C Shinde and R V Vanjari
The incident happened on Wednesday night when the police team, on deputation with the Reserve Bank of India, were returning from the party capital after transporting an undisclosed amount of cash to the Panjim branch of the central bank, top sources from the government said. They had hired a private vehicle, inwhich they stashed 500 liquor bottles, little anticipating any interruption of their journey back from the official assignment.
But, acting on a tip-off, the Goa excise officials intercepted them, and found bottles of Royal Stag, McDowell's, and Imperial Blue among other liquor brands in the vehicle. The policemen were detained and the alcohol seized, sources said.
When word reached the state police, the embarrassment of the breach from within its ranks caught up with the higher echelons of the department. By midnight, Home Minister RR Patil asked Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed to suspend the policemen immediately. Javed said, "The liquor has been recovered in the jurisdiction of Goa. They will be looking into the investigations. Since these policemen were attached to the Navi Mumbai police, we have taken action against them. All those involved in smuggling the liquor have been placed under suspension. A departmental inquiry has been initiated."
According to the Navi Mumbai police, the staff of 14 policemen was attached specially for RBI security. The policemen were responsible forproviding security cover for the transportation of cashfrom Navi Mumbai to Goa.
Bootlegging cops
API Shivaji Raut, APSI Balu Gosavi, APSI Suresh Wagh, Constables Rajaram Ubale, Vishwanath Biwale, Bharat Pawar, Rajesh Patil,Ashok Rabade, Ratnakar Wankhede, Annasaheb Pawar, G V Kadam, H B Shinde, V C Shinde and R V Vanjari
All Facebook pages to get a new design on Mar 30
Now is the time for Facebook pages to get some makeover. Facebook has announced that on March 30, 2012,all Facebook pages will automatically get the new design. The company is actually updating its pages to look like Timeline profiles.
However, Facebook lets admins of the pages preview the new look before the company automatically rolls the new design out.
Users may find the alert related to the new page design as they go the Facebook page. But this is possible only if they are admins of that particular page.
After previewing that how the new page looks, users can click the"Publish Now" button to get the new design. But if you don't want the new design at the moment, you should not click the "Publish Now" button. Until you publish your page, you can get back the old design/current design any time.
But the old design is not going to stay forever. Users can only stick tothe old design till this month as all pages will upgrade to the new design on March 30, 2012.
I took the tour of the changes that will be automatically rolled out by the end of this month. Let's see what all new features are going toaccompany your Facebook pages:
1. The cover photo is the first thing that people will see when they visit your page. So, it is suggested to choose a striking photo that goes well with your page.
2. The new page design will accommodate your profile picture that is square and at least 180 pixels wide.
3. Once the new design will be rolled out, users will be able to highlight what is important. Photos, likes and apps will be at the top of your page.
4. With the new page design, userscan show a maximum number of 12 apps. So, ensure that you put your most important ones first.
5. Users can also review their page timeline. Hover over a story and click on the star (star icon) to makeit wider, or on the pencil (pencil icon) to pin it to the top of your Page, hide or delete it entirely.
6. There is an activity log that userscan visit to review all posts and activity.
There is nothing to worry about as the new design is quite intuitive. In a nutshell, your Facebook pages are going to look just like the timeline on regular user accounts. To know more about Facebook pages, you can go to the help section of Facebook.
However, Facebook lets admins of the pages preview the new look before the company automatically rolls the new design out.
Users may find the alert related to the new page design as they go the Facebook page. But this is possible only if they are admins of that particular page.
After previewing that how the new page looks, users can click the"Publish Now" button to get the new design. But if you don't want the new design at the moment, you should not click the "Publish Now" button. Until you publish your page, you can get back the old design/current design any time.
But the old design is not going to stay forever. Users can only stick tothe old design till this month as all pages will upgrade to the new design on March 30, 2012.
I took the tour of the changes that will be automatically rolled out by the end of this month. Let's see what all new features are going toaccompany your Facebook pages:
1. The cover photo is the first thing that people will see when they visit your page. So, it is suggested to choose a striking photo that goes well with your page.
2. The new page design will accommodate your profile picture that is square and at least 180 pixels wide.
3. Once the new design will be rolled out, users will be able to highlight what is important. Photos, likes and apps will be at the top of your page.
4. With the new page design, userscan show a maximum number of 12 apps. So, ensure that you put your most important ones first.
5. Users can also review their page timeline. Hover over a story and click on the star (star icon) to makeit wider, or on the pencil (pencil icon) to pin it to the top of your Page, hide or delete it entirely.
6. There is an activity log that userscan visit to review all posts and activity.
There is nothing to worry about as the new design is quite intuitive. In a nutshell, your Facebook pages are going to look just like the timeline on regular user accounts. To know more about Facebook pages, you can go to the help section of Facebook.
Divorces get easier; wives get property rights
The Central government on Friday took some major decisions with regard to the Hindu Marriage Act, including making divorce easier, in a key Cabinet meeting.
According to the decision of the Cabinet, the mandatory six-month clause for filing of divorce will nowbe waived off on grounds of irretrievable breakdown.
The new clause also allows one-time settlement instead of monthly maintenance in case of divorce.
The redrafted Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 based on key recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee also allows a woman a share in her husband's property. The quantum of share will be decided by the court on case-by-case basis.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which was cleared by the Cabinet, also seeks to give a woman a share in her husband's property.
The government has accepted the recommendation of the parliamentary committee that women should have a share in the property of her husband in case of a divorce but the quantum of sharewill be decided by the courts on case-by-case basis.
According to the Cabinet Note, while a wife can oppose a husband's plea for a divorce under the new "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds.
Apart from this, bringing a big change in the adoption laws, the Union Cabinet has cleared equal rights for adopted children in custody cases.
According to the redrafted Bill passed by the Cabinet, adopted children will have rights on par with biological off springs of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce.
In another major decision, the Union Cabinet also cleared 7 per cent hike in dearness allowance for the government employees.
The hike is effective from January 1, 2012. The dearness allowance isrevised twice every year on the basis of change in the consumer price index.
Notably, the Consumer Price Index inflation stood at 8.83 per cent for the month of February, higher thanthe 7.7 per cent in January.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
According to the decision of the Cabinet, the mandatory six-month clause for filing of divorce will nowbe waived off on grounds of irretrievable breakdown.
The new clause also allows one-time settlement instead of monthly maintenance in case of divorce.
The redrafted Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 based on key recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee also allows a woman a share in her husband's property. The quantum of share will be decided by the court on case-by-case basis.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which was cleared by the Cabinet, also seeks to give a woman a share in her husband's property.
The government has accepted the recommendation of the parliamentary committee that women should have a share in the property of her husband in case of a divorce but the quantum of sharewill be decided by the courts on case-by-case basis.
According to the Cabinet Note, while a wife can oppose a husband's plea for a divorce under the new "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds.
Apart from this, bringing a big change in the adoption laws, the Union Cabinet has cleared equal rights for adopted children in custody cases.
According to the redrafted Bill passed by the Cabinet, adopted children will have rights on par with biological off springs of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce.
In another major decision, the Union Cabinet also cleared 7 per cent hike in dearness allowance for the government employees.
The hike is effective from January 1, 2012. The dearness allowance isrevised twice every year on the basis of change in the consumer price index.
Notably, the Consumer Price Index inflation stood at 8.83 per cent for the month of February, higher thanthe 7.7 per cent in January.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Women to get share in husbands' property
A Bill seeking to give a woman a share in her husband's property was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday. Apart from giving women the right to their husband's property, the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, also aims at giving rights to adopted children on par with biological off-springs.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August two years ago and then referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel.
Supporting the Bill which sought tomake "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" a new ground for grant of divorce, the Standing Committeehad in March last year opposed doing away with the prevailing waiting period before moving a joint motion for annulling marriage.
Partially accepting the recommendation, the government has now decided the cooling off period will be decided by courts.
According to the redrafted Bill passed by the Cabinet, adopted children will have rights on par with biological off springs of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce.
The government has also acceptedthe recommendation of the parliamentary committee that women should have a share in the property of her husband in case of a divorce but the quantum of sharewill be decided by the courts on case-by-case basis.
According to the Cabinet Note, while a wife can oppose a husband's plea for a divorce under the new "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August two years ago and then referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel.
Supporting the Bill which sought tomake "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" a new ground for grant of divorce, the Standing Committeehad in March last year opposed doing away with the prevailing waiting period before moving a joint motion for annulling marriage.
Partially accepting the recommendation, the government has now decided the cooling off period will be decided by courts.
According to the redrafted Bill passed by the Cabinet, adopted children will have rights on par with biological off springs of a couple in case the parents go for a divorce.
The government has also acceptedthe recommendation of the parliamentary committee that women should have a share in the property of her husband in case of a divorce but the quantum of sharewill be decided by the courts on case-by-case basis.
According to the Cabinet Note, while a wife can oppose a husband's plea for a divorce under the new "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" clause, the husband will have no such rights to oppose if the wife moves the court on the same grounds
Samsung is like a fantastic soap maker
When Samsung Electronics rushed its first smartphone to market in a panicky response to the smash-hit debut of the Apple iPhone, some customers burned the product on the streets or hammered it to bits in public displays of disaffection.
Complaints ranged from dropped calls and a clunky touchscreen to frequent auto rebooting and a dearth of applications.
"It was just awful," said Kim Sang-uk, 27, who bought the Omnia in late-2009 just before starting his first job. "I just wanted to throw it away, but couldn't because I was on a 2-year contract.It was the kind of phone where you'd say 'no', even if someone gave it to you for free."
Samsung Mobile President JK Shin admitted it was a tough time. The company had seen a 1 trillion won ($885 million) profit in its telecom sector in the first quarter of 2010 halved in the following quarter after Apple Inc's latest iPhone tookthe market by storm.
"We were facing a really serious crisis," Shin said later.
Soap vs perfume
Yet on the 9th floor of Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seoul housing the mobile division's design centre, Lee Minhyouk said he was not feeling the heat. Samsung Mobile's vice president for design and his team were already working on its next smartphone, the Galaxy, and this would be truly a worthy opponent to the iPhone.
Samsung has sold 44 million Galaxy units since its launch in June 2010 on its way to displacing Apple last year as the world's top-selling smartphone maker. Its success evolved from the Omnia, said Lee, who at 40 is the company's youngest senior executive.
"Without Omnia and Samsung's previous models, there would havebeen no Galaxys. There's a design link among these products," he said in an interview at his office."They shouldn't be viewed as fragmental design. They share our deep deliberation on technology, colour and design language."
Samsung's chequered entry into the smartphone market is emblematic of the South Korean conglomerate's strengths and weaknesses.
Its strategy has always been to be the "fast executioner", the first in the market with a copycat product when a new opportunity is presented. But it is not known as a great innovator or a company like Apple that can literally create a new market with an iconic product.
To become a truly innovative company, Samsung needs to explore the art, as well as the science, of what it does, critics say.
"Samsung is like a fantastic soap maker," said Christian Lindholm, chief innovation officer of service design consultancy Fjord based in Finland. "Their products get you clean, lathers well. However, they do not know how to make perfumes, an industry where margins are significantly higher. Perfume is an experience. Perfumeis meant to seduce, make you attractive and feel good. You love your perfume, but you like your soap."
Designing something people can love is an art, which requires risk taking and is based more on experience than data. "Samsung needs to learn to lead more. They analyse all creativity to death, theylack self confidence," Lindholm said.
"Korea has to leap into the experience industry," she added. "Ithink they have only five years before they are the new Japan, outmanoeuvred by the Chinese who are quickly learning the soap business."
Evolution vs creation
Lee's office atmosphere and his comments seem to reinforce an image of a company whose cultureleans more to evolution than big-bang creationism.
His design sanctum looks much like any other Samsung department, a Dilbert sprawl of desks and cubicles with framed aphorisms from the founding family on the walls: "Be with Customers" and "Create Products that Contribute to Humanity" and also this one: "Challenge the World, Create the Future".
The office may lack the exotic art, exercise balls and creative toys of Silicon Valley decor, but Lee and histeam are borrowing some start-up techniques for tapping the design muses.
Lee, who has acquired the monikerof "Midas" for his golden touch with the Galaxy series, has travelled to Brazil's Iguazu Falls and the ancient city of Cuzco in Peru for inspiration. Samsung sends the design team on such trips across the world to stoke their imaginary fires.
Images or emotions they pick up on these trips can be "naturally expressed in design languages or lines and colours", said Lee, who started out designing cars for Samsung's failed auto joint venture with Renault in the 1990s.
The design process can also be more mundane, he adds.
"Designing is just part of your life. You study, do some research on future trends and experience stuff you haven't done before. All this stuff interacts to create a new design."
If money was the answer to innovation then Samsung Electronics would certainly rank among the best in the world. Samsung spent 10 trillion won ($9 billion) on research and development in 2011.
Indeed, the annual Bloomberg BusinessWeek survey of most innovative companies ranks Samsung 11th on its list of top-50 most innovative companies, though it trails local rival LG Electronics in 7th and Sony in 10th.
Part of Samsung's design philosophy is to leverage the conglomerate's ability to manufacture inhouse the components in its products, including microchips and flat screens - an advantage over Apple for instance, which has to outsource most of that.
Samsung readily acknowledges it has yet to attain Apple's innovative spark. And Lee concedes he is no match - yet - for Jonathan Ive, the genius designer behind the distinctive look and feel of Apple's range of phones, tablets and other must-have consumer gadgets.
By most accounts, Ive's success at Apple stemmed from his close personal relationship with Steve Jobs - a classic marriage between gizmo-maker and entrepreneur.
Lee, who said he has never met Ive, has a more corporate relationship with top managers at Samsung. He believes, however, that paradigmatic breakthroughs are a matter of the right product coming at the right time.
"I might not be at (Ive's) level yet, but I believe Samsung will producesuch iconic products one day. It's not just effort that makes it possible for a new product to be a massive hit. It also has to be timely, and technology should be ready to make a certain design a reality."
Apple aptitude
That Samsung might eventually wind up with some Apple aptitude has to worry company executives at its Cupertino, California headquarters.
Samsung and Apple are locked in an escalating global patent battle, as they jostle for top position in the booming smartphone and tablet markets. Apple fired the first salvo in April last year, arguing Samsung had "slavishly" copied its iPad and iPhone. Since then both have taken legal action against each other in several countries claiming patent infringements.
Lee takes personal affront at the copycat charge.
"I've made thousands of sketches and hundreds of prototype products (for the Galaxy). Does thatmean I was putting on a mock show for so long, pretending to be designing?"
"As a designer, there's an issue of dignity. (The Galaxy) is original from the beginning, and I'm the one who made it. It's a totally different product with a different design language and different technology infused."
And a different marketing approach. While Apple has a simple product line-up for the iPhone and iPad, Samsung has bombarded the market with varieties of the Galaxy, the Wave phone, which uses Samsung's own 'bada' platform, and most recently with a phone-tablet.
Lee sees no harm in this tweaking-rather-than-innovating approach, saying it plays to the company's corporate strengths.
Samsung's vertically integrated structure allows it to use prototypecomponents and new technology developed elsewhere in the company in the design lab. The company has overseas design labs to help uncover consumer trends inthe various global markets in which it competes.
Designers have to be integrators, researching user behavior, discovering what's happening in the market, as well as searching for a unique aesthetic, Lee says.
"As a designer, my job is to blend new functions and technology with aesthetic beauty, as far as possible."
"There are different teams studying new technology trends, working on future design trends and Samsung's own design identity, and they're all regularly exchanging ideas with designers."
Fab-let?
Lee's latest project - a follow-up to the Galaxy model called the Note - is a mini-tablet and phone, with a throwback stylus. Although it lookshuge compared with a standard phone, its pinpoint apps and high definition screen should please those using it for video and gaming.
The phone-tablet - or phablet - hassold more than 2 million units since its October launch, and was a crowd pleaser at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Lee said the design risk with the note was "breaking a taboo" about keeping handsets small enough to fit easily in your hand.
"But smartphones are more about entertainment. The Note was created by simply breaking that taboo and focusing more on the new functions that smartphones require."
Handsets are now Samsung's biggest earner - bringing in 8.3 trillion won ($7.4 billion) in operating profit last year - and the group's confidence has grown in tandem with its fattening patent book - it registered over 5,000 patents last year alone.
"We were told so many times until the early part of last year that Samsung is not good at software. We're not hearing that as often any more," Samsung Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung said at the CES event in Las Vegas. Late last month, Choi went further and told reporters at the world's biggest annual mobile show in Barcelona that Samsung would notunveil its new Galaxy model at the Mobile World Congress for fear of rivals copying it.
Yet there's not one software engineer or designer among the 17 Samsung Fellows, Samsung Group's in-house equivalent of the Nobel prize winners to reward those making a significant contribution to its success. Lee hopes his time will come.
"I'm confident that one day Samsung will make a product that defines our time, and I hope it's one of mine."
Complaints ranged from dropped calls and a clunky touchscreen to frequent auto rebooting and a dearth of applications.
"It was just awful," said Kim Sang-uk, 27, who bought the Omnia in late-2009 just before starting his first job. "I just wanted to throw it away, but couldn't because I was on a 2-year contract.It was the kind of phone where you'd say 'no', even if someone gave it to you for free."
Samsung Mobile President JK Shin admitted it was a tough time. The company had seen a 1 trillion won ($885 million) profit in its telecom sector in the first quarter of 2010 halved in the following quarter after Apple Inc's latest iPhone tookthe market by storm.
"We were facing a really serious crisis," Shin said later.
Soap vs perfume
Yet on the 9th floor of Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seoul housing the mobile division's design centre, Lee Minhyouk said he was not feeling the heat. Samsung Mobile's vice president for design and his team were already working on its next smartphone, the Galaxy, and this would be truly a worthy opponent to the iPhone.
Samsung has sold 44 million Galaxy units since its launch in June 2010 on its way to displacing Apple last year as the world's top-selling smartphone maker. Its success evolved from the Omnia, said Lee, who at 40 is the company's youngest senior executive.
"Without Omnia and Samsung's previous models, there would havebeen no Galaxys. There's a design link among these products," he said in an interview at his office."They shouldn't be viewed as fragmental design. They share our deep deliberation on technology, colour and design language."
Samsung's chequered entry into the smartphone market is emblematic of the South Korean conglomerate's strengths and weaknesses.
Its strategy has always been to be the "fast executioner", the first in the market with a copycat product when a new opportunity is presented. But it is not known as a great innovator or a company like Apple that can literally create a new market with an iconic product.
To become a truly innovative company, Samsung needs to explore the art, as well as the science, of what it does, critics say.
"Samsung is like a fantastic soap maker," said Christian Lindholm, chief innovation officer of service design consultancy Fjord based in Finland. "Their products get you clean, lathers well. However, they do not know how to make perfumes, an industry where margins are significantly higher. Perfume is an experience. Perfumeis meant to seduce, make you attractive and feel good. You love your perfume, but you like your soap."
Designing something people can love is an art, which requires risk taking and is based more on experience than data. "Samsung needs to learn to lead more. They analyse all creativity to death, theylack self confidence," Lindholm said.
"Korea has to leap into the experience industry," she added. "Ithink they have only five years before they are the new Japan, outmanoeuvred by the Chinese who are quickly learning the soap business."
Evolution vs creation
Lee's office atmosphere and his comments seem to reinforce an image of a company whose cultureleans more to evolution than big-bang creationism.
His design sanctum looks much like any other Samsung department, a Dilbert sprawl of desks and cubicles with framed aphorisms from the founding family on the walls: "Be with Customers" and "Create Products that Contribute to Humanity" and also this one: "Challenge the World, Create the Future".
The office may lack the exotic art, exercise balls and creative toys of Silicon Valley decor, but Lee and histeam are borrowing some start-up techniques for tapping the design muses.
Lee, who has acquired the monikerof "Midas" for his golden touch with the Galaxy series, has travelled to Brazil's Iguazu Falls and the ancient city of Cuzco in Peru for inspiration. Samsung sends the design team on such trips across the world to stoke their imaginary fires.
Images or emotions they pick up on these trips can be "naturally expressed in design languages or lines and colours", said Lee, who started out designing cars for Samsung's failed auto joint venture with Renault in the 1990s.
The design process can also be more mundane, he adds.
"Designing is just part of your life. You study, do some research on future trends and experience stuff you haven't done before. All this stuff interacts to create a new design."
If money was the answer to innovation then Samsung Electronics would certainly rank among the best in the world. Samsung spent 10 trillion won ($9 billion) on research and development in 2011.
Indeed, the annual Bloomberg BusinessWeek survey of most innovative companies ranks Samsung 11th on its list of top-50 most innovative companies, though it trails local rival LG Electronics in 7th and Sony in 10th.
Part of Samsung's design philosophy is to leverage the conglomerate's ability to manufacture inhouse the components in its products, including microchips and flat screens - an advantage over Apple for instance, which has to outsource most of that.
Samsung readily acknowledges it has yet to attain Apple's innovative spark. And Lee concedes he is no match - yet - for Jonathan Ive, the genius designer behind the distinctive look and feel of Apple's range of phones, tablets and other must-have consumer gadgets.
By most accounts, Ive's success at Apple stemmed from his close personal relationship with Steve Jobs - a classic marriage between gizmo-maker and entrepreneur.
Lee, who said he has never met Ive, has a more corporate relationship with top managers at Samsung. He believes, however, that paradigmatic breakthroughs are a matter of the right product coming at the right time.
"I might not be at (Ive's) level yet, but I believe Samsung will producesuch iconic products one day. It's not just effort that makes it possible for a new product to be a massive hit. It also has to be timely, and technology should be ready to make a certain design a reality."
Apple aptitude
That Samsung might eventually wind up with some Apple aptitude has to worry company executives at its Cupertino, California headquarters.
Samsung and Apple are locked in an escalating global patent battle, as they jostle for top position in the booming smartphone and tablet markets. Apple fired the first salvo in April last year, arguing Samsung had "slavishly" copied its iPad and iPhone. Since then both have taken legal action against each other in several countries claiming patent infringements.
Lee takes personal affront at the copycat charge.
"I've made thousands of sketches and hundreds of prototype products (for the Galaxy). Does thatmean I was putting on a mock show for so long, pretending to be designing?"
"As a designer, there's an issue of dignity. (The Galaxy) is original from the beginning, and I'm the one who made it. It's a totally different product with a different design language and different technology infused."
And a different marketing approach. While Apple has a simple product line-up for the iPhone and iPad, Samsung has bombarded the market with varieties of the Galaxy, the Wave phone, which uses Samsung's own 'bada' platform, and most recently with a phone-tablet.
Lee sees no harm in this tweaking-rather-than-innovating approach, saying it plays to the company's corporate strengths.
Samsung's vertically integrated structure allows it to use prototypecomponents and new technology developed elsewhere in the company in the design lab. The company has overseas design labs to help uncover consumer trends inthe various global markets in which it competes.
Designers have to be integrators, researching user behavior, discovering what's happening in the market, as well as searching for a unique aesthetic, Lee says.
"As a designer, my job is to blend new functions and technology with aesthetic beauty, as far as possible."
"There are different teams studying new technology trends, working on future design trends and Samsung's own design identity, and they're all regularly exchanging ideas with designers."
Fab-let?
Lee's latest project - a follow-up to the Galaxy model called the Note - is a mini-tablet and phone, with a throwback stylus. Although it lookshuge compared with a standard phone, its pinpoint apps and high definition screen should please those using it for video and gaming.
The phone-tablet - or phablet - hassold more than 2 million units since its October launch, and was a crowd pleaser at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
Lee said the design risk with the note was "breaking a taboo" about keeping handsets small enough to fit easily in your hand.
"But smartphones are more about entertainment. The Note was created by simply breaking that taboo and focusing more on the new functions that smartphones require."
Handsets are now Samsung's biggest earner - bringing in 8.3 trillion won ($7.4 billion) in operating profit last year - and the group's confidence has grown in tandem with its fattening patent book - it registered over 5,000 patents last year alone.
"We were told so many times until the early part of last year that Samsung is not good at software. We're not hearing that as often any more," Samsung Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung said at the CES event in Las Vegas. Late last month, Choi went further and told reporters at the world's biggest annual mobile show in Barcelona that Samsung would notunveil its new Galaxy model at the Mobile World Congress for fear of rivals copying it.
Yet there's not one software engineer or designer among the 17 Samsung Fellows, Samsung Group's in-house equivalent of the Nobel prize winners to reward those making a significant contribution to its success. Lee hopes his time will come.
"I'm confident that one day Samsung will make a product that defines our time, and I hope it's one of mine."
Karnataka to give interest free loans to farmers
Farmers across Karnataka will get interest free small-term loans up to Rs 100,000 from state cooperatives in the ensuing fiscal (2012-13) besides free energy for their irrigation pump sets up to 10 horse power.
Presenting the 'Agriculture Budget'for the next fiscal in the state legislative assembly Wednesday, Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda told lawmakers that the state government would continue to facilitate farm credit above Rs 100,000 at four percent interest rate per annum from cooperative societies.
"Buffer stock of fertilizers will be doubled to 800,000 metric tonnes from 400,000 metric tonnes to ensure enough supplies to farmers across the state," Gowda said in hismaiden budget speech, which lasted over two hours.
As part of various pro-farmer schemes, the farm budget envisages expansion of sprinkler and drip irrigation and development of water tanks for increasing food grain production with higher yields per acre.
"Schemes under the third stage of the Upper Krishna Project will be implemented at a cost of Rs.17,207crore in the drought-prone northern districts of the state for the benefit of farmers and rural people," Gowda said.
With an overall outlay of Rs.19,660crore for the agriculture and allied sectors, the agri-budget proposes to implement cluster-villages and area-based programmes to increase productivity in dry land farming by using new technology and mechanised implements and supplying nutrients in irrigated lands.
"Under the Rs 110-crore 'Bhuchethana' special scheme, 4.5 million (45 lakh) farmers cultivating in five million hectares of area in all the 30 districts across the state will be funded to increase their crop yield in dryland by 20 percent and improve their living standard and financial status," Gowda said.
The state agriculture department has set a target of 13.7 million metric tonnes for food grains production and 1.5 million metric tonnes for oilseeds in the new fiscal
Presenting the 'Agriculture Budget'for the next fiscal in the state legislative assembly Wednesday, Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda told lawmakers that the state government would continue to facilitate farm credit above Rs 100,000 at four percent interest rate per annum from cooperative societies.
"Buffer stock of fertilizers will be doubled to 800,000 metric tonnes from 400,000 metric tonnes to ensure enough supplies to farmers across the state," Gowda said in hismaiden budget speech, which lasted over two hours.
As part of various pro-farmer schemes, the farm budget envisages expansion of sprinkler and drip irrigation and development of water tanks for increasing food grain production with higher yields per acre.
"Schemes under the third stage of the Upper Krishna Project will be implemented at a cost of Rs.17,207crore in the drought-prone northern districts of the state for the benefit of farmers and rural people," Gowda said.
With an overall outlay of Rs.19,660crore for the agriculture and allied sectors, the agri-budget proposes to implement cluster-villages and area-based programmes to increase productivity in dry land farming by using new technology and mechanised implements and supplying nutrients in irrigated lands.
"Under the Rs 110-crore 'Bhuchethana' special scheme, 4.5 million (45 lakh) farmers cultivating in five million hectares of area in all the 30 districts across the state will be funded to increase their crop yield in dryland by 20 percent and improve their living standard and financial status," Gowda said.
The state agriculture department has set a target of 13.7 million metric tonnes for food grains production and 1.5 million metric tonnes for oilseeds in the new fiscal
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Langkawi sky-bridge is located at Gunung Mat Cincang on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia. The bridge is suspended 700 metres above sea level and has a span of 125 metres across the gorge.
The Andaman Sea and Thailand’s Tarutao Island can be seen in the distance. Platforms at each end allow the visitors to take a breather before venturing across. There are also signs telling visitors to get off the bridge quickly in the event of an electrical storm.
The Andaman Sea and Thailand’s Tarutao Island can be seen in the distance. Platforms at each end allow the visitors to take a breather before venturing across. There are also signs telling visitors to get off the bridge quickly in the event of an electrical storm.
In 1947, the then leaders of the Muslim League came forward with their own plan for Darjeeling and her merger with East Pakistan. A Muslim league team visited Darjeeling around the same time, held talks with the leaders of the local political party and participated in a convention on the merger issue. Some understanding appears to have been reached between them. This was reflected in the bizarre developments in Darjeeling between August 14 and 18, 1947. This Pakistani flag [see the only photo ever taken] fluttered on the Darjeeling Town hall for full five days in place of the Union jack. Darjeeling was popularly stated to have become a part of Pakistan in preference to India and Nepal. In fact, even sweets were disturbed and fireworks let off in joyous celebration of Pakistan’s independence.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Airtel may launch 4G in Kolkata this month
Bharti Airtel is likely to launch 4G services, starting with Kolkata on March 20, which would give the company a lead over rivals in offering the next- generation telecom services in the country, according to industry sources.
The country's largest private telecom company had earlier appointed Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for building and operating its 4G network in the Maharashtra circle using TD-LTE, one of the 4G technology.
However, it was not known immediately who would be the vendor for the Kolkata circle. With the launch in Kolkata, Airtel will bethe first company to start 4G services in the country, sources said.
The company had won spectrum for high-speed wireless broadbandservice (Broadband Wireless Access spectrum) in four telecom circles namely Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka and paid Rs 3,314.36 crore in 2010.
The company was allocated 20 Mhz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 Ghz frequency band which is considered suitable for transmitting signals for running 4G services.
In the same auction, Reliance Infotel (then Infotel Broadband Services) had won a 20 Mhz slot pan-India BWA spectrum for Rs 12,847.71 crore but the company isyet to announce its plan for rolling out services.
Qualcom, Tikona, Aircel and Augere have also won BWA spectrum in some circles.
Public sector companies BSNL and MTNL were allocated one slot of BWA spectrum in their respective circles on payment of amount equivalent to the highest bidder in the service area.
The country's largest private telecom company had earlier appointed Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for building and operating its 4G network in the Maharashtra circle using TD-LTE, one of the 4G technology.
However, it was not known immediately who would be the vendor for the Kolkata circle. With the launch in Kolkata, Airtel will bethe first company to start 4G services in the country, sources said.
The company had won spectrum for high-speed wireless broadbandservice (Broadband Wireless Access spectrum) in four telecom circles namely Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka and paid Rs 3,314.36 crore in 2010.
The company was allocated 20 Mhz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 Ghz frequency band which is considered suitable for transmitting signals for running 4G services.
In the same auction, Reliance Infotel (then Infotel Broadband Services) had won a 20 Mhz slot pan-India BWA spectrum for Rs 12,847.71 crore but the company isyet to announce its plan for rolling out services.
Qualcom, Tikona, Aircel and Augere have also won BWA spectrum in some circles.
Public sector companies BSNL and MTNL were allocated one slot of BWA spectrum in their respective circles on payment of amount equivalent to the highest bidder in the service area.
No power cuts during Indo-Pakcricket match: Gilani
Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday directed authorities to ensure there were no power cuts during Sunday's India-Pakistan cricket match in theAsia Cup tournament.
Gilani directed the Water and Power Ministry not to resort to power cuts during the live telecast of the India-Pakistan match, officials said.
The two sides will face each other in the fifth match of the Asia Cup tournament in Bangladesh.
Pakistan is grappling with a severeenergy shortage and authorities have resorted to power cuts across the country.
There are power cuts of over 12 hours in some rural areas and evencities like Islamabad go without electricity for four to five hours every day.
Gilani directed the Water and Power Ministry not to resort to power cuts during the live telecast of the India-Pakistan match, officials said.
The two sides will face each other in the fifth match of the Asia Cup tournament in Bangladesh.
Pakistan is grappling with a severeenergy shortage and authorities have resorted to power cuts across the country.
There are power cuts of over 12 hours in some rural areas and evencities like Islamabad go without electricity for four to five hours every day.
Live-in relationships against Indian culture: RSS
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said live-in relationships must be discouraged in the country as it is 'against humanity and Indian culture'.
"The Sangh is against live-in relationships because it is against humanity, and also against the Indian traditions and culture," RSS joint secretary Dattatraya Hosbale said, speaking to reporters on the first day of 'Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha', the outfit's highest decision-making body.
Live-in relationships should be discouraged and even in the West, religious leaders are voicing concern over the trend, he said.
"It is our responsibility to keep the institution of family intact," Hosbale said, when asked to respond to a recent initiative of a local NGO to find live-in matches for senior citizens.
Hosbale also said that RSS endorsed 'a three-generation family system, consisting of grand-parents, parents and children'.
"If there is a problem, a single grandparent can live in 'Gurukul Ashrams' promoted by (the late RSS veteran) Nanaji Deshmukh," he said.
He also said the Sangh advocated a no-TV day concept.
Conservation of natural resources is also being discussed among other issues at the ongoing meeting.
"RSS is of the view that all natural resources, particularly water, should be treated as the property of the public, and a resolution on the issue would be passed," he said.
"The Sangh is against live-in relationships because it is against humanity, and also against the Indian traditions and culture," RSS joint secretary Dattatraya Hosbale said, speaking to reporters on the first day of 'Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha', the outfit's highest decision-making body.
Live-in relationships should be discouraged and even in the West, religious leaders are voicing concern over the trend, he said.
"It is our responsibility to keep the institution of family intact," Hosbale said, when asked to respond to a recent initiative of a local NGO to find live-in matches for senior citizens.
Hosbale also said that RSS endorsed 'a three-generation family system, consisting of grand-parents, parents and children'.
"If there is a problem, a single grandparent can live in 'Gurukul Ashrams' promoted by (the late RSS veteran) Nanaji Deshmukh," he said.
He also said the Sangh advocated a no-TV day concept.
Conservation of natural resources is also being discussed among other issues at the ongoing meeting.
"RSS is of the view that all natural resources, particularly water, should be treated as the property of the public, and a resolution on the issue would be passed," he said.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi resigns
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi resigned on Sunday evening after speaking to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Trivedi had called up Mamata expressing his willingnessto abide by the party's wishes and resign.
Mamata Banerjee had told reporters that the ex-Railway Minister had called her agreeing toquit. "Dinesh Trivedi called in. He will resign tonight," said Mamata.
Mamata Banerjee is set to arrive inDelhi on Sunday night. Sources saidthat she had sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for Trivedi's removal.
Said Mamata, "I am going to Delhi... nothing else. Sometimes we meet in Delhi. This time Parliament is in session, so I am happy because I haven't been to Parliament for one year."
Mamata is also expected to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. She had reportedly asked all her party MPs to be available in Delhi for the meet.
Dinesh Trivedi had been insistent till now that he would not quit his post unless he got a written order from Mamata. He said on Sunday that the Railway Ministry could notbe treated as somebody's property,although, he added that he had full regards for Mamata.
Mamata was reportedly upset withthe ex-Railway Minister over the train fare hikes announced in the Rail Budget. Trivedi had reportedlynot consulted the Trinamool Congress over the budget, either.
Mukul Roy, a close aide of Mamata,will most likely be the new Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee had told reporters that the ex-Railway Minister had called her agreeing toquit. "Dinesh Trivedi called in. He will resign tonight," said Mamata.
Mamata Banerjee is set to arrive inDelhi on Sunday night. Sources saidthat she had sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press for Trivedi's removal.
Said Mamata, "I am going to Delhi... nothing else. Sometimes we meet in Delhi. This time Parliament is in session, so I am happy because I haven't been to Parliament for one year."
Mamata is also expected to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. She had reportedly asked all her party MPs to be available in Delhi for the meet.
Dinesh Trivedi had been insistent till now that he would not quit his post unless he got a written order from Mamata. He said on Sunday that the Railway Ministry could notbe treated as somebody's property,although, he added that he had full regards for Mamata.
Mamata was reportedly upset withthe ex-Railway Minister over the train fare hikes announced in the Rail Budget. Trivedi had reportedlynot consulted the Trinamool Congress over the budget, either.
Mukul Roy, a close aide of Mamata,will most likely be the new Railway Minister
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Budget 2012 and its impact on NRIs
As the Budget speech comes to an end, we list down the quick takeaways for Non Resident Indians (NRIs). We will continue to bring you detailed analyses as finer aspects of the Finance Bill trickle in.
Measure: The government of India will now allow qualified foreign investors access to the Indian corporate debt market. Qualified foreign investors, or QFIs, can be individuals, groups or associations based abroad.
Impact: This proposal, when implemented will deepen the country's shallow bond market and also open up a lucrative avenue for foreign individual investors who are keen to participate in India's growth story. But, NRIs will hope for something more. On paper, NRIs were always permitted to invest in Indian corporate bonds. However, it required the issuing companies to enable the option for NRI investors with specific permission with the Reserve Bank of India. Often, companies chose not to do so, restricting access to NRIs. It is hoped that this move will also improve access for NRIs in the corporate bond market.
Measure: To introduce mandatory foreign asset reporting; income tax body to have powers to open previous returns of up to 16 years to check for tax evasion
Impact: While the intention of this proposal is to bring to book all those who have been evading taxes by stashing their money abroad, one fears that it will create unnecessary reporting requirements and needless harassment for NRIs who have returned to India after a long stint abroad.
Measure: Tax slabs have been changed to the following: Up to Rs 2 lakh: NIL (earlier Rs 1.8 lakh) Rs 2-5 lakh: 10% Rs 5-10 lakh: 20% (earlier Rs 5-8 lakh) Above Rs 10 lakh: 30% (earlier above 8 lakh)
Impact: For NRIs, as for all resident Indians, the tax liability will come down. A tax reduction of up to Rs 22,000 is likely on income of Rs 10 lakh.
Measure: The Direct Tax Code (DTC) which was expected to be implemented from April 2012, has been deferred for now
Impact: This might come as a relief for NRIs as some of the provisions of the DTC were quite harsh. For instance, under the proposed DTC, any individual (including NRIs/PIO) will become resident, if they are present in India for 60 days or more in the financial year and 365 days or more over a period of four years prior to the financial year and would be liable to pay taxes on their global income. This proposal would have impacted all those NRIs who visited India frequently for personal or business purposes.
Measure: To allow electronic voting for shareholders
Impact: If the Government allows electronic voting, this will help NRI shareholders to participate more actively
Measure: Gold purchases in India to become expensive; customs duty doubled
Impact: If keeping your money in India in the form of gold has been a favorite avenue, that might just change. Gold will become more expensive as the FM doubled customs duty.
Shane Warne lauds Sachin Tendulkar's 'awesome' feat as tributes pour in
Australian spin legend Shane Warne pleaded for an end to the talk of Sachin Tendulkar's retirement as he joined the international chorus of appreciation for the iconic Indian cricketer who scripted history by completing a century of international tons.
Apart from his close friend Warne, cricket legends such as Sir Vivian Richards, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, Ian Botham, Rahul Dravid, Keven Pietersen and Tony Greig were among those who paid glowing tributes to the champion batsman.
"Congrats to Sachin on reaching his 100th international 100 - just awesome buddy. Please press no retirement Q'S and let Sachin enjoy the moment," Warne tweeted after Tendulkar reached the milestone against Bangladesh in an Asia Cup match in Mirpur on Friday.
The 114-run knock ended a year-long wait for the 38-year-old star batsman, whose 99th ton came during a World Cup match against South Africa in March 2011.
Tributes continued to pour in for the veteran from other parts of the world as well with former England captain Tony Greig calling him a fine ambassador of the game.
"Just woke up to the wonderful news that Sachin has made that century. Great player and wonderful ambassador for our great game," he said.
"Well played Sachin the little master...!!!" added legendary all-rounder Ian Botham.
England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who is in Sri Lanka for a series, said the effort was way beyond imagination.
"Seriously has anyone actually thought about what Sachin has done here?? 100 100's!!!! Absolutely unbelievable.. Batters dream!" he said.
Tendulkar's former teammate and the recently-retired Rahul Dravid marvelled at his genius.
"What stands out in an exceptional career of unbelievable achievements is Sachin Tendulkar's ability to change, adapt and mould his batting according to the conditions around him. What makes him a phenomenal player is that he has done so many things, be it scoring the highest number of Test and one-day runs or scoring a century of international centuries," he said.
"What he has done is set a benchmark for future generations which, probably, would be almost impossible for anyone to emulate. He has created a new milestone, which to my mind, is like Don Bradman's average of 99.94, the most memorable feat that any cricketer has achieved.
"Like overtaking Bradman's average appears almost impossible today, Sachin's century feat too will in all probability stay forever," he added.
Similar words of appreciation came from former Australian captain Ian Chappell.
"The skill, the tenacity and the competitive urge still flows freely through the veins of Tendulkar. He seemed destined to conquer the batting Mount Everest from the moment it was said about him as at the age of 17, Tendulkar scored his first Test century at Old Trafford," he said.
"The fact that Tendulkar has handled fame so well and maintained an attacking outlook throughout is a tribute to not only his skill but also his wonderfully alert mind.
"Considering the length of his career and the fact that he was able to renew his attacking desires, I would now rate Tendulkar slightly ahead of Brian Lara and comfortably in front of a fading Ricky Ponting."
West Indies legend Viv Richards described Tendulkar as a "genius" when it comes to ability and a "Trojan" when it came to work ethics.
"I believe Sir Donald Bradman is the greatest of them all, but seeing Tendulkar bat, I can say that when he is in top flight, in a variety of conditions, I have seen the best.
"He has been a genius when it comes to ability, a Trojan when it comes to work ethic and manic when it comes to his focus. Yet we often miss the little things that make him both human and exceptional", Richards said.
"As a sportsman, I know how damaging an injury can be. For a batsman, an elbow injury and corrective surgery could be akin to a professional death knell. But the way Sachin overcame those setbacks and played at the highest level with unmatched distinction is special", he said.
Richards felt Tendulkar has earned the right to decide when to hang his boots.
"Friday's century was a testimony to Sachin Tendulkar's self belief and his unwavering focus. Many of his contemporaries who were spoken of in the same breath did not have the hunger and focus, which is why Sachin stands alone at the summit.
"And let it not be forgotten that he is no dour batsman, he still plays thrilling shots and has entertained more fans than any batsman has in the history of the game. All this with humility, bearing the burden of his team's batting and the expectations of his millions of fans," he said.
"I think Sachin has earned the right to decide when exactly he wants to put down his bat. He is mature and sensible individual and more importantly a very proud cricketer. He is not going to continue if he feels he is not performing up to his standards," he added.
Veteran Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi also took to Twitter to appreciate Tendulkar's feat.
"...I guess chant today goes Sacccchiiiinnnn, Sachhhhhhiiiinnn.. Hmmm I have been chanting that for twenty years."
England Test captain Andrew Strauss also congratulated Tendulkar for reaching a milestone that might remain unsurpassed.
"Sachin is a player by which all others are measured over the last 10-15 years, and for him to go out and get a hundred hundreds is an amazing achievement without precedent - it's unlikely to be achieved again," he told 'BBC Sports'.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said even if the 100th ton had not come about, Tendulkar would still have remained a great player.
"Don Bradman is sometimes remembered, unfairly, as the batsman who did not quite average 100 in Test cricket. And there was a danger, as we all waited for Sachin Tendulkar to reach three figures again, that he would be remembered for the one international century he did not score, rather than the 99 he did. That would have been a shame - and completely unjust," he said.
"You could tell after he tucked that single off his pads on Friday in Dhaka how much it meant to him. He's been criticised in the past for being a closed book, a guy who doesn't show his feelings too easily. But you could see the more human side of him after he took his helmet off to celebrate," he added.
"...he's done it and no one can ever take the achievement away. Finally, he can move on. The mother of all monkeys has been removed."
Thursday, March 15, 2012
We are not writing AI a cheque for $500m: Boeing
With Air India seeking a compensation package for the substantial delays in delivery of Boeing's Dreamliner aircraft, the US manufacturer today said it will "not write a cheque" for USD 500 million to the airline.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing's commercial airplane unit Jim Albaugh said he had read reports coming from India.
"I think if we settle for 500 million dollars somebody would have told me. We do not comment on deals that we have done, but I can tell you that we are not writing anybody a cheque for 500 million dollars," he said when asked about the reports of it paying compensation to Air India.
Speaking at the JP Morgan aviation and defence conference here today, Albaugh said he had read similar reports six months ago which had claimed that Boeing could pay a billion dollars as compensation to the Indian carrier.
Yesterday, Joint Secretary in India's Ministry of Civil Aviation Prashant Shukul had told reporters in Hyderabad that while state-owned Air India had demanded a billion dollar compensation from Boeing, the Chicago-based aircraft maker has agreed to pay USD 500 million.
Shukul, who was speaking on the sidelines of the India Aviation 2012 on Wednesday, said the government is trying to push Boeing to pay more.
Air India has sought a compensation package, a mix of both discount in services and cash, from Boeing for delay in the delivery of its 787 Dreamliners. Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliners in 2005 and Boeing failed to stick to the delivery schedule. As per the original schedule, Boeing was to start delivery from September 2008.
Albaugh said the GE certification for the 787 aircraft has been completed a week ago and the first aircraft with the GE certificate will be delivered to Air India in the weeks to come.
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