Mallya gulps Air Deccan?

Economic Times always gets a thumbs up for headlines..

'Spirited' Mallya luring Gopi into ras leela - Mallya inches towards gulping Air Deccan.

Well..all this noise is about the impending Vijay Mallya's KingFisher deal with AirDeccan.

May be..Moon was up for sale indeed..

No Tobacco..Please

Today, Radio Mirchi had organised an interesting program at Anna University bus stop. A group of volunteers were seen coaxing smokers to put their cancer sticks into a special Hundiyal, in exchange they got chocolates & pamphlets on tobacco's ill effects. The anti-promotion was organised as part of World - No Tobacco Day.

Also, on air was an interview with Dr.Vidu Balan, a doctor at Adyar Cancer Institute. A pragmatic question asked to her : All smokers don't get cancer, heart attack, but at the same time, non smokers do get cancer. Why so? The answer is probability. The gene pattern decides whether you get cancer or not. It is just that the probability of smokers getting cancer is much higher than non smokers.

Another fact: Passive or second hand smoke is as bad as active smoking. The probability of a smoker's spouse getting lung cancer is 20% higher than that of a non smoker's.

There were many banners having the caption "Your Smoking is injurious to my health".

Sivaji - Trailer

Even the trailer of the movie is hitting the headlines. CNN IBN aired an exclusive trailer of Sivaji - The Boss Trailer, yesterday.

Rajini Rocks...What else to say...Already the songs have become a super hit (My Fav: Sahaana Pookal - Udit & Chinmai are just amazing). Hope the deadly combination of Rajini, Shankar & A.R.Rahman will deliver..

BOSS - Bachelor of Social Service. (ada!..ada!..)

Trillionaire

Hmm...still counting the zeros in a Trillion..

Mukesh Ambani is the only Trillionaire in India..has over Rs 1,00,000 crore of Big M in his companies’ shareholdings.

O.K..Finished counting - 12 zeros.

Mrs & Mr Iyer - Rahul Bose

Any actor worth his salt can gladly take a leaf out of Rahul Bose's superb subtle performance in Mrs & Mr.Iyer.

Centenary Celebrations of Plastic

Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created his phenol-formaldehyde polymer resin, Bakelite, in 1907. Although scientists had long tinkered with plastic-like materials, such as vulcanized rubber, his was the first fully synthetic material ever made.

I swear..I didn't know this geeky stuff before...NDTV covers Britain's celebration of 100 years of Plastic.

Velachery - Amazing Growth

A year ago, I had buzzed about Velachery being a marketer's delight while blogging about Ratna cafe's outlet.

Velachery is actually a marketer's delight. But unfortunately, there aren't anybig names in any sphere - be it hotels, theaters, hospitals, textiles, schools, shopping malls, etc., With new apartments, (50 to 100 houses) springing up every now and then, the demography of velachery has completely changed from a sleepy suburb to a haven of software professionals & their likes. Albeit no facilities. I always wondered, why the biggies in the business didn't tap the market that is waiting to explode? a Saravana Bhavan would be a killer in velachery, Hmm.. Ratna Cafe seems to have more market acumen. But I'm sure the rest will follow suit.

[How long can you keep quoting others ;-)) ...Anyways back to the topic...]

The scene is now rapidly changing with a new store getting added almost on a daily basis.

Try this..

Reliance fresh has opened TWO retail stores on the two parallel main roads - Velachery Main Road (near velachery bus stop) & 100 feet road (in the new KG Building). Spencers is on its way to open its second retail store ( Good marketing tip: Put up the neon name board even before you hit the first nail for the store). Nilgiris has found a place in the narrow & crowded velachery bus stop area. Naidu Hall (on taramani raod), Nathella Jewellers (opp. Sutherland, on the way to pallikaranai) have their foot prints here. Coming to eatouts - Karaikudi, The Dhabha, Freezone, Pizza Corner, Nalas, Dominos Pizza and lot more have found their way to velachery..

Friday Ads come out screaming - 'Now at Velachery'.

Last heard, real estate land rates are at an all time high price of 4500Rs. per Sqt. Hope the rains don't take away the sheen from vibrant velachery.

Update: People have asked me to add Kalavara (Kerala speciality - near metro water station on 100ft bypass rd) , Deli Express (Briyani speciality - near AllSec) and BeeVee's Hot Kitchen (u buy bulk Briyani here - near Deli Express)

Velachery - Reliance Fresh, Nilgiris, Spencers

A year ago, I had buzzed about Velachery being a marketer's delight while blogging about Ratna cafe's outlet.

Velachery is actually a marketer's delight. But unfortunately, there aren't
any big names in any sphere - be it hotels, theatres, hospitals, textiles,
schools, shopping malls, etc., With new apartments, (50 to 100 houses)
springing up every now and then, the demography of velachery has completely
changed from a sleepy suburb to a haven of software professionals & their
likes. Albeit no facilities. I always wondered, why the biggies in the business
didn't tap the market that is waiting to explod? a Saravana Bhavan
would be a killer in velachery, Hmm.. Ratna Cafe seems to have more market
acumen. But I'm sure the rest will follow suit.

[How long can you keep quoting others ;-)) ...Anyways back to the topic...]

The scene is now rapidly changing with a new store added almost on a daily basis.

Try this..

Reliance fresh opens TWO retail stores on the two parallel main roads - Velachery Main Road (near velachery bus stop) & 100 feet road (in the new KG Building). Spencers is on its way to open its second retail store ( Good marketing tip: Put up the neon nameboard even before you hit the first nail for the store). Nilgiris has found a place in the narrow & crowded velachery bus stop area. Naidu Hall, Nathella Jewellers,

LG Customer Care Sucks

Bought an LG Oven from Abirami Appliances, TTK Road, Alwarpet. I had logged in a request for demo on April 13th. Till date (almost one and half months now) no one has turned up. I keep calling up Abirami & they put me on to a conference call with the LG Customer Care (?) cell. Over the last one month I have spoken with almost everybody in the customer care. They promise me to send the demo person on the same day itself. Now, it has almost become a game.

I really want to see the end of the saga. Let me wait for the D Day. LG Customer Care sucks big time.

Joke-O-Joke

Kalaignar Karunanidhi says DMK has no connection with Kalaignar T.V ;-)))))))))))))))))

Train to Pakistan - Khushwant Singh

Read Train to Pakistan over the weekend..I have read Khushwant Singh's articles before..dunno..just thought this guy wrote for publicity. But this book is worth the read. Much of the impact must be credited to the real-life incident, the book focuses on - the gruesome aftermath of the partition of India.

Smooth introduction to the characters, slow buildup to the events - letting you imagine the horror and a fitting finale. It was particularly nice to note that the author did not take sides, never imposed his views and there is a gray tint to all his characters. On the flip side, I found the English translations of native profanity(liberally strewn all over) very very funny.

Thiruvalluvar - Coin Image

Iravadam Mahadevan enlightens us about a Gold coin released by East India Company in early 19th century.

Beard seems to be an add-on to Thiruvalluvar later on..

Harry Potter Quiz

What is Golpalotts Third Law ?

antidote for a blended potion = more than Sum of antidotes for each different component of solution

Hmm..Had no clue whatsoever...
Just back from a Harry Potter quiz @ office.. We barely managed to save our face.

SUN eclipsed by SON

Succession politics is being played out in TamilNadu after a long time. Yesterday, the axe fell on Dayanidhi Maran - Former Telecom & IT Union Minister.

Myriad Reasons
- Maran started acting like a parallel power center. Karunanidhi will never let it happen, however close the aspirants are.
- Maran has ruffled quite a few feathers in the DMK..Insiders were waiting for the right moment to pool in their might to collectively oust him. Madurai proved to be a flash point.
- Azhagiri is still a power to reckon with esp in South Tamilnadu. Even though, things are clear that Stalin will take over the mantle (which I think, he can rightly do so.)

Funny thing...the national media is playing up Dayanidhi Maran as a matyr...and is very surprised that Kalaignar wields so much power.....Everything said & done, the old man is still the very much shrewd & in control chief.

I'm inquisitive abt the approach SUN is going to take from now onwards. It is indeed very rare to see the same flash news running in SUN TV & Jaya TV.

But in all these twists & turns, it should not be forgotten that justice must be rendered to those innocent three families who lost their beloved in a family feud.

Little Secrets - Movie

Blame it on the CAS curse, my inglipish movie watching has drastically reduced. PIX is the only solace now.. happened to watch 'Little Secrets'. A very nice movie.

The movie moves along with the female protagonist, Emily - a vivacious teenager who is very good at playing violin. Her utlimate dream is to get into the San Francisco Youth Orchestra. She gets trained under her mentor Puline. Her parents are expecting and this causes a turmoil in Emily's life [ an explosive secret is revealed later]. Emily also has an interesting hobby - Secret Keeper. The kiddos in the region queue up to offload their little secrets for a fee. [Never ever heard of such a hobby/profession].

A new family comes up in their neighbourhood. There are 2 brothers - Elder one David (things sizzle between Emily & him) and the younger one is Philip (He soon becomes buddy buddy with Emily)..Philips shares a dark secret abt this elder brother , Emily shares secrets abt her friends, their parentsrevealtheir secrets (insecurities)...soon all Secrets are out the open. This causes hatred among the group. In the meanwhile, Emily meets with an accident & misses her audition. The brothers do their bit & secure a place for her..And then subham.

A neat entertainer which gives a peek into the lives of budding adults. Emily & Philip were very endearing in their portrayals. Wonder when they will make tamil films like these???

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 6 on 10 rating.

Sun TV, Dinakaran office attacked - Madurai

Atrocious!

The violent streak in Tamilnadu politics has once again reared its ugly head. The offices of Sun TV & Dinkaran in Madurai were set on fire by DMK cadres supporting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's son M K Azhagiri.

Reason: A survey report in dinakaran that said 70% of the people supported Chief Minister Karunaidhi's another son MK Stalin as his successor.

Disturbing news of people dying is also coming in. Another Dharmapuri in the making. Yuck!!

Fished out Quote

"He may want to buy the moon but the moon may not be available for sale," Air Deccan chief G R Gopinath replies to Vijay Mallya's (KingFisher Airlines) offer to buy Air Deccan.

12th century Buddha paintings - Nepal

WOW!! ..Looks amazing....

The Hindu - Art Treasures Found:

"The 12th-century paintings — a large central mural flanked by smaller panels — were found last month in a partly collapsed cave in Mustang, a kingdom long forbidden to foreigners in the high Himalayas, 150 miles north-west of Kathmandu. "Finding the cave was almost like a miracle," said Italian art conservator Luigi Fieni, a member of the team of Italian, American and Nepalese art conservators, conservation architects and archaeologists. They used ice axes to cut their way to the cave, at 3,400 metres. "

Night Shift ban for Women - Karnataka

The Karnataka Assembly has passed a new Bill that seeks to ban night shifts for women in firms that come under the Karnataka Shops and Establishments Act. Thankfully, they have left out IT & Hospital industry

How different is this from the taliban laws??

CNN IBN: The government says it is the only way to ensure protection for women and will target the hotel industry, shopping malls and recreation centers. [Good Joke ..na..Ukkandhu Yosipaainghalo ????]

Want to settle down in Dubai?

Economic Times story:

Dubai-based realty developers are now targeting Indian house-hunters and investors with a much better option: Buy an apartment in the heart of Dubai at a price lower than that in Mumbai and get permanent residential visas along with it!

In game?