From AP
Indian software giant Infosys Technologies Ltd. remotely opened Monday’s trading session on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange from the southern city of Mysore, in a demonstration of how technology is making borders increasingly meaningless.
The opening, broadcast live from Mysore to Nasdaq’s screen in New York’s Times Square, came as Infosys celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Infy’s PR is damn good. Infact, they are miles ahead of other Indian IT companies.
Another company which comes close to Infy is Reliance. Today Forbes announced..
In its latest rankings of 40 largest corporations in India based on sales, assets and market valuation, Forbes put Reliance on top, even ahead of Indian Oil, despite having half of its sales.
The state-owned oil major has been ranked fourth. “Reliance is the world’s leading producer of polyester yarn and fibre and ranks in the top five to ten global producers of many petrochemical products. It accounts for 8 per cent of India’s exports worth $5 billion,” Forbes said, adding the number should grow significantly.
One more image, kind of apropos of this report on Hezbollah refusing to allow civilians to leave their village and using mosques in their ambush on IDF soldiers at Bint Jbeil Wednesday:
I was reading ET today morning and its clear that interest rates are raising (both lending and borrowing rates)
THE battle for retail deposits is being fought with full force, with Kotak Mahindra Bank offering 8% for term deposits of 290 days. Recently, ICICI Bank had announced 8% for 390-day term deposits. The offer comes at a time when banks are up against resource crunch, thanks to a huge credit expansion in the economy.
Compare this to PSU banks living in another world ..
The SBI offered 6.25% for 1-3 years. Bank of India and Union Bank are offering 6.5% and Indian Overseas Bank 7% for deposits up to three years.
I have heard home loans have increased to 9.5% pa. Its getting interesting…
An veteran manager (many years of experience) told me
in his experience, rewarding an employee with a cash bonus or small raise, had only a very short term effect on the work of the employee. Much more enduring effects came from public recognition and small surprise awards. Annual rewards meetings giving gifts (such as home electronics) to top performers, surprise gifts of “Dinner for two” checks of, say, $200, etc. It was the public recognition that had the longer effect, not the size of the award.
Yes, its because, man as Tom Peters describes, is a “sucker of praise”. Its this weakness HR folks tap into very well.
An veteran manager (many years of experience) told me
in his experience, rewarding an employee with a cash bonus or small raise, had only a very short term effect on the work of the employee. Much more enduring effects came from public recognition and small surprise awards. Annual rewards meetings giving gifts (such as home electronics) to top performers, surprise gifts of “Dinner for two” checks of, say, $200, etc. It was the public recognition that had the longer effect, not the size of the award.
Yes, its because, man as Tom Peters describes, is a “sucker of praise”. Its this weakness HR folks tap into very well.
The above graph shows the growth of industry in US. See the two big ones, Energy and Financials
Lets concentrate on Financials. The companies that form Financials are banks and Broker dealer firms like (Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Merill, Lehman, UBS, CSFB etc)
They all are growing at 40% y-o-y, which is amazing. They open offices in emerging economies and reap good profits.
When Indian stock market peaked, they sold and booked profits leaving the retail investors licking the wounds.
In other words, the bull made its money by being a bear. 
All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above -
Know that you aren’t alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.
This is from Vikram Seth’s collection of poems, All You Who Sleep Tonight
Nothing can sum up my day to day feelings more .. Seth Rocks !!
Woods tapped in for par for a two-shot victory over DiMarco, and pent-up emotions tore through his lips as he screamed “Yes!”
He then buried his head in caddie Steve Williams’ shoulder and sobbed, his chest heaving in a burst of emotion brought on by the recent death of father, Earl.
Woods tied Walter Hagen for 11 majors, still seven behind Jack Nicklaus’ record 18. The victory also meant that Woods now has a 7-0 record in majors where he has led going into the final round.
Watching that final round and Tiger finally break down with his emotions was bittersweet. It’s that little bit which makes watching sports, I find compelling.
How could there not be tears from Tiger? Those were tears from a man with a passion for the game and an even greater passion and respect for the job his father did in raising him. This was one of the greatest sports moments I have witnessed. I am happy he won and happy he showed such emotion after the victory.
(when this was happening, I was reminded that Sachin also came back strongly after his fathers demise and scored a century against Kenya. Ouch, what a thoughtless comparision which would make a sports connoisseur to puke !!)
One of the very few good habits of mine is reading books. I have somehow understood that reading widens the outlook.
I like Chris Anderson as much as I like Malcolm Gladwell. Chris’ first book The Long Tail is out. I am kinda longing to get my hands on to that.
A quick summing up of the books goes like this….
Essentially the book explains how the market for lots of items that sell a few units is often as large as the market for a few items that sell a lot of units. Furthermore, the profitably of selling a few units of a lot of items may exceed the profitability of selling a lot of units of a few items. All this is possible because the Internet and other modern technologies have driven down the costs of production and distribution
I hope Jaga lives upto his promises of getting me the book when I return to Chennai. 
Scientific American.com summarizes a new paper on the East India Company, “Rogue Captains Built First Global Market“:
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the East India Company established a monopolistic trade network on the high seas, gaining immense wealth and influence at home in England. . . . Along the way, enterprising ships’ captains engaged in private trading of their own, abusing company resources for personal gain. Now, researchers at Columbia University have shown that it was this illicit trading, rather than officially sanctioned activity, that was directly responsible for the creation of the first global market and the success of the East India Company.
I wouldn’t blame the East India Company (or the english for that matter). If they came to us to loot, why on earth did we allow them ? Ok, history apart.
The present situation is no different. All corporations come to India utilise the cheap labour and improve their profits. Will this trend take India to stardom . N E V E R !!
Its astounding, the level of ignorance in India. When I argue about this “ignorance”, one of my friend always retaliates saying “even US is ignorant and stupid, otherwise why would they chose Bush”. This counter point doesn’t hold any ground, USA (West in general) can afford to be stupid for two reasons
1. Their governance and administration is strong and knowledgable. They can guide the ignorant people
2. They are already wealthy and have an excellent social set up. They can idle at home and still lead a decent life.
