Pancharangi - One of the Best Kannada Movies

I went to watch Peepli Live on Wednesday , it was a good one . But I felt it could have been made still shorter. I felt that 1 hour 45 minutes is little more for this movie , some scenes seemed repetitive .

I was not planning to see any new movie on the week end , but Shweta made plans of watching Pancharangi as she thought it will be a good movie. To be truthful I was not very keen about watching Pancharangi , because the last Kannada movie I saw "Nooru Janmaku" disappointed me a lot. Somehow Shweta convinced me to watch the movie"Pancharangi" movie @ Mantri mall .

I am very thankful to Shweta that she took me to this movie, otherwise I would have missed one of the very good movies in Kannada in recent times. I should admit Pancharangi is complete entrainer . It keeps you engaged all through out the movie. The dialogs are awesome. The songs are creative, with humor as well as very meaningful. The movie is shot may be somewhere near Mangalore on the sea shore. It is not very high budget movie or something it is a very simple movie with, a very good story , lot of humor, lessons, superb dialogs , some outstanding performances by the cast.

The movie is about life in general . It is about interaction between two families, which meet for the engagement of Diganth's elder brother . The movie covers the 2-3 days spent at Mangalore by the Diganth's family at the prospective brides place. One should watch this movie to see the interactions between different personalities , which come in this movie (the dialogs are too good) . I could relate this movie very closely to what happens in real life. According to me this is the best movie among all movies Yograj Bhat directed. One has to watch this movie or else take my word you will be missing one the best Kannada movies in recent present .

I hope to see more of this kind of Kannada movies being produced in future .

US to change L1 and H1-B Visa Application Fees

The new Visa policy introduced by US is quite interesting. Some changes are introduced for L1 and H-1B visas. The new policy has steeply increased the application fees for these H1-B and L1 visas. This new scheme is applicable to all companies which have more 50% of employees on H1-B or L1 visas. This is more applicable to Indian companies because, most of them have Indians working there at USA on H1 or L1 visas. USA citizens working in these Indian companies are less than 50%; hence the policy will have considerable effect on Indian service companies.

The policy proposes to raise the fees on H-1B visas from $320 to $2,320 and fee on L-1 visas given to multi-national transferees from $320 to $2,570. Almost $2000 increase on every visa application, almost equivalent to 92,000 INR, which is not a small amount. And after paying this huge amount the companies will not be assured be about the visa approval. Hence irrespective of the outcome the company needs to pay 92000 rupees for each visa application.

For a rough estimate let us consider the data given by Mr.Gopalkrishna, the CEO of Infosys. According to him anywhere between 2000 to 3000 employees of Infosys apply for these visa every year which is almost equivalent to 18.4 Crore rupees( 92000 * 2000 Rupees) . This means Infosys alone will cough up extra18 Crore to government of USA. If we consider other big service companies in India like TCS, Wipro ,HCL and CTS which also send Indian nationals to US on L1 and H1-B visas then, almost (18*5) 90 Crore rupees will be given to government of USA by our Indian companies. Hence from this new policy the government of USA will be able to generate an excess fund of almost 100 Crore from India companies.

USA is planning to use this money for the purpose of securing their borders using unmanned surveillance systems. USA also seems to have an intention to reduce the number of visa applications which in turn will reduce the number of people working in USA on H1-B and L1 visas and hence create more jobs for higher salaried USA citizens. The new government in USA seems to be very much exited to avoid immigrants and create more jobs to US citizens. Let us see if all these measures can prevent outsourcing of software jobs from USA. According to me it is not at all possible.

Global Top Cash Rich Technology Companies

I would like to share a piece of interesting article regarding top cash rich technology companies in the world.

Having plenty of assets is not as same as having large amount of liquid cash. All assets cannot be converted into cash in a short span of time. The amount of cash a company has is the one of the important factor which determines if the company can meet all of its short term financial obligations. In turbulent times like the recent recession, it’s the cash in hand and not the total assets, is what matters to meet day to day financial obligations. I will give a gist on top cash rich companies in the world, which I came across in the net. I have given the references at the end of the article.

First in the list comes, the networking giant “Cisco”. It has cash and short term investments worth $39.6 billion which is almost equal to 1, 78,200 Crore INR, if we consider the exchange rate to be 45 INR per 1 US $.

Second in the list comes China mobile which is one the largest mobile service providers in the world. It has largest mobile customer base in the world. This huge company has second highest cash in hand which is $38.7 billion. This turns out to be 1, 74,150 Crore INR.

Third in the list comes Microsoft, one of the world’s software giant “Microsoft”. Microsoft has $36.1 billion, which is 1, 62,450 Crore INR.



Pictorial representation of cash rich companies in the world

Fourth in the list is the top internet search giant “Google”. Google has $26.5 billion in its kitty that is equal to 1, 19,250 Crore INR. We can observe that the first three cash rich companies have $35 plus billion in cash where as the 4th cash rich company has almost $10 billion less, which is quite a big difference.

Next in line is worlds most valuable technology company “Apple”. Apple has $23.2 billion as liquid assets and that turns out to be 1, 04,400 Crore INR.

Samsung Electronics “The world’s largest technology company” stands sixth in this list. Samsung Electronics has $18.6 billion in cash which is 83,700 Crore INR.

Samsung Electronics is followed by Oracle, Sony, Intel (world’s largest computer chip maker)

Next in line are IBM, HP, Panasonic, Nokia (world’s largest mobile maker) and Qualcomm.

A point to be noted is that, all these companies are the market leaders or second in their respective business, and also they are one of the biggest companies in their respective business domains.

References:

The picture in this article is copied from the link below
http://topforeignstocks.com/2010/04/26/the-global-top-15-cash-rich-tech-companies/

I have also referred the links below to write this article
http://topforeignstocks.com/2010/04/26/the-global-top-15-cash-rich-tech-companies/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/itslideshow/5967633.cms

Raajneeti

Watching movies in one my favorite past time. So I thought why not write about them. I happened to watch Raajneeti recently. It is one among the good movies I have seen in recent past. Housefull was another movie which was good , but Housefull was a movie with lot of humor where as Raajneeti is a serious political drama.Most of the actors/actress in Rajneeti have done a very good job. I felt Manoj Bajpai, Ranbir Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Ajay Devagn have excelled in thier roles. Katrina Kaif has also done justice to her role.

The strongest points of the movie are its story, its presentation, the twists and turns in the movie and the the direction of movie.The story basically revolves around a big political family. The story is all about the rivalry between cousins in the heavy weight political family and their fights to be the most powerful and take the most powerful seat.

One thing which I observed is, the movie is in some ways similar to the epic "Mahabharat". The fight between cousins, one family getting completely destroyed at the end, a mother who gives birth to a child before marriage,the child being orphaned later,the same child getting into the rival political camp,the friendship between that child and the rival camps leader,mother asking the child to come back to her family during the rivalry as the orphaned turns out to be one of the strongest opponent. The orphaned child giving importance to friendship rather any other thing and finally giving his life for the sake of friendship.I felt all these events or points in the movie are very closely related to Mahabharat's story.

However I should say for all those who like watching movie with lot of political plots and with lot of actions Rajneeti is a must watch. It will not bore you even for a second. After all it has so many good actors like Nana Patekar , Ajay Devagan , Manoj Bajpai and Ranbir Kapoor.

South Korea

Seoul


Suwon


Night @ Suwon


@ Everland :)


Suwon Fort



Yongsan Electronics Market



Near Home Plus , Suwon


@ Seoul Tower

The Airports i Visited :)

Bangalore International Airport


Take 2 @ BIAL



Hong Kong International Airport



Hong Kong International Airport - 2



Now this is Bangkok International Airport



Samudra Manthana @ Bangkok Airport


Incheon International Airport - One Among the Best Three Airports in the World


Incheon International Airport - 2

Learning is a never ending process

Learning is a continuous process , it is a life long activity. It does not end after earning a degree or some other qualification . Learning does not end after we join a handsomely paying job. It is a never ending process . Some people prefer to learn from their experiences and some others go for formal education.

Education is gradual process of acquiring knowledge, it facilitates learning. If a person wants to continue his education even after joining a job, the doors of education are not closed for him . Lately, distance education and part time programs have gained popularity in India . Generally perception in India was that "once we join job formal education ends " but this perception has considerably changed now. Many people join different part time programs, distance education , and week end programs to increase their knowledge . I would throw some light on various options available in India to pursue MBA and management education while we are working.

We can opt for distance education , which will be complete correspondence type. Relevant materials will be sent through post or as soft copies through our mail, some times even online classes will be available. Many universities in India like IGNOU, Karnataka State Open University , Madurai Kamaraj University , Annamalai University , Bangalore University , Bharatidasan University provide distance education MBA. One can refer to the links below for more information.

http://www.indiastudycenter.com/univ/distance-education.asp

http://www.education.nic.in/dist_inst.asp

We can also opt for MBA programs for working executives from the more popular institutes given below

NMIMS, this is one of good colleges to offer part time MBA. One can find more info on this through this link. NMIMS provides a 3 year part time program.

http://www.nmims.edu/academic-program-detail.php?type=Part-Time%20Programmes&programs=MBA%20(Part%20Time)

ICFAI University , this is a pretty decent one . ICFAI provides 3 year MBA program.I am pursing my MBA from ICFAI itself, one needs to study for some where around 20 hours every week and take exams regularly to complete the MBA in 3 years. The course is quite extensive and covers most of the management topics. The program will definitely help to get good amount of knowledge on various topics of management.More information about this program can be found using the link below

http://www.iutripura.edu.in/

Sikkim Manipal University also offers MBA program for working professionals and so does Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning.The links below will help one to get more information about their programs.

http://www.smude.edu.in/Pages/Welcome.aspx

http://www.scdl.net/

And the more respected ones

Executive PGP is offered by IIM Indore

http://www.iimidr.ac.in/iimi/pages/programmes_main/exepgp.php

IIM Bangalore provides Post graduate program in software enterprise management

http://pgsem.iimb.ernet.in/index.html

IIM - Khozikode has Interactive Distance Learning in its kitty to offer

http://www.iimk.ac.in/idl/idl.php

Great Lakes Institute of Management

http://www.greatlakes.edu.in/

Other than these most of the Big B schools provide many MDP's (Management Development Programs ) which will be of short duration and concentrating on specific subjects such as leadership, change management.

There are also certification programs offered by

Hugesnet , Reliance and NIIT Imperia. These institutes have tied up with premiere institutes to provide various certification programs.

http://www.hnge.in/ (Hugesnet)

http://www.niitimperia.com/

A Consumer Electronic Giant called – Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest electronic company with sales revenue of $117.4 billion in 2009. Samsung Junja (Korean word for Electronics ) is head quartered at Suwon in South Korea. It is the largest South Korean company and the flagship subsidiary of the Samsung Group. Samsung means “three stars” in Korean is truly a star in the electronic industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Electronics

Samsung Electronics is the 19^th best global brand in 2009 surpassing its nearest competitor Sony. Samsung Electronics ranks above the giants like Apple, Nike, Citi Bank, Sony, Philips, Amazon, Pepsi, Oracle and SAP, in “Best Global Brand” ranking which is not an easy achievement for any company. Samsung’s brand value is 17,518 million US $ which is almost 78831 Crore Rupees @ exchange rate of 45 rupees per dollar. http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx

Samsung Electronics was founded in 1969 in Suwon, South Korea as Samsung Electric Industries, originally manufacturing electronic appliances such as TVs, calculators, refrigerators, air conditioners and washers. In 40 years span Samsung has grown to be the world’s largest technology company with revenue of $117.4 billion overtaking HP of the U.S. http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2010/01/133_59924.html

Samsung has numerous products like Memory Chips , LCD/LED TV’s , LCD Monitors, Mobile Phones, Smart Phones, Printers, Home appliances such as Washing machine, Refrigerator ,Air Conditioners, Home theaters ,Microwave oven DVD players , Set top boxes , electronic gadgets such Digital Cameras, Digital Media Players, MP3 Players, Laptops and Telecom and Network products such as Routers, Servers WiMax Base Stations.



Samsung is the second largest mobile phone maker in the world after Nokia, beating most of the big names in mobile handset industry like LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple and RIM (Blackberry Maker’s). Samsung has recently released open mobile platform called as “Bada” which means ocean in Korean.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/pages/analyzing-worlds-10-biggest-handset-makers-q4
http://www.bada.com/



Samsung Electronics is also global leader among all LCD makers making it the largest LCD maker in the world. http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/aboutsamsung/companyprofile/businessarea/CompanyProfile_LCDBusiness.html#

Samsung Electronics’ Memory Division has firmly established as the unrivalled global player. As of the end of 2006 they have remained the world's leading memory chip maker for the past 14 years in a row.
http://www.samsung.com/hk_en/aboutsamsung/companyprofile/businessarea/CompanyProfile_SemiconductorBusiness.html#

Samsung Electronics has also considerable amount of market share in printer business being the 9th largest printer manufacturer in the world.
http://www.top10land.com/top-ten-printer-manufacturers.html



Samsung Electronics takes lots of interests in sponsoring big sporting events such as Olympics, Winter Olympics and is also official sponsor for Chelsea football club.

Where there is a will , there is a way

ISB , IIM-A ,IIM-B, IIM-C, IIM -Indore, XLRI , SPJain, Great Lakes are some the big names in the world of B schools in India. Most of the surveys have consistently ranked these schools among top B schools in India. These schools open door of unseen opportunities to their students. Many of us want to be into these B schools. Most of us know that cracking CAT is the only way out to get into these schools (except for ISB and Great lakes which accept GMAT scores ) .

It is not so any more , CAT is not the only way to into these schools. All of these schools have started Executive MBA's , these MBA's are normally of one year duration instead of normal two year programs . This Executive MBA is for people with atleast 5 years of work experience (except for ISB and Great lakes which entratain even people with atleast 3 year work experience also) . Executive MBA's are 1 year full time programs and are generally very aggressive, as they cover same amount of contents in 1 year as covered in two years. They have very good placement record and they also have the facility to accommodate family (in case of IIM - A , IIM -B and IIM -C ). One needs to take GMAT for admission into these schools and average GMAT score required is generally above 700 in most of these B schools. Most of the schools have, a good GMAT score , 5 year work experience and good academic record as basic admission requirement.

If we have a wish , a determination, to be into these B schools it is not too late for anybody. Every one has been given an opportunity to get into them. So if we have a decent academic record,a good 5 or more years of work experience , a zeal to be into ISB's and IIM's

go ahead and prepare for GMAT , score well , live your dream and have a great future.

I will give a list of B schools which provide 1 year full time Executive MBA's , I have prepared this list after doing lot of research using the respective institution's webpage. The amount mentioned is the total fee charged by these schools for the program , however with the salaries offered one can get back this amount in 2 year span after completion of this program. The amount also includes even family accommodation in case of IIM- A and IIM- B. This amount may also vary as I have written a rough estimate here. Please visit these institutions webpage for more details.

ISB Hyderabad – 20 lakh - 3 years of Wrk Exp

IIM-Ahemdabad- PGPX- 20 lakh - 7 years of Wrk Exp

IIM-Bangalore - Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management- 20 lakh – 7 years of Wrk Exp

IIM-Calcutta- Post Graduate Program for Executives: 14 lakh – 5 years of Wrk Exp

IIM-Lucknow- Details not mentioned

IIM-Indore - Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management - 15 lakh -5 years of Wrk Exp

IIM – Khozikode – Not very sure

XLRI – General Management Program - 12 lakh – 5 years of Wrk Exp

SPJain- Global MBA as well as non Global MBA 20 Lakh(food, hostel, fees)

SPJain India - Within 10 lakhs - 5 years of Wrk Exp

Great Lake, Chennai - 3 years of Wrk Exp , 12 lakhs

MDI

IMT – Ghaziabad

NIKE - The Greek Goddesses of Victory

This article is about NIKE, one of the most popular sports shoe brand and also about one of its co-founder Mr.Bill Bowerman.

First let me tell about the meaning of NIKE , NIKE is a greek word Νίκη which means "Greek Goddesses of Victory " . The symbol of NIKE Swoosh is derived from the wings of Godess of Victory . "Blue Ribbon Sports " is NIKE now, it was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964.

The more interesting thing is about Mr. Bowerman.Mr. Bowerman was a biology teacher and was a football coach at Franklin High School in Portland. He was very passionate about coaching athletes hence he quit his teaching job and took the up a full time coaching job at University of Oregon. Bowerman because of his passion,efforts and dedication became one of most successful track coaches not only at the state level, national level but even at international level .

Check this ,he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 24 NCAA champions, and 16 sub-4 minute milers (running 1 mile within 4 minutes was completely ruled out by all physicians and medical theory at that time). During his 24 years as coach at the University of Oregon, the track and field team had a winning season every season but one, attained 4 NCCA titles, and finished in the top 10 in the nation 16 times. He is also the recipient of the Oxford Cup, Beta Theta Pi's greatest honor. [This paragraph is from wiki ]

His passion to coach should have been gratified with these achievements, but this guy wanted to go further to make athletes faster. He started to work on the shoes, he wanted to make the shoes lighter so that the athletes can run faster . He approached many guys/companies with his idea only to be turned down by most of them.This however did not discourage him, instead it made him to take a bold step, he started Blue Ribbon Sports(which is now Nike) along with Phil Knight and rest is history .

Today Tiger Woods one of the greatest golfers and richest athlete is one of the Brand ambassador for Nike :)

Passion , perseverance, positive thinking can create a lot of great things , so let us all try to pursue our passion and put our best efforts to reach our goal :)

I am very happy that I also own one of NIKE's products :)

Carz

The car market in India has considerably changed , its no more a Maruti world . There is no doubt that Maurti Suzuki, the largest passenger car company in India, is a very good car manufacturer, seller,marketeer and service provider. It has service stations all over India may be in every nook and corner. Maruti Suzuki rolls out successful models one after the other, Maruti 800 , Alto,Swift, Ritz ,A Star, and my favorite the Zen are some of the most successful.

However the road does not end at Maruti there are any other car manufacturers which are equally good. One can explore all different available options before taking the final decision. I will give a list of cars available within Rs.5 lakh. One can utilize this to explore and take their own decision.

We have cars from Hyundai, General Motors , Tata, Fiat and Maruti which come within 5 lakh rupee (on road price).

Hyundai gives the options of Santro and i10 , where as General Motors has Spark UVA and Beat to offer . Fiat has Palio in its kitty . Tata provides Indica and Indica Vista to choose from . Maruti has 800, Alto , A Star and Wagon R to compete. So altogether we have some where around 12 cars which are within 5 lakh rupees (On road price ) , so one can check all of them and then take his/her decision. I have at least checked out most of them in show room before taking my decision , all of them are good have their own advantages and disadvantages one can visit these links to get more detailed description and understanding.

http://hyundaii10.co.in/

http://santroxing.com/

http://www.chevrolet.co.in/content_data/AP/IN/en/GBPIN/001/index.html

http://www.chevyspark.in/

http://www.chevybeat.co.in/

http://www.fiat-india.com/

http://www.tatamotors.com/

and the number uno in India

http://www.marutisuzuki.com/