GuruBhai - Gurumurthy

Yesterday - saw the tamil version of Guru. Good film with a terribly shallow climax..One character that made me go & do a G-Search was Gurumurthy - Shyam Saxena played my Madhavan.
Have read few of his articles in the papers but never knew the kind of power he could exercise.
Gurumurthy.net has a vast collection of his articles in Indian Express, interviews, speeches etc.
Rediff has a nice story on how Gurumurthy mediated between the Bajaj-s to settle their family feud.

Welcome relief!

Rains have decided to rescue chennai from the scorching sun [ now-a -days..40 degrees plus was the norm].. owing to the sudden downpour ..things have cooled down a bit....
But wonder..whats the state of velachery roads..!..Guess..u can't have the best of both worlds!

New Age of Innovation

Should read this book sometime...The New Age of Innovation: Driving Co-Created Value Through Global Networks -C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan

An interesting example for innovation

Executives at Madras Cements, a division of India's Ramco Group, decided against deploying sophisticated—and expensive—GPS technology to track the movement of its trucks and goods. Instead, drivers were issued $30 cell phones and instructed to communicate their whereabouts via SMS text messages. The company designed an infrastructure that could process these raw data and give regular, timely insights into driver performance, helping executives identify areas of improvement for both individuals and the company at large. To date, the simple, innovative solution has led to recurring annual savings of more than $4 million

Cornflakes Dangerous?

Well...Things are not going to be easy in the coming days!

MSN - A scientist has cautioned that climate change can actually lead to "killer cornflakes" having the most potent liver toxin ever reported. ....the effects of the toxins, called mycotoxins, have been known since the Middle Ages when rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus was a staple part of the European diet. [ This reminds me of 'Acceptable Risk' - Robin Cooks novel that traces the salem witch trial to a happy drug discovery & its aftermath]

In Australia, the most important group of mycotoxins in maize is aflatoxins and Bricknell said that their spread was possible in right kind of temperature and moisture conditions and it could also affect crops including maize and peanuts and in some milk, dried milk products and some spices.

She added that recently, high levels of aflatoxin outbreaks have occurred in Australian crops. In addition, global warming may act as a new threat to food safety, with temperatures expected to rise and rainfall drop in inland areas of the eastern states.

Breast Cancer - ways to reduce the risk

A very useful writeup in NYTimes

True, immutable factors like genetics, a family’s medical baggage and just being born female determine much of the risk of breast cancer.

But there is now solid evidence that lifestyle can play a role as well. Choices that have an effect include how much alcohol a woman drinks (none is best), the amount of physical activity she gets (the more the better) and whether she takes hormones (the less the better). Doctors also urge women to keep their weight down, as obesity increases the risk of developing breast cancer during the postmenopausal years.

“There are things you can’t change, like when you got your first period, or your family history,” ...“But you can change a lot about you. Empower yourself with knowledge and information.”

• Know your family’s medical history
• Cut down on alcohol, or avoid it altogether
• Exercise, exercise, exercise.
• Breast-feed if you can
• Try not to take combined hormone therapy.
• Have regular mammograms
• Become familiar with your personal risk factors.

Riot of Colours