Month: April 2010

Argo vs Essar

If people start writing accounts of fraudulent public dealings of Essar group then it will fill volumes. However the media esp the print media has been always silent about them and public continued to get duped. Finally Argo Capital Management ltd has been successful in being able to convince a major daily (Financial Times Global Edition) to print the truth and break this mummm. (The ad was forwarded to me by my dear friend whose name I cannot take because it might conflict with her profession)
In 2006 Essar had went to court against Argo’s Cayman Island Branch. Here is a brief summary about it. So in 2010 Argo is finally having its own sweet revenge.
Prax had a wonderful theory: According to him, Big media houses officially get lucrative pre-placement/private deals. After that they promote these dubious offerings and cash out.

life

Startup vs rock band

Investing

My mood swings in Stock Markets

Post author By Ankur
Post date April 26, 2010
9 Comments on My mood swings in Stock Markets

PS: I don’t hold rights to this image, nor i know anyone who does.

Quotes

quote

Post author By Ankur
Post date April 17, 2010
2 Comments on quote

Plagiarized from one of my friend’s status message:
“We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them.
We say we love trees, yet we cut them down.
And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved….”

Travel

Train Innovation: Boarding a moving train

Post author By Ankur
Post date April 16, 2010
4 Comments on Train Innovation: Boarding a moving train

I don’t know if it is true, whether it is technically and economically feasible. However I like the idea.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ig19gYP9o]
AMAZING : Chinese Concept – The train that never stops at a station:
A brilliant new Chinese train innovation – get on & off the bullet train without the train stopping. VERY COOL CONCEPT !
No time is wasted. The bullet train is moving all the time. If there are 30 stations between Beijing and Guangzhou, just stopping and accelerating again at each station will waste both energy and time.
A mere 5 min stop per station (elderly passengers cannot be hurried) will result in a total loss of 5 min x 30 stations or 2.5 hours of train journey time!
How it works (view the movie – in mandarin though!):
1. For those who are boarding the train : The passengers at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof of the train.
While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train’s roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.
2. For those who are getting off: As stated after fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof at each station.
Innovation?
Courtesy: Email forward by Neeraj

Thoughts

Lying

Post author By Ankur
Post date April 10, 2010
2 Comments on Lying

One of the easiest things in the world is to lie and pass one as someone else. If the interaction is brief enough and if the other person is not paying too much attention/significance to the interaction then any person with even an iota of IQ can also get away with it. However just because one can do it, should you do it?
Over the past 1 month or so, I have spent 20-30 hours over phone trying to coach a kid on CAT interviews. He wants to pursue MBA because he intends to use those skills to get into healthcare management, where he believes he can contribute significantly and get a lot of satisfaction. However being an engineer from an unrelated field, he wasn’t sounding very convincing in the mock interviews. Hence he was literally pressurized and forced to change the storyline of “Why MBA” to finance where he seems more natural and presentable. He says just because “I am good at something that does not mean I want to pursue it as a career. Healthcare might not be the most glamorous of the sectors (relatively speaking), but then with my qualifications and dedication I am sure I will never have problems of bringing food to the table.”
IIM Interviews are a chance for which many people would be ready to kill for. During interviews and discussions where one is being evaluated, everyone blemishes the facts or is economical with the truth. However just because everyone lies, does not mean that he should also become phony. I am not questioning the moral or ethical standards because I believe they tend to change/evolve with time and based on the context. What I am asking is that if the stakes are too high, then is it ok to let go of one’s beliefs and conviction in order to make a favorable impression?
PS: He went with the finance story.

Miscellaneous

Niagra tour

Guide: I welcome you all to the Niagara falls. These are the world’s largest waterfalls and the sound intensity of the waterfall is so high, even the sound of 20 supersonic planes passing above it can’t be heard!
Now may I request the ladies to keep quiet so that we can hear the Niagara Falls?

Photography

thought of the day

Its easy to search god but difficult to search hidden cameras.
Forwarded by Dhruv

Miscellaneous

Duronto Express

In this budget, with a lot of fanfare, Mamata Bannerjee announces new non stop super fast trains connecting metros. However being a destructive force by nature, unlike her predecessor, she is having great troubles understanding the basic theories of management in services.
Eg: While traveling to Bangalore from Kolkata, I had 2 options:
1. HWH YPR EXPRESS : This train would depart at 20:35 and reach the destination at 7:55am (2nd day)
2. HWH YPR DURONTO: it leaves at 11am and reaches at 16:00hrs of the next day.
The goal of any public transport is not to be the fastest link between two points but the most convenient one. Speed is one of the many important parameters not the only one. Hence I wonder how many of the new trains she has launched this year are going to be successful.
If you look at these 2 trains, the Duronto definitely appears to be faster. However still I booked tickets in the express because its timings are more convenient. If I take Duronto, boarding the train at 11am means that day is spend traveling and I am also not sure how productive I would be if I reach Bangalore railway station at 4pm.

Miscellaneous

Good Morning/Evening

How do you greet someone who is in a different time zone? Does the protocol dictate that I wish him Good Morning because its morning here in India or should I wish them good evening because it’s evening in USA. Even if I wish someone Good Evening (because its evening for him), should the person respond with a Good Morning or with Good Morning?
In the non-digital world, if you mix up good morning/afternoon/evening, then you look like a buffoon. I am sure the correct custom for the digital world would be the same.