Monday, July 30, 2012

Team Anna apologises for Attack on Media


Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare apologised to media for misbehaviour by his supporters at the ongoing fast venue Jantar Mantar. He appealed to his supporters to protest in a non-violent way.
Anna said this is wrong to blame media. "I will stop agitation if such incidents happen in future. Media and we have to work together to strengthen democracy. I request all not to misbehave to media from next time. I regret the misbehaviour with media persons", he said today.
Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of Team Anna, said that media will not be blamed. He apologised to media condemning the attack yesterday. He requested the Team Anna's supporters not to misbehave with media persons at fast venue.
Team Anna's apology came a day after media persons were heckled at Jantar Mantar by the supporters of anti-corruption movement following the civil society group accused media houses of covering biased story of their fast against graft. 
Reacting to the incident the Broadcast Editors' Association demanded an apology from Team Anna for attack on media. 
The media association strongly condemned Team Anna after senior member Shanti Bushan on the second day of Anna Hazare's fast on Monday accused media houses of bias. 
"Media is manipulating reality here for the sake of their TRPs. Channel owners are not showing the reality," Shanti Bhushan said. Following the charge, scores of Anna supporters started heckling media persons gathered at Jantar Mantar for the coverage. 
The Broadcast Editors' Association sought an immediate apology from Team Anna for their misbehaviour towards media persons at the fast venue. "We strongly condemn the attack on media by Anna supporters. The BEA believes that this is interference in the functioning of the media. The media is discharging its legitimate duty of covering the agitation in a fair manner, the association said.
This is an unfortunate that media was attacked by the civil society group. Following provocative speeches against policemen, Team Anna targeted media, which had built a massive support for them in past for Lokpal Bill.

Why 'The Anna Hazare Movement' Failed?


Everybody know what is media and what is the duty of a media. It is indeed a medium to produce and project the news to the world. But as a common citizen, and as a common human being, I am simply surprised to learn that complete medias failed to focus with a right angle on a good cause or a brave struggle which is happening in Great Democratic Nation India where One man without any power, without any support trying to raise his voice for his nation. Anna Hazare an old citizen is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India 

Why this much neglectance happening in this case. A man alone leading a protest to protect and save a nation and no media supports him. What is going on here. If somebody trying to fight against corruption we must support them. That is what common people like us doing. But we have limitations. Upto an extend we can do something. Media's case is entirely different. Media can change the situation. Media can flash it in moments. Why they are not doing anything. 

Situation is something critical. Anna Hazare is fighting against the corrupted politics and corruption in India. How this political parties raised and how a man become politician ? Its because common people. We are electing this political leaders to lead the country not to robber the nation. During election period every big politicians forced to come down to face this ultimate power i.e people. We made them leaders and we made the parties. We are not suppose to be slaves under any political parties. That is the reason why the common people supporting this old man Anna Hazare.
Couple of weeks ago, Delhi Ram Leela Maidan became a point of focus for each and every Channels, Newspapers etc. They were busy in telecasting the mammoth Luxurious event. But here a humble man even without owning a piece of land in his name, started raising his voice. No media listen that. We should think it. Why it happened ? Why media failed to support this second freedom struggle ? Is media also corrupted ? I didn't see a single media broadcasting this movement in such a way that entire world can hear it. No media tried to focus this movement with a public interest.
Our society is rich with God Boys and God Girls. Why they are not opening their mouth ? They have an influence and they have the strength of followers which is wast and beyond our imagination. I am so curious !!! Why these God Boys and Girls tell their disciples to Fight against corruption or raise voice against corruption ? That has to be done. Media can do it by broadcasting an interview with these Boys and Girls and let the world hear it.
Why the big guns of business world keep silence ? Why media is not getting their interviews to open up their mouth on Anna Hazare's anti corruption movement ? Indian film world, Bollywood, Kollywood etc, have got lots of Super Stars. Why they are also silent? Actors like Amitabh Bacchan, Rajnikant, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan etc should raise their voice in this matter. 
They have got lots and lots of fans. They should come forward to support Anna Hazare. That can make difference.
Indian Sports world have got living legends like Sachin Tendulakar, the God of Cricket. If he come forward whole world will do the same. Here also media utterly failed. 
A poor old man is fighting against the corrupted Indian politics. So why can't others? 
During the same time, the movement which had started without much expectations by Anna Hazare long back and received tremendous response initially had failed to draw (this time) the expected response from the people and the nation. The only people giving Anna the hype were the media persons. Soon even they realised that this movement is not going as expected and started debating about the same. I missed these debates though I watched a few of them.

Everyone were surprised to see a low turnout though the people associated with organizing the event denied it. So I gave it a thought, Why The Anna Hazare Movement Failed ? Most of them (a few of them atleast) will tell that the movement has not failed. But according to me the movement has failed. When I typed in the title of this blog I just did a google search.Well this topic is pretty old atleast 15 days old.You will find many posts related to this. There are many experts, analysts, reporters, professional bloggers, amature bloggers (like me) who have written on this topic. Why should you read mine then? Is my opinion different ? I would say in the end it will boil down to one thing (which I will tell later) but my approach to that thing is different than any other blog that you will find.

For those of you who are thinking the movement was in Mumbai and not in Delhi so the movement failed do a quick search on Anna Hazare in Wikipedia, from there I quote 'Anna has been ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper'.

He is more popular there in Mumbai,now he is a household name in India. Well before I start off I am not writing this to criticize Anna Hazare or his team.He has done a significant amount of work in his village and improved it really well. While going through his wiki itself you will have read that he was awarded the Padma Bhushan award long back.  

When Anna sat for an indefinite fast for the first time in April, there was unprecedented support for Anna. People saw in him as an apolitical leader who could bring about change. Most of them were and are fed up of the bribes that they have to pay in government offices. Through Lokapal it could be reduced. Most of them even compared him to Mahatma Gandhi. With all due respect to Anna Hazare according to me no one in this world can be compared to Mahatma Gandhi. People will be influenced by his ways but they cannot be like him. People like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and most recently the famous one Barack Obama all were influenced by Gandhi. 

Even Anna Hazare is like one of them. He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's methods Satyagraha and Ahimsa most notably. Anna Hazare stood for a cause. His cause was to eradicate corruption. But soon his cause changed. It was hate Congress and defeat Congress.Suddenly an apolitical person became political. An impression was created among the people that it is the responsibility of the ruling Govt to introduce the bill. The following link says differently http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/p5.htm . It tells any member can introduce a bill, not just the ruling party. I agree that the government which has the majority in the parliament has a significant say in the parliament proceedings. Also the support of the opposition is also required. The government usually takes the opposition into confidence and then passes the bill. So it was the responsibility of the whole parliament not just one political party.

History has shown us that people who stood for a cause succeeded in  bringing change. The whole world supported for their cause because they were incorruptible.They couldn't be influenced nor deviated from their main cause. Those men and women had the support of the people which they ulitilzed against the people opposing their cause efficiently and brought about the change.

Unfortunately Anna deviated from his cause, Lokpal bill was not seen as the primary priority. And the primary target became the Indian National Congress Party. This one change in stand or deviation from stance caused Anna Hazare the movement which had gained so much momentum.

This resulted in a slight loss of confidence of the people. Whether Anna unknowingly deviated or knowingly deviated or he was influenced I do not know. Only Anna Hazare know's it. Can they come back? If they come back will they have the same support?

I do not know but 'I Stand For India Against Corruption'!

When You Stand For What You Believe In,
You Can Change The World!
          

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Don’t finish every book you start


It is so easy to feel compelled to finish every book you start. A great sense of guilt fills our minds if we do not reach the end of that book we used our hard-earned dollars to buy. But not every book deserves to be read in its entirely.

As Francis Bacon said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few books to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

I myself was guilty of feeling that need to read every book I picked up from beginning to end. I soon found that not only did my reading pile become unmanageable but I began to enjoy the pastime of reading less. Once I decided I would be more selective about which books I actually completed, I not only got through more of them, I found I learned more from each one.

If you find that after reading the first three chapters of a book, you have not gained any worthwhile information or that the book has failed to keep your attention, do yourself a favour: put the book away and make better use of your time (like reading the next book in your pile).

Sunday, July 22, 2012

પ્રામાણિકતા, નૈતિક મૂલ્યોનું જતન એ સાચી દેશભક્તિઃ નારાયણ મૂર્તિ


મારો પ્રશ્ન છે નારાયણ મૂર્તિને કે શું ખરેખર ગ્રેજ્યુએટ થનાર છોકરો કે છોકરી પ્રમાણિકતા કે નૈતિક મુલ્યોને માને છે ? - લેકચર આપવું અલગ વસ્તુ છે અને તેને કૃતાર્થ કરી બતાવવું અલગ

આઇઆઇટીમાંથી ડિગ્રી લઇને જનાર વિદ્યાર્થીઓએ પારદર્શક કામગીરી, ભ્રષ્ટાચારમુક્ત વહીવટ, સારામાં સારૂ શિક્ષણ અને ઉંચામાં ઉંચી ગુણવત્તા થકી આગળ વધવાનું છે. દરેક વિદ્યાર્થીઓએ પ્રમાણિકતા અને નૈતિક મુલ્યોનું જતન કરવુ એ જ સાચી દેશભકિત હોવાનું ઇન્ફોસીસના સલાહકાર અને ફાઉન્ડર એન.આર. નારાયણ મૂર્તિએ જણાવ્યુ હતુ.
  • IIT ગાંધીનગરનો પ્રથમ પદવીદાન સમારંભ યોજાયો
  • ૮૬ વિદ્યાર્થીઓને પદવી, ૨૦ વિદ્યાર્થીઓને મેડલ, એવોર્ડ એનાયત કરાયા
ચાંદખેડા-ગાંધીનગર સ્થિત ઇન્ડિયન ઇન્સ્ટિટયુટ ઓફ ટેકનોલોજીમાં પ્રથમ પદવીદાન સમારંભમાં ચીફ ગેસ્ટ તરીકે ઉપસ્થિત રહેલા નારાયણ મૂર્તિએ વધુમાં જણાવ્યુ હતુ કે 'આપણા દેશને વિશ્વ સમક્ષ મજબુત દેશ તરીકે રજુ કરવો એજ સાચી શીખ છે. એ ત્યારે જ સાર્થક થશે જ્યારે વિદ્યાર્થીઓ નૈતિક મુલ્યો, ગુણવત્તા, અને ઇનોવેશન થકી સાચી દેશ ભક્તિ દર્શાવે. જો આપણે એવી રીતે નહી વર્તીએ તો લોકશાહીનો જલ્દી અંત આવશે.જો તમારે સફળતા મેળવી હોય તો કોઇપણ પ્રોડકટ સસ્તી, સારી, ઝડપી, કઇ રીતે બનાવી શકાય તેના પ્રયત્નો હંમેશા કરવા જોઇએ. બીજુ કે તેમાં કોઇપણ પ્રકારના જાતિ ભેદ, ધર્મ ભેદ, રાષ્ટ્ર ભેદ, અને ઘમંડ વગર ટીમ વર્કથી કામ કરવુ જોઇએ. હેતુ ને લક્ષ્ય સાથે સારૂ પર્ફોમન્સ આપશો તો તમારી સારા નાગરીક તરીકેની ઓળખ ઉભી થશે અને લોકો તેમને સ્વીકારતા થશે. આ રીતે દેશને તમે મજબુત રાષ્ટ્ર બનાવી શકશો.

તેમણે ઉમેર્યું કે 'ભારતમાં શ્રેષ્ઠ શિક્ષણ વ્યવસ્થા હોવી જોઇએ જેથી અમેરિકાના વિદ્યાર્થીઓ ભારતમાં અભ્યાસ માટે આવે' પ્રસંગે આઇઆઇટી ગાંધીનગરના ડિરેક્ટર સુધીર જૈન અને કાઉન્સીલ ઓફ સાયન્ટીફિક એન્ડ ઇન્ડસ્ટ્રીયલ રીસર્ચના પુર્વ ડિરેક્ટર ડો. માશેલકર ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા હતા. તેમણે કેમિકલ ઇજનેરીના ૨૦, ઇલેકટ્રિકલ ઇજનેરીના ૪૧, મિકેનીકલ ઇજનેરીના ૨૫ એમ કુલ બેચલર ઓફ ટકેનોલોજીના ૮૬ વિદ્યાર્થીઓને પદવી એનાયત કરી હતી. જ્યારે ૨૦ વિદ્યાર્થીઓને મેડલ અને એવોર્ડ એનાયત કરાયા હતા. મિકેનીકલ ઇજનેરીની સ્વેતવા ગાંગુલીને બે ગોલ્ડ મેડલ અને બે એવોર્ડ એનાયત કરાયા હતા.

Source: Sandesh

Friday, July 20, 2012

How to Increase your Value ?

In the new economy you now find yourself in, you will be compensated not by how hard you work but by how much value you add to the world around you. Think about it. 

If you are currently being paid Rs. 500 hour, this money is being given to you not simply because you showed up at your desk for those sixty minutes but because you have added Rs. 500's worth of perceived value during those sixty minutes. So, the monetary reward you receive is determined not by how long you work but by how much value you add.

This is why a brain surgeon is paid so much more than a McDonald's employees. Is the brain surgeon a better person? Not necessarily. Is the brain surgeon a harder worker? Probably not. Is the brain surgeon smarter? Who knows? But one thing is certain: the brain surgeon has accumulated far more specialized knowledge and specific know-how than the McDonald's employee. There are far fewer people who can do what the brain surgeon does and, as a result, the brain surgeon is perceived as far more valuable to the marketplace. This is why the brain surgeon is paid over ten times more than the person who flips burgers. Money simply becomes a symbol for how much value each person has added to the world at a large.

So to be paid more money in your work, you must add more value to the world. And the best way to begin adding value to the world is to start becoming a more valuable person. Acquire skills no one else has. Read books no one else is reading. Think thoughts no one else is thinking. Or, to put it another way, you cannot have all that you want if you remain the person you are. To get more from life, you need to be more in life.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

અમેરિકાના ભૂતપૂર્વ પ્રમુખ અબ્રાહમ લીન્કને કહ્યું હતું કે "મારા ઉપર ટીકાના જેટલા પત્રો આવે છે, તેમનો જવાબ દેવાની વાત તો દુર રહી પણ જો તેમને ફક્ત વાંચું તો પણ મારે બીજું બધું કામકાજ છોડી દેવું પડે. હું તો મારાથી શક્ય એટલી સારી રીતે કામ કરું છું. જો અંતમાં હું સફળ ખોટો પુરવાર થાઉં તો હજારો દેવો સોગંદપૂર્વક મારી સચ્ચાઈ પુરવાર કરવા મથે તોય કંઈ ફેર પડશે નહિ." આ વાત ધ્યાનમાં રાખીને વ્યક્તિએ નિંદા પ્રત્યે બિલકુલ ધ્યાન આપ્યા વગર સચ્ચાઈ પૂર્વક પોતાનું કાર્ય કરતા રહેવું જોઈએ.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

5 Things to know about Microsoft Office 2013


Microsoft released the Office 2013 which is the latest version of the Microsoft Office suite. It is now available as a Consumer Preview (public beta). The customer preview can be downloaded from office.com/preview.
1. system requirements for preview of MS Office 2013
The requirements are a 1GHz or greater x86/x64 processor, 1GB RAM (32 Bit)/ 2GB RAM (64 Bit), Windows 7 or newer OS version and Windows 2008R2 or newer with .Net 3.5 or greater. So, all those with PCs running on the Windows XP or Vista will have to upgrade to Windows 7 or above to install the preview. To download the Consumer preview, the user will also require 3.5GB free disk space.
2. Do users need to uninstall the existing version
No need of un-installation of the current version so as to install the preview version. The preview version can be installed along with the existing version of Office 2003, Office 2007 or Office 2010. After installing the preview, one can access the existing version of Office too.
3. Release of MS Office 2013
Nothing has been so far declared in this connection. It has not disclosed the availability schedule and Microsoft is maintaining complete silence in this matter, but Office 2013 is rumored to be released sometime in early 2013.
4. Subscriptions cost
Price of the MS Office 2013 has not been revealed yet. Microsoft has decided not to disclose the price of Office 2013.
5. Which other platforms and devices will the Office 2013 support?
·        Windows Phone: Windows Phone users will be able to access files created in Office 2013. They can also access them from SkyDrive, SharePoint, and Office 365 e-mail.
·        Windows tablets: Windows RT is said to include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. However, the company will reveal the details about Office on Windows RT only during its final release.
·        iOS and Android: Office 365 features that work in a web browser will be made available for iOS and Android devices. Users of both the platforms will supposedly be able to access the OneNote apps.


Friday, July 13, 2012

Love Marriage banned in UP Village


A Taliban-like ruling was given by a village Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh banning love marriages and barring young girls from using mobile phones in the village. The most shocking thing is the village comes under Baghpat, which is the constituency of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh. The village panchayat also banned women, who are under the age of 40, from going out for shopping. As per the diktat, women would be veiled and their heads must be covered while going outside. The boys are also prevented from using headphones on roads. While giving the ruling, the Panchayat condemned the practice of dowry as a punishable offence. The directives were issued during a panchayat meeting on Wednesday. The diktats resemble the Taliban thoughts, which are condemned all over the world. Police said that they have ordered an inquiry into the matter and action would be taken on the basis of the report given by the district intelligence unit.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Aamir Khan to have Simple Avatar in 'Dhoom 3'


Perfectionist Aamir Khan, who is well known for his successful experiments that he puts to his characters in films, has revealed about his latest Avatar. He will be seen as a simple and lean baddie in his upcoming film ‘Dhoom 3’.
Aamir started experimenting with looks from the commercials and first applied it probably in ‘Mangal Pandey’, where he was seen as an Indian soldier in the colonial administration with a moustache. The actor was so talented that he could beefed up his look to a muscular man for ‘Ghajini’ but again returned to the avatar of a poorly healthy college guy in ‘3 idiots’.
Now the actor is again on the cards with another creative avatar in YRF’s upcoming long awaited film ‘Dhoom 3’. The movie is the third installment of the Dhoom series, first of which was release in 2004 followed by Dhoom 2 in 2006.
In Dhoom 3 Aamir will be seen as a being having with a lean and simple look; the fact revealed recently in an interview of him where he said that this will be his look in Dhoom 3 minus only the wardrobes.
In the film he will be seen in the role of a villain, who is of course the protagonist, acting opposite Katrina Kaif. As usual, Abhishek Bachan and Uday Chopra will continue to chase him as Jai and Ali.
'Dhoom' series revolves around enterprising theft plans, striking thieves and bike chases. The series is always a talk of the town after its successful manifestation in the earlier two versions where John and Hrithik had presented powerful acting.
Victor Acharya Directed Yash Raj Films’ 'Dhoom 3' will be released next year starring Aamir in a new look.

Batista Loses $15B as Brazil Awakes From Dream


When Eike Batista pitched investors on $6 billion in stock offerings over the past six years, he was selling more than his personal empire of interlinking commodity startups. He was selling Brazil.

That’s why, when Batista’s oil venture reduced production targets less than six months after pumping its first barrel of crude -- deepening a sell-off that erased $15 billion from his net worth and $21 billion in market value in three months -- also in doubt was his vision of Brazil as a new powerhouse on the world stage.

Batista, 55, became Brazil’s richest man by riding a wave of optimism about his country’s prospects that culminated in a 7.5 percent surge in gross domestic product in 2010. Under President Dilma Rousseff, economic growth is now stalling for a second year, and is forecast at 2 percent in 2012, the slowest among the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

“What’s going on with Eike right now is unfortunately a reflection of what’s going on in the country as a whole,” said Simon Nocera, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund, who now runs San Francisco-based Lumen Advisors LLC. “It’s more of those boom and bust scenarios of the past.”

As global commodity prices slipped into a bear market last month, economists surveyed by Brazil’s central bank have cut their forecast for the country’s economic growth this year for nine weeks running. Retail sales fell in May by the most since 2008 amid rising consumer defaults. Brazil’s benchmark stock index is down 23 percent since the end of 2010, with Batista’s oil producer, OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, among the biggest losers.

Resolve Unshaken

Batista’s resolve remains unshaken. After share prices for his six publicly traded companies recovered some of their losses this month, his net worth has rebounded to $20.7 billion from a low of $19.6 billion on June 28, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is the 21st richest person in the world.

“My fortune is in my assets,” Batista posted to his almost 1 million Twitter followers on July 1. “Since I didn’t sell a single share, I didn’t lose anything!”

In an e-mailed response to questions, Batista’s holding company, EBX Group Co., said its companies have enough cash to plow ahead with a $15.7 billion investment plan. While its oldest public venture MMX Mineracao & Metalicos SA didn’t turn a profit in 2011, it produced 7.5 million tons of iron ore. OGX, even after missing its targets, went from inception to production in less than five years -- which Batista has called a “world record.”

Punishing Market

“You are going to have these kind of setbacks,” said Laurence Balter, who oversees $100 million for Fox Island, Washington-based Oracle Investment Research and increased his holdings in OGX after the plunge. “Eike has put his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion, and the market is punishing him for that.”

During former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s time in office, from 2003 through 2010, tens of millions of people were lifted from poverty as economic growth quickened, borrowing costs fell and public finances improved. The Bovespa (IBOV) stock index rose six-fold as China’s growing appetite for commodities increased earnings for Brazil’s biggest companies: iron-ore miner Vale SA and oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA. (PETR4)

Batista promised to compete against the two giants with his own startup ventures, and filled top management spots with their former executives -- including his own father, Eliezer, who has served both as mining minister and Vale chief. Batista, who said in April 2010 that Lula “walks on water,” has relied on subsidized loans from Brazil’s national development bank, known as the BNDES, in addition to cash from private investors.

Biggest Successes

His two biggest successes came in the first half of 2008, as prices for oil and iron ore approached record highs: the 6.7 billion-real ($3.3 billion) initial public offering of OGX, and the $5.5 billion sale of the Minas-Rio mining business to Anglo American (AAL) Plc. OGX also benefited from optimism surrounding Brazil’s recent announcement of the largest oil discovery in the Americas since 1976 -- the Tupi field, since renamed Lula.

The euphoria surrounding Brazil’s prospects began to waver at the start of 2010, with a credit-fueled rebound from the 2009 recession raising the specter of an overheating economy -- just as Batista was preparing to sell shares in OSX Brasil SA. (OSXB3) The shipbuilding venture ultimately raised just a quarter of what he’d initially sought, after investors balked at putting up cash for a company whose main asset was the guarantee of orders from OGX, which had still yet to produce a drop of oil.

Ballooning Costs


Both companies have repeatedly failed to meet Batista’s targets in bringing their operations online. Even after beginning to produce revenues, OSX is now trading at less than a third of the price offered in its initial sale, while OGX has lost half its value.


The Minas-Rio iron-ore project -- now Anglo American’s largest -- has also failed to meet expectations. Beset by legal challenges and ballooning costs, the project is slated to come online in 2013, after having initially been projected to start by 2010.


“It won’t be ready in 2026,” said Joao Carlos Cavalcanti, who partnered with Batista on an iron-ore business that was later subsumed into MMX. “Eike told them it had 750 million tons of ore, but it doesn’t have 150 million. They fell for Eike’s blue eyes. He’s very beguiling.”


The geologist, now developing rare-earth deposits in northeast Brazil, is suing Batista for allegedly failing to make agreed investments in their joint venture. “The guy is a bubble,” Cavalcanti said.


EBX declined to comment on Cavalcanti’s allegations. MMX said its chances of losing the lawsuit are “probable,” according to a regulatory filing detailing legal liabilities.


One Dividend


In six years, Batista’s six publicly traded companies have made just one dividend payment -- and that because of a one-time financial gain. Still, the dearth of cash hasn’t stopped Batista from diversifying into a slew of new closely held ventures, from technology to Rio de Janeiro real estate to sports and music events-management.


In an interview with Bloomberg News in March, Batista said he exemplified a new “Brazilian dream” of entrepreneurial success. He repeated his goal of overtaking Carlos Slim as the world’s richest man by 2015, a feat that would require him to double his wealth at the time.


Batista’s net worth peaked at $34.5 billion on March 27, after he sold a 5.6 percent stake in EBX, the umbrella for most of his assets, to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. for $2 billion.


Great Salesman


While boosting his personal fortune, the deal did little to comfort investors in his publicly traded companies. Shares continued to sink even after Batista sold another $300 million stake in EBX to General Electric Co. in May. The sell-off peaked when OGX announced last month it was cutting output targets for its first two wells by as much as 75 percent, intensifying doubts as to whether he’d oversold his companies’ prospects.


“What’s actually true, and what’s just the fact that he’s a great salesman?” asked Henrique de La Rocque, who manages 300 million reais at Brasif Gestao de Recursos in Rio de Janeiro. He said he’s holding on to his OGX shares at least until the “panic” subsides.


In its e-mailed response to questions, EBX pointed to Batista’s 30-year track record in developing eight gold mines and one silver mine across Brazil, Canada and Chile. Batista pursued -- and abandoned -- several companies during that time. In 1999, Batista sold a water business to a unit of Enron Corp. for $55 million, telling Bloomberg News after the deal: “Gold is a Jurassic industry. Water is the industry of the 21st century.”


Batista’s success lies in finding the right projects and picking good teams, according to Carl Hansen, who spent a decade working with Batista at TVX Gold Inc. in Toronto in the 1990s.


‘Finding Investors’


“Without question he has a talent for identifying undervalued assets, and then increasing the value of those assets by doing the work and then finding investors to move them forward,” said Hansen, who worked at TVX first as a geologist and later as its director of investor relations.


As TVX’s chairman, chief executive and largest shareholder, Batista led the company’s market value to peak at more than $1.7 billion in 1996 as he invested in projects around the globe. A series of legal challenges, combined with a five-year slump in gold prices, drove the company’s value down to less than $150 million by the end of 2000.


‘Marketing Story’


Today, with the slowdown in China’s economy dragging down raw-material prices, Batista has plowed 2.6 billion reais into LLX Logistica SA (LLXL3)’s Acu port project in Rio de Janeiro state. In March 2010 he said the complex will be a “highway to China” once completed.


A popular adage holds that Brazil is the country of the future, and always will be. For the past six years, Batista has sought to sell the idea that Brazil’s future had finally arrived, according to Nocera, the former IMF economist.


“It’s been a wonderful marketing story,” Nocera said. “When you make a lot of promises, sooner or later you need to deliver.”

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Laila Khan and Family killed by Parvez Tak: Mumbai Police


The crime branch of Mumbai police is on its way to solve the murder mystery of the Bollywood actress Laila Khan and her family. Police confirmed that Parvez Tak, a close to Laila, confessed to murder.

In a press conference on Wednesday, JCP Crime, Mumbai, Himanshu Roy said that police have recovered six skeletons, an iron rod with blood stain, a knife and some Jewellery from the pit at Laila's Nashik Bungalow on Tuesday. 

He said that the murder was carried out by Parvez Tak, who is now Mumbai police custody, along with watchman Shakir. The bodies were bodies were covered with big stones and mud to avoid them being sniffed by animals in the area. 

"Police is reconstructing the entire sequence of events since the entire family of Laila Khan has been wiped out. We are yet to establish whether it is per-mediated murder or happened at the spur of the moment", he said. 

He said that Laila and her entire family were about to migrate to Dubai. However, all were killed. Parvez and Shakir arranged two drivers and left for Mumbai. Later, they went to Jammu. 

However, police would wait for the DNA test report before confirming whether the bodies were those of Laila Khan and her family.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Kingfisher crisis: Vijay Mallya's Goa Villa to be Sold?


The Kingfisher Airlines crisis deepened as the bankers have decided to sell the cash-strapped airline's non-core assets and a property belonging to the liquor baron Vijay Mallya. 

The assets include Kingfisher House in Mumbai and a villa in Goa. It is a huge blow to the airlines, which has been struggling to get recovered from the loss. 

The decision to sell the assets was taken after a group of banks including State Bank of India (SBI) reviewed the airline's financial position. 

Sources said that the bank will be able to recover around Rs 135 crore from the property sale of Kingfisher.

The airline has been given 15 days to come up with measures to improve its financial position. However, Kingfisher denied the reports claiming it as false. 

The Kingfisher in a statement said that the report is false and the banks have started recovery proceedings after a meeting on Thursday.

Monday, July 2, 2012

A recent study conducted by Harvard Medical School psychiatrist College George Vaillant showed that people who 'projected' or blamed others for their misfortunes, were much less able to adjust to the changing events in their lives.