Sambhar Mafia - Cooked To Kill!

English in name, Infrastructure is a shame

2009-03-25T10:39:00.003+08:00

My earlier post on the topic of real estate evoked some response from the aggrieved group via email and it showed more insight into the murky world of real estate. This post is also on a similar topic.

Real estate developers have a penchant for giving fancy names to their new projects. These fancy names may not be in tune with reality. The developers use such creative names to lure buyers and justify the premium pricing. Majority of print ads for new projects show random foreigner images which have no connection to the type of residents which the development would eventually house. The only reason from the developer's viewpoint could be to make the project aspirational. Names like Belvedere, Windermere, Manchester Grand (Coimbatore), Hyde Park and Bougainvilla shows how creative developers are. With more developments offering lifestyle facilities, one wonders how the maintenance of such facilities would be carried out few years down the line. Some of the thoughts mentioned above are echoed by Aruna 'Vishy' Anand (yes, she has a new blog!) as she has discovered most of these first hand by virtue of purchasing an apartment in the much hyped IT Corridor / OMR.

the property was named Sherwood Gardens or Windmere with swans .... in the lake (there is a lake with swans in a 10 km radius ), Greyshott , Bella Tuscany ( in the middle of perungudi town panchyat!) etc etc

They are all described as the ideal habitat for the global resident. A place where you can put up your legs, watch your children grow. dip yourself in the jacuzzi hob nob with equal minded gullible people !!

We narrowed on one Park Rozalia . One World .One place. The ad featured a child running around the place. The kid looked Danish , swedish ... and looked so happy . The features read like a country club. (Link)

Although the Anands purchased an 'English' home in Pallikaranai (an area which was and is still used as a dumping ground by Chennai Corporation), they also bought another property which was more centrally located, and decided to use the City apartment as it is close to their parents home.

The recent meltdown has brought the focus back to affordable homes without the bells and whistles. Most developers are shying away from direct price discounts as they feel that this might enrage existing buyers (who are awaiting completion of the apartment). Hence, developers are doling out freebies like stamp duty waiver, free parking space etc. When it starts pinching more, expect developers to get more realistic.

DLF Faces An Acid Test In Chennai

2009-03-08T10:43:00.002+08:00

DLF is a recent entrant to the Chennai property scene and is facing quite a few headwinds. Sometime ago, there was news that DLF collected about Rs. 5 lakhs Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) from interested buyers even before the project managed to get all the necessary approvals. As the property prices continue their downtrend, buyers who were among the early birds to sign up are pushing DLF to drop the price to be in tune with the falling market. Although DLF has acceded to their request, the buyers feel that the discounts are not sufficient enough. DLF has very little choice other than to give in to the dissenting buyers. If DLF doesn’t cut the price more aggressively, it risks losing willing buyers who wouldn’t mind foregoing the EMD (as worst case) as their potential losses might even surpass that of Rs. 5 lakhs. DLF on its part has assured buyers that it would refund EMD if required as per the terms of the agreement.

Credit is becoming increasingly scarce for corporates and more so for the property sector. The project is about 50% booked and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the original buyers back out if prices are not slashed. DLF might need more bookings and upfront / progress payment to fund working capital. I feel that the project delays might also be quite disconcerting to buyers as they need to wait longer to get their dream home. Without enough bookings, DLF might not be in position to continue construction at the required pace. Instead of being more aggressive on the pricing front, DLF seems to be concentrating on rewarding agents by offering them more commissions. I really doubt if such incentives can lure the ultimate buyers. If DLF has long-term plans of being a reputed player in the Chennai property market, it needs to make serious amends to appease existing and prospective customers.

Election Overdrive

2009-03-05T22:34:00.004+08:00

Home Minister P Chidambaram seems to be working overtime to retain his Sivagangai Parliamentary seat. Almost every other week, we do see him participating in some function in his constituency. If you observe the news items quite closely you will notice that most of the functions were inauguration of bank branches, extension counters, self-help groups etc. Bank of India, Indian Bank, UCO Bank and State Bank of India are the banks which had recently expanded operations in the constituency.

Union home minister P Chidambaram needs to woo nearly two lakh voters in Alangudi in Pudukottai district and more than a lakh of voters in Maanamadurai, previously in Ramanathapuram constituency. Chidambaram has inaugurated several bank branches in this rural segment, frequently touring his turf and interacting with a wide cross-section of the electorate. The high-profile MP has already begun organising workers' meetings to prepare them to build a fresh voter base for him in these regions. (Link)

Any layman can easily interpret that the erstwhile FM is trying to use his powerful office to influence Public Sector Banks to go on an expansion drive in this particular constituency. Since PC is participating in the event, the Bank Chairmen make it a point to take part in the launch events. Given the location of this district, it probably takes 2-3 days time of such Bank Chairmen (who are usually based in Mumbai / Kolkata as the case maybe). I’m not sure whether it makes sense for such Chairmen to even grace the occasion as this new branch (having a strength of about 2 – 10 people) could be quite insignificant in the whole scheme of things. The Banks also take out huge full page ads in national and regional dailies to announce the branch inauguration. This is again a big drain on the bank's resources. Let’s see if PC’s attempts to increase his image work to his favour in the elections. I’m also curious to see if PC’s son Karti gets a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha Polls.

All In The Family

2009-02-06T17:06:00.002+08:00

(Courtesy: Dinamani)

Azhagiri's Fancy Dress

2009-01-30T16:09:00.006+08:00

30th Jan happens to be MK Azhagiri's birthday and it would have hit you in the eye if you had opened any Tamil newspaper today. Even Dinamalar (Madurai Edition), which is not viewed as close to the DMK has multiple pages of ads given by the udanpirappugal.

Where else could one see such quotes as Aatral Arasae, Pandiya Nedunchezhiyanae, Raja Raja Chozhanae, Hat Trick Nayakanae, Kaviya Thalaivanae, Kalachuvadae, Obama of India, Kutti Kalaingarae, Thirumangalathai vendredutha Thiruvae, et al, as the list continues.

Earlier, Azhagiri was hailed as Anjanenjan Azhagiriyae, but the ‘n’ has been replaced with ‘r’ changing into Anjanenjar Azhagiriye, because calling anyone as anjanenjan is derogatory.

One hoarding in Nagercoil portrayed him in police uniform; however, the most intriguing one was his portrayal as ‘Hitler, who overcomes challenges’ that has baffled many in the city. But, whether it was an eponymous error or ignorance about Adolph Hitler on the designer’s part remains unclear. (Link)

Mama, Mamool & Blackberry

2009-01-30T15:14:00.004+08:00

In a first of its kind move in India, the Kerala government is handing over Blackberry phones to traffic police so that offenders can be booked on the spot and RTO records can also be retrieved instantly.

Traffic offenders here have to be doubly careful from now as the city traffic police, perhaps for the first time in the country, are armed with Blackberry mobiles, especially designed to track down vehicle details from Regional Transport Office database in a jiffy.

Under the pilot project launched by Kerala Government, complete information about the vehicle and its owner could be instantly accessed by policemen using Blackberry mobile phones, which hitherto remained a proud possession of the elite class, especially top company executives. (Link)

I'm not sure whether the cops would welcome such a high-tech move. The traffic police team needs to be trained in using the Blackberry so that they can make full use of it. Otherwise, there is a risk that the handheld device might become a show-off object. The traffic police normally uses the threat of booking an offence to extract 'mamool' from the public. Will the Blackberry result in lesser bribes and increased productivity? Time only can tell.

Dhoni Machan

2009-01-27T11:00:00.002+08:00

Dhoni & his language woes:

His language woes have not been limited to just trips abroad, Dhoni had similar problems while playing for Chennai Super Kings during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"I played for Chennai but didn't know any Tamil. But people there thought that since I was part of the team, I had learnt it. So I just picked up a few words and for one and a half months that I played there, I relied on those to break the language barrier," he said. (Link)

Hope Dhoni can speak better Tamil during the next IPL season.

Wise Chancellor?

2009-01-26T15:52:00.003+08:00

RT Sabapathy Mohan, Vice Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University is no stranger to controversy. He owes his post to his allegiance to the DMK and time and again, the man tries to promote the party in his official capacity. Few months ago, Sabapathy Mohan used University funds to congratulate the CM on some achievement and now he has been caught in yet another controversy. The VC was a Chief Guest at a sports event and he seems to have gone out of the way to promote the DMK.

The girls of the winning team were flashing a ‘V’ sign, indicating victory and this seemed to remind the Vice-Chancellor of the two leaf sign of the AIADMK. He suddenly took everyone by surprise when he caught hold of the wrists of one of the players, unfolding the remaining fingers like that of the DMK’s symbol, the rising sun. The incident shocked the woman coach of the team, Balvinder Gour, who was seen trying to stop the Vice Chancellor. Since the players were not aware of Tamil Nadu politics, they too were taken aback by the Vice-Chancellor’s odd behaviour. (Source - New Indian Express)

The same VC was invited to attend a Tamil-related event in Singapore last year and I came to know that the man spoke mostly about the DMK. A man holding the office of a Vice Chancellor needs to maintain certain basic decorum and having such people at the top would only bring disrepute to the state and the university.

Corporate Reputation Management In Focus

2009-01-23T20:43:00.003+08:00

Rumours about accounting fraud at Educomp have prompted the company to use Google contextual ads to direct people to their company website and giving their version of the story. The ad states that a "Point-by-Point rebuttal on allegations" is available at their corporate website.

I'm not sure why Wipro and ICICI didn't use such a medium when their companies were facing negative publicity. Most of them continue to use full page newspaper ads to dispel rumours.

IT major Wipro was in the news when it emerged that World Bank had banned them for alloting shares to some World Bank employees. If Wipro made no mistake, then why didn't they disclose the ban and defend their move when they received the ban notification from World Bank. If they had done so, they need not have embarked on the firefighting exercise to explain their stand.

And, both hid the fact that all this had happened till the Bank chose to reveal it. If they had nothing to hide, and felt they were being wronged, why didn’t they make an issue of it? This is the question any normal being will have on reading about it all, and the fact is that all the immense wordage put out by the two firms, including a lofty internal mail to his lakh-odd employees by Wipro’s legendary chairman, Azim Premji, doesn’t address this crucial point. (Link)

Business Journalist Govindraj Ethiraj explains this issue in more detail in this Business Standard article:

So what was Wipro doling out, bribe or speed money? I would assume that like any restricted offering, which is what a Directed Share Programme ought to be, the upside was in the fact that some people could get hold of the shares as against others who did not. The price is incidental. Somewhat like getting a well-priced IPO stock in India in the primary market, with the expectation it will zoom on listing or thereabouts.

So maybe it was closer to speed money. Handing out a favourable allotment in a share offer because a good relationship will help the company in the long term. And what better way to do it than to make your customers a part of the shareholder family? Except that World Bank employees are not customers — the Bank is and it’s what I would call a governmental organisation. Nor are they the equivalent of customs officials who can hold up cargo. But then that’s the point, the fine line only gets finer. (Link)

சன் (பிக்சர்ஸ்) செய்திகள்

2009-01-22T23:07:00.003+08:00

பீதிக்கும் பரபரப்புக்கும் பெயர்போன சன் செய்திகளில் நடுநிலையை எதிர்பார்ப்பது கொஞ்சம் அதிகம்தான். சன் தொலைக்காட்சி நிறுவனம் திரைப்படத் தயாரிப்பில் இறங்கியதிலிருந்து தங்கள் திரைப்படம் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட உருப்படாத செய்திகள் தலைப்புச் செய்திகளில் இடம் பெறுவது வழக்கமாகியுள்ளது. காதலில் விழுந்தேனில் ஆரம்பித்த தலைவலி படிக்காதவன் வரை தொடர்கிறது.

இன்றைய தலைப்புச் செய்திகளில் சுள்ளான் தனுஷ் படிக்காதவன் திரைபடத்தை திரையரங்குகளில் ரசிகர்களுடன் கண்டு கழித்தார் எனும் செய்தி தலைப்புச் செய்தியாக இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. வெளிநாட்டு உள்நாட்டு அரசியல் செய்திகளை விட படிக்காதவன் செய்தி முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்தது எப்படி என்று சற்றும் புரியவில்லை. தங்கள் தொலைக்காட்சி நிறுவனத்தின் பலத்தை கொண்டு சுமாரான படத்தைக் கூட வெற்றிப் படமாக மாற்றுவதே தங்கள் குறிக்கோளாக கொண்டுள்ளனர் மாறன் சகோதரர்கள். இந்தப் போக்கு "Editorial Integrity"-யை தொழில் வெற்றிக்காக விட்டுக்கொடுப்பதாகும். விளம்பரதாரர்களுக்கு சாதகமாக செய்திகள் எழுதுவது ஒன்றும் புதிதல்ல. வடக்கில் Times of India போன்ற நிறுவனங்கள் இதை காலம் காலமாக கடைப்பிடித்து வருகிறார்கள். இதுமட்டுமல்லாது, சிறந்த பத்து பாடல்கள் & சிறந்த பத்து திரைப்படங்கள் ஆகிய நிகழ்ச்சிகளிலும் தங்கள் சொந்த தயாரிப்பு படங்களுக்கே முன்னுரிமை தரப்படுகிறது.

மேலும் பல படங்களை தயாரிக்கும் சன் நிறுவனம் தங்கள் செய்தித்தாள், பண்பலை மற்றும் தொலைக்காட்சி மூலம் மக்களை முட்டாள் ஆக்கி படத்தை ஓட வைக்க சகல முயர்ச்சிகளிலும் ஈடுபடும். பாராளுமன்றத் தேர்தல் வரவிருக்கும் இவ்வேளையில், சன் செய்திகளை விட அதிக பொழுதுபோக்கு தரக்கூடிய ஒரு நிகழ்ச்சி கிடையாது.

Top Cop Takes To Blogging

2009-01-22T20:55:00.001+08:00

Former Chennai Police Commissioner and current DIG of Prisons Nataraj has started a blog to reach out to the public. Nataraj definitely knows how to engage with the people and his personal website is also testimony to that. I'm sure this blog is going to attract attention as word spreads around.

Stating that he enjoyed receiving emails and comments on his blog, Nataraj pointed out that students aspiring to enter the civil services had sought his guidance. "A few others asked me to clarify some of the complicated cases. They are sending me emails and contacting me on my mobile to ask queries. I spend at least 15 to 20 minutes a day to update my blog and expect it to turn out to be a discussion forum," he said. (Link)

Profiting From The Crisis

2009-01-19T00:26:00.003+08:00

Search for Satyam on Google and the Sponsored Link is one by IT Consultants Everest Research Institute offering a research report titled - "Satyam Crisis Analysis".

Related Article: PTI report dated 21st Jan delves more into the above topic and details the contents of the Everest Research report.

One More Indian Fraudster Arrested

2009-01-14T00:04:00.004+08:00

It's the season for dubious businessmen to face reality. The man who shot to fame selling electronics (mostly TVs and Hi-Fis) at dirt cheap prices in the 90s is the latest Indian businessman to end up behind bars. Kabir Mulchandani has been arrested in Dubai for duping customers in real estate transactions. Back in the 90s, Kabir ran a firm called Baron International and sold cheap electronics products under brands like Akai, Aiwa and TCL. The TVs used to be priced around Rs 10K when most other brands used to cost upwards of Rs 20K. Kabir also made a name for himself bundling the different products and offering unbelievable exchange offers. The fact that he couldn't run a brand for more than 2 years, probably hinted that his model was not sustainable. Since the brands didn't last long, he lost the consumers' trust since people had concerns about after sales service and repairs. It looks like Kabir's family had moved to the Middle East after running up huge debts in India.

Scores of investors have been allegedly defrauded of over US$ 100 million by Mulchandani, chairman of `Dynasty Zarooni'. At least 10 members of an `investment club,' which last year promised huge profits from the company's preferential access to real estate deals, have lodged complaints against Mulchandani, his Emirati business partner, Hilal Al Zarooni, their joint venture `Dynasty Zarooni' and two other employees.

Investors say Mulchandani in March received subscription fees of US$ 81,697 (Rs 40 lakh) a month from 12 members. He promised them returns of US$ 272,242 (Rs 1.3 crore) a month after six months, or US$ 1,633,453 (Rs 8 crore) in September. Zarooni is reported to have denied any participation in, or knowledge of, a fraudulent scheme. "One hundred per cent I deny this, there is nothing illegal whatsoever,'' he said. (Link)

More Troubles For Pyramid Saimira

2009-01-13T23:24:00.002+08:00

The impact of the credit crunch couldn't be more pronounced. After recent disclosures about the pledging of promoter shares in Satyam, it has now emerged that Pyramid Saimira's promoter has also pledged his shares to financial institutions. Since PS Saminathan couldn't meet margin calls, the institutions have been selling his shares in the open market.

Pyramid was in the thick of the action because of the poor response for Kuselan and also because of the abandoned Marmayogi project.

Theatre chain operator Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd clarified on Tuesday that some financial institutions, with whom promoters had pledged their stake, sold 6 percent in the firm between October and December.

The company clarified that it was facing a liquidity crunch and then suffered losses in a mega-budget film, 'Kuselan,' prompting the promoters to pledge some shares to raise funds.

Kuselan, a Tamil film which was also re-made in Telugu, was released in August 2008 and fared miserably on the box office.

As the current period is the peak season in south India for film release and confirmations, the firm hopes its locked-in money will be released, easing the cash crunch. (Link)

I expect more troubles for Pyramid Saimira as they have been hit badly on both the business and financial front. Other issues relating to the SEBI letter and promoter's fight have cast a bad light on them. Cancellation of Marmayogi and sudden termination of Simran Thirai have not helped them either. I wouldn't be surprised if they go bust in the near future.

Does Your Name Need Cosmetic Changes?

2009-01-12T15:34:00.002+08:00

Altering names because of numerology is nothing new. The interesting trend over the recent years is the type of changes which people make to their names. It's pretty common to come across additions like a and e. Some of the examples are Raadhikaa Sarathkumar, T R Baalu and S Ve Shekher. A popular film comedian who makes fun of social evils also patronizes numerology and prefers to use Vivekh.

One normally notices such changes to individual names in the field of politics, film industry and business. It's surprising to see even listed companies adopting numerology. The case in point here is Karur K.C.P Packkagings Ltd. The man behind this company is called K C Pallanishamy. The company Chairman might have probably got a bulk discount from the astrologer for changing his name and the company name.

Actor Jeeva is now Jiiva. I wonder whether the actor's fortunes have changed after the import of 2 i's. Another name which caught my eye is TN Congress President KV Thankgabaalu who has added the letters k and a to his name. Few other names which attracted attention are Gangai Amaren, Premgi Amaren and Rajhesh Vaidhya.

One of the strangest uses of numerology that I have come across is that of Sathyajyothi Films Thyagarajan. The man uses a dot before his first initial and his name reads .T.G Thyagarajan.

To the best of my knowledge, it looks like the people mentioned above have used numerology to revitalize their names and careers. If there is any factual inaccuracy in the above, do bring it to my attention so that I can make amends.

Do respond on some of the unusual 'numerological' names that you have come across. Please ignore Pondicherry names (like Coomarasamy) which are real names and are not connected with numerology. I am also interested in knowing whether the people who have changed their names have really attained success post the name change.

Satyam's Ten Point Plan To Boost Employee Confidence

2009-01-09T02:43:00.004+08:00

Satyam has unveiled a rescue package for its associates, the terms of which are detailed below. Like Satyam's notional cash pile, here is a fictional story on how Satyam can encounter this crisis and restore confidence of the Associates.

1. Satyam will launch Satyam-PWC Centre of Creative Accounting & Management (SCAM)

This Centre will be headed by Srinivas Vadlamani. Satyam Associates can enrol in this SCAM and develop their creative accounting skills. SCAM will impart best practises by benchmarking with other world class firms like Enron and Worldcom. People who know US-GAAP and other accounting standards need not apply as you are over qualified. Your skills will be put to full use during quarter close and year-end. Placement is assured in one of the Satyam group companies like Maytas, Samtay, Tamasy, Tasmay etc.

2. Satyam-ISB Centre for Corporate Misgovernance (SICC)

Under the stewardship of M Rammohan Rao, Satyam will establish this centre to groom the next generation of Directors who can fill the Board positions in Satyam group and also aspire for similar position in many other tainted companies in India. We will also teach you how to draft your own resignation letter before resigning from the board.

3. All associates will be offered a chance to throw shoes at Ramalinga Raju like what happened to Bush recently.

4. All Associates will be given stock under the Employee Shock Option Plan (E-Shock). Before future confessions, Ramalinga Raju will update the E-Shock holders in advance so that they can sell their shares before the stock crashes.

5. All Associates will be provided company Memorabilia like T-shirts, caps, key chains, coffee mugs etc. to be sold on Ebay. The right moment to sell these items would be around the time we announce our bankruptcy.

6. Employees who nod their heads well will be appointed to the Board and will be paid Rs. 12 Lakhs per annum. The best such nodder will be paid upto Rs. 1 crore per annum. Such directors need to maintain silence at the Board meetings. The only word they are allowed to say is YES. Although you will be called independent directors, you'll have to depend on Raju & Co. for everything.

7. Life long supply of Hyderabad Biriyani to tide over the crisis. All associates will get Free tickets to FIFA world cup 2010 & 2014 for which Satyam is the co-sponsor.

Satyam is also contemplating the acquisition of Tamilnadu government-owned TASMAC as the name closely resembles the names of Satyam and Maytas. If this deal goes through, you'll be assured of free supply of liquor. We have engaged the services of domestic investment bank JP Murugan to assist us in this strategic acquisition.

8. For Satyam Associates who are dis-associated (laid off), you'll be offered agricultural land under the possession of Maytas so that you can be self-associated (Self-Employed). Some of the land documents might be forged and Satyam, Maytas or the Raju family will not take any responsibility for the genuineness or otherwise of these land documents.

8. Satyam will float a new website called www.SatyamCVs.com where employees can apply for outside jobs. Instead of the associates posting their CVs on other third party websites like Naukri and Monster, associates can now post their CVs directly on this site. This site will only accept CVs from Satyam associates. The front page of this site will contain a ticker showing the number of CVs in the site. This will give an assurance to the outside world that we do have the 53000 employees stated in our financial reports. Our interim CEO Ram Mynampati just inaugurated this job site by uploading his CV. Our HR team will be able to assist if you have any queries or doubts about this site. While showing projects that you have worked on, you are free to choose from any of the 500 Fortune 500 companies as our audited accounts shows that all of them are our customers. Please accomodate if the site is slow as we are experiencing huge traffic on this site. Even our HR people (who are normally quite free) are very busy updating their CV's on this site.

9. All our candidates for whom we have offered campus placements are required to report to work immediately. They will be accomodated in the new shiny benches bought for this purpose. These benches are located outside the office building. We felt this is best way out as we have decided to switch off the Air-conditioning inside the premises to cut costs. All the new joinees should come with a Cash deposit (in lieu of the bond) of Rs. 2 lakhs each. Satyam intends to use this money to tide over the working capital crisis. Once you come onboard, we will try to send you on onsite project where you can recover your Rs. 2 lakh deposit within a short period.

10. Since some of our cheques are bouncing, we will now be handing over the salaries in cash instead of cheques. Associates are required to count and verify the genuineness of the cash before leaving the office premises. No future claims will be entertained.

Satyam CFO's Answer On Cash Balance

2009-01-08T17:25:00.003+08:00

This is how Satyam's CFO Srinivas Vadlamani answered when an analyst asked about the unusually high cash balance. The transcript of the Oct 2008 (Q2) analyst call is difficult to download from Satyam website. I have managed to pick up the transcript from another site. The CFO's creativity has been put to test here. The answering tone from the last paragraph proves that Srinivas Vadlamani made up the reply.

Kawaljeet Saluja – Kotak Equities

Hi, my question are for, Srinivas. Srinivas any specific reasons why you have $500 million parked in current accounts which does not yield any interest.

V. Srinivas

No that is basically, as of the quarter ending, but subsequent to that the amount goes to the deposit accounts; majority of its in deposits now.

Kawaljeet Saluja – Kotak Equities

But Srinivas if I look at deposit account for the last 4 quarters that number has remained absolutely flat and most of the incremental cash flows have been parked in current accounts and this is not something is this quarter trend. Would you highlight the reasons for it?

V. Srinivas

No basically what will happen is this amount will be basically in different countries and then we will be bringing them to India based on the needs. Basically some of them are in overnight deposits and all that. So now, we have kind of placed them into normal term deposits. So next quarter onwards, we will see that as part of the deposits.

Related Read: ET article titled "How one analyst almost nailed Satyam" dated 10th Jan

Accused #2 in Satyam Fraud: Srinivas Vadlamani

2009-01-08T14:31:00.003+08:00

Although Ramalinga Raju has absolved his entire senior management of any wrongdoings, it is common knowledge that a financial crime of such magnitude could not have been committed without the knowledge of the bean counters. The person in focus here is Srinivas Vadlamani, the Chief 'Fraud' Officer of Satyam. Willingly or unwillingly, Srinivas has been party to the accounting irregularities at Satyam. Ramalinga Raju is lying when he says that his CFO and other top management were not involved. Given where things stand, Srinivas should have either been sacked or he should have resigned on his own. The more time he is given to remain in Satyam, he could cover up or hide some of the irregularities to protect himself or some of the other executives. Alteast the interim CEO Ram Mynampati should have mentioned that he is appointing a new interim CFO to assist him. The CFO has lost the trust to continue in his current role and nobody (including the ineffective Board) seems to be bothered about throwing Srinivas out.

Update: Interim CEO Ram Mynampati informs during the press conference that CFO Srinivas Vadlamani has not been in office for the past week. Srinivas has sent in his resignation today and the Board is yet to act on it.

Satyam's Books Were Fudged, Raju Resigns

2009-01-07T16:47:00.002+08:00

After the aborted Maytas deal, questions were raised about the future of Satyam and its current management and there were lot of rumours in the Indian media about the likely candidates who might acquire / merge with Satyam. In what can be termed as a dramatic turnaround, Satyam's chairman Ramalinga Raju has resigned after admitting some serious irregularities in its books. Among the frauds are some time tested tricks like inflating sales, inflating profits and understating liabilities. The inflated profits led to the huge pile of 'fictitious' cash in the balance sheet. This 'cash' was the one which was to be used for the proposed Maytas acquisition. The unusually large amount of cash (that too lying in their Current Account) on Satyam's balance sheet had raised some concerns earlier. Satyam management never did anything to allay these fears. It looks like the worst has come true.

Satyam Computer Services' decision to keep large amounts of excess cash in current accounts which do not yield interest income is raising eyebrows and prompting questions about why it has been growing the hoard of idle surplus money.

As speculation increases about the amount of available cash that is being shown in the books of India's fourth largest software exporter, at least one major brokerage firms saying it has concerns about cash utilisation at the Satyam, describing it as "baffling." (Link)

The full text of Ramalinga Raju's letter to the Board is available on Livemint site.

He said that the balance sheet has inflated cash & bank balance of Rs 5040 crore. No board member had any knowledge of the real situation as against books. The balance sheet was inflated and accrued interest of Rs 376 crore in the books is non-existent.

He further writes in the letter that Rs 1230 crore was arranged to Satyam, which is not reflected in books.

Raju in his letter further said that the Q2FY09 reported revenues of Rs 2700 crore Vs actual revenue of Rs 2112 crore. The Q2FY09 operating margin reported was Rs 649 crore against Rs 61 crore. The Q2FY09 numbers had Rs 588 crore of artificial cash in books.

He said that he is prepared to subject himself to law of the land and face the consequences. The account manipulation started several years ago. An attempt to eliminate the manipulation was failed, he added. (Link)

Although corporate frauds and accounting irregularities have come to light in the west (Enron), this is one of the biggest of its kind in India. If a company of the scale and repute like Satyam indulges in such activities, there may be numerous other smaller frauds happening in the small and medium sized listed companies which may never be unearthed.

Normally, the first one to face the flak in such a circumstance would be the auditors. We saw it in Enron where Arthur Andersen was in the spotlight. Similarly, PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) would have to face the heat over their involvement in this whole issue.

Raju's excuse that the accounts were fudged and profits were overstated to project that thecompany was financially stable and to ward off any takeover attempt because of the negligible promoter stake is simply unacceptable. It is like saying that I copied in the exam to avoid being scolded by my parents and teachers.

Satyam's future looks bleak in its current form. DSP Merrill Lynch, which was appointed to look at strategic options has also backed out. There is also the risk that lot of the contract renewals might not come through because of the credibility issue. In this economic climate, taking over a company with over 50,000 people is not an easy task. The buyer needs to work with a lot of unknowns and it is going to be a fire sale.

If all this drama had not happened, Maytas acquisition might have gone through and that might actually have benefited the shareholders as real assets were to be infused by parting with the fictitious cash.

How soon can we expect Ramalinga Raju to be arrested?

Wisdom Of The Crowds?

2009-01-06T17:06:00.002+08:00

Singapore's Tamil FM channel (Oli 96.8 FM) has chosen Kangal Irandal from Subramaniapuram as its Song of Year 2008. The annual ranking of Top 100 Tamil film songs is based on a public voting of the selected songs and it has sprung up a few surprises. The first song deserves its place. Similarly 6 songs from Vaaranam Aayiram figure in the Top 15 songs and this was also expected since this album was widely acknowledged as the best album of the year.

While I don't know how many people really participate in this voting, I have a feeling that even a small swing can push a song up or down. I was quite surprised to see 3 songs from Kuruvi making it to the Top 10. I really doubt whether Kuruvi deserves a place in the Top 10 list. The only song worthy of it is Thaen Thaen. If one were to look at the reasons behind Kuruvi's superior performance, one could be the general popularity of actor Vijay among Singapore locals and the other could be the lack of genuine public support for other well deserving songs. How else can I explain when I see a pretty average song like Mozha Mozhannu Yamma Yamma from Kuruvi at #16 while there are much better songs which make up the bottom of the list.

Seeking Foreign Accreditation

2009-01-05T22:18:00.001+08:00

Ramachandra Guha on the general craze for seeking an overseas stamp of approval and also about Sri Sri Ravishankar:

I recently wrote a piece in a Delhi magazine about a Bangalore-based holy man lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize. Among the mails I received was one which enclosed, as proof of the holy man’s holiness, the English translation of an article in an obscure Finnish weekly which praised him and his works. My article had made it plain that I too counted Bangalore as my home town and place of residence. Why then did the correspondent suppose that I would place the verdict of a Finnish magazine above the evidence of my own eyes? (Link)

Caught On Camera

2009-01-05T22:06:00.003+08:00

ADMK has released video footage of MK Stalin handing over cash to voters in Thirumangalam. If it can be established that this is indeed genuine video taken during the past few days, it could be a major setback to the DMK's plan to win the keenly-watched Thirumangalam by-election.

Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin has allegedly been caught on tape distributing money to voters ahead of by-elections in Tirumangalam.

The video shows Stalin distributing money but the DMK denied it claiming the recording is not recent or from Tirumangalam but a party function.

However, AIADMK maintained that DMK has been involved in bribing voters. (Link)

Update:

The Election Commission springs into action while Stalin maintains that he is innocent.

Taking a serious view of an incident covered by the print and electronic media of distribution of money by M.K. Stalin, Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister, and some supporters of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Thirumangalam on January 3, the Election Commission has ordered the registration of a case against him.

Reacting to the allegation that he distributed money for soliciting votes, Mr. Stalin said: “It was a gift to a new- born baby… we have evidence to prove this point.” (Link)

Watchout for Kanimozhi in 2009

2009-01-02T11:34:00.001+08:00

BusinessWorld magazine has featured Kanimozhi as one of the persons to watch out for in 2009. While she might get a party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections, the strong anti-incumbency wave in the state might pose a problem to DMK's hopes. I still feel Kanimozhi has to play second fiddle to Azhagiri and Stalin. Till then, she has to be content organizing stuff like Chennai Sangamam.

Absent from most Delhi page 3 parties and political high teas, Kanimozhi is fond of asserting that she does not need to win every little battle to be a successful politician. Read that to mean she is being smart enough to want to stay away from petty party politics. “I am here (in Delhi) not to push them (senior DMK leaders) or sideline anybody,” she says. “I look up to them for guidance.”

But Kanimozhi may not be able to stay away from the limelight for long. Despite her vehemently denying she harbours any ambitions of occupying a ministerial berth at the Centre, party and political compulsions look certain to bestow the same on her in 2009. (Link)

MK on Freebies: Everybody does it

2009-01-02T11:25:00.002+08:00

This is what MK had to say when he launched the free Pongal scheme:

Stating that the media also ridiculed his government on the freebies through publication of caricatures and editorials, he wanted to know what was wrong in giving these gifts to the poor and the needy as the media groups also indulged in distribution of free supplements along with the main issue to the readers as a regular feature. “People and political parties also organised annadhanams in temples to feed the poor on important occasions like birthdays. Why there was no criticism on all these things,’’ he asked. (Link)

The only difference between government doling out freebies and the press is that the government engages in such publicity stunts by spending taxpayer money to capture votebanks while newspapers and magazines give free gifts and supplements out of their own money to increase readership and subscriptions. While the media owners are not answerable to the general public for giving such freebies, the government needs to justify whether such free schemes (especially the free TV) really make sense.

Arasi and Anni battle it out in Thirumangalam

2008-12-30T07:20:00.001+08:00

For both Radhika Sarathkumar and Premalatha Vijayakanth, it is more than a mere whistle-stop tour to draw voters towards their parties – the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) – headed by their star husbands.

Clad in their best and bright traditional attire, they became instant hits when they hit the dusty roads of Tirumangalam. Radhika and Premalatha, the star performers, held the women in rapt attention. Each in their individual style vividly symbolised the contrasting approach to campaigning. While Radhika became Selvi, her lead role in the mega serial Arasi, Premalatha was ‘anni’ (brother’s wife) to her husband’s fans. Both seemed to relish their roles.

Arasi was the topic of discussion among the wide-eyed women. “What will happen to Arasi? Will the mother and daughter unite?” These questions nagged Radhika wherever she went. Even men were inquisitive to know about Arasi’s fate in the TV serial. ‘See the serial to know the answer,’ she would reply patiently and then move on, clad in a traditional saree. (Link)

Radhika might be crowd puller, but it would be difficult to convert her on screen charisma into votes. Not sure what sort of an impact Vijayakanth's wife can create.

Matchmaking For The Well-heeled

2008-12-26T15:30:00.003+08:00

The people behind Bharat Matrimony have launched a new matrimony website targetting the HNI (High Networth Individuals) segment.

Elitematrimony.com, launched by Consim Info Pvt Limted, formerly known as Bharat Matrimony group, is all about the elite read money getting married. With a membership fee of Rs 1 lakh for six months, it considers only people with deep pockets and entry is by invitation only.

Giving details, Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and CEO, Consim Info, said: “Once the applicants send in their requests, the team will verify the details, check their background and see if they fulfil the criteria.” The criteria is simple. You need to be either from a rich and established business family or a celebrity, a sports star, an IAS officer or a socially well-known person. Another category is high net-worth individuals - people with a more than healthy bank balance and an enviable portfolio. (Link)

To be considered as Elite, people need to justify why they think they are elite. Looks like Relationship Manager is the new word for what was commonly referred to as "Marriage Broker". My guess is that the HNI segment is more likely to be well connected and hence the need for them to seek an arranged marriage through EliteMatrimony.com would be lesser. Further, whenever middlemen are involved in the matchmaking process, there is a high likelihood that half-truths and lies would come in as the middlemen are incentivized when they strike a deal. It is probably cheaper and more effective to search for suitable brides and grooms directly through BharathMatrimony.com than paying Rs. 1 lakh and entrusting the search to a Relationship Manager. It remains to be seen whether having RM's similar to that in the Private Banking industry can succeed in the Matchmaking market. Let's see if Murugavel Janakiraman can come up with a winner this time.

DMK Effects Changes At The Top

2008-12-26T10:47:00.001+08:00

It looks like MK Stalin is set to become DMK Treasurer while MK and Anbazhagan will retain their party positions.

Top DMK sources told HT that DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, citing his advancing age, had wanted to hand over the party presidency to K Anbazhagan, who has been general secretary for over three decades. (Link)

If MK is serious about his point about old age, he should have actually handed over the baton to a younger person and not even considered K Anbazhagan. This is because Anbazhagan is two years older than MK.

Testing Times For The Textile Sector

2008-12-25T22:27:00.003+08:00

It is not just bankers and techies who are losing jobs during this financial crisis. WSJ has an article how the recession is impacting India's textile and garment export sector which is the backbone of the Tirupur - Coimbatore belt.

So far, most of the textile industry's job losses are among its least-skilled and lowest-paid workers at spinning mills, dyeing houses, and stitching and embroidery factories. Employees in such operations, mainly women, earn about $2 a day. It isn't unusual to spot child workers in such factories, although it's illegal to employ them.

....

That is evident in the small city of Tirupur, 37 miles from Coimbatore. Tirupur used to be a thriving center for the Indian garment trade, with almost 3,500 apparel makers. Locals call the city "little Japan" for its dependence on exports. Half of the garments made there are shipped to the U.S.

Now, trucks delivering raw cotton to Tirupur factories are half-empty, reflecting slumping orders. Workers who have had their shifts eliminated or shortened sit idly on the stoops of their garment plants. (Link)

TN Snippets

2008-12-25T07:16:00.001+08:00

Pushpa Iyengar of Outlook has come up with an interesting collection of snippets related to the state of affairs in TN (mostly political). Her round-up covers MK, Jaya, Vaiko, Vijayakanth, Marans, Azhagiri, Kanimozhi etc.

Chennai was a late bloomer on the real estate front and today is saddled with 50,000 potential flats down the Old Mahabalipuram Road alone being built by builders from Delhi/ Mumbai/ Bangalore that are in varying stages of construction. Nearly four million square feet of commercial space are going abegging while software companies are tightening their belts by withdrawing snacks, soft drinks, toilet paper, etc. But those who have flats to rent are still kings getting away with increasing rents anywhere from 40-100 per cent. (Link)

Watch Out For Mirror Blogs At OneIndia

2008-12-22T20:07:00.003+08:00

Indian internet firms are upto different dirty tricks and the recent one which struck my eye is OneIndia. It is mirroring various blogs including mine without the author's permission. They have an FAQ section which says that they are not stealing content. I don't know how they can mirror other blogs under the guise of attracting more traffic to the author's contribution.

Is Oneindia-Blogs stealing my content?

No, Oneindia-Blogs is not stealing your content. Oneindia is just giving an opportunity for the users to read your blog, email your blog to friends, comment and rate it, which in turn will help popularise your blog. Since your blog is listed in our URL, there is greater possibility of listing in the search engines, which will increase traffic to your blog. (Link)

What really upsets me is the fact that they have automatically included many blogs and the blogger needs to contact OneIndia to request for removal. The only dissenting voice which I have read so far is that of Shubhspace, who put up a fight with the folks at Greynium (One India). Why aren't other bloggers putting up an united front to stop this nuisance? We need more concerted efforts to stop them from doing this. This auto-inclusion concept is no different from some MNC Banks offering free insurance for credit card holders for an initial promo period and stating that uninterested customers should call the respective bank to opt-out.

Pongal - the latest addition to the freebie list

2008-12-22T15:45:00.000+08:00

The New Indian Express has a hard-hitting Op-Ed on the freebie culture in TN and how the government is concentrating on such gimmicks at the cost of real development.

Inadvertently the DMK will find the scheme drawing attention to its own shortcomings. For instance, the free TV scheme highlighted the deteriorating power situation in the state (many simply sold off their TVs); the cash assistance of Rs 2,000 to those affected by the recent floods showed up the government’s perennial lack of planning with regard to natural calamities; and the gift hamper is sure to remind voters of the terrible rise in prices of essential commodities during the reign of the UPA.

More importantly, however, is the culture of freebies that the people of Tamil Nadu are getting used to. It points to the government’s abdication of its duties in ensuring that the citizens are able to provide for themselves. Would the money not have been better spent in developmental projects which have long-term multiple benefits for the voters, individually and collectively? Such freebies exemplify the feudal mindset of Tamil Nadu’s rulers. It is against democratic norms, where each individual should have an equal opportunity to work and earn for himself. (Link)

Designer Bags For Hire

2008-12-19T00:32:00.005+08:00

We have heard of book rentals, video rentals and car rentals. Somebody went ahead and thought of a business that rents out bags to fashion-conscious women. The next time you wan't to be spotted in a Coach, Prada or a Louis Vitton, you should probably consider Thatbagiwant.com.sg, a recently launched luxury bag rental service in Singapore whose prices are cheaper than the real purchase but not really budget. I think the primary targets would be women who want to try out different brands and bags (flippers). Given the amount of fakes and lookalikes that are in circulation, one of the challenges the business might face is the need to check whether the returned bags are original.

At ThatBagIWant.com, you do not have to earn a 5-digit salary to carry the bag you desire. No, they are NOT your second-hand or imitation goods. In fact, all the bags are purchased from authentic boutiques themselves. So then you sceptically ask, “How come it is much cheaper?”

With the rental option, customers can rent often at half the cost of buying the bag, before moving on to another "it" bag.

Some women also use this service to check out a particular bag they're thinking about buying. (Link)

The interesting snippet here is that the bag rental business has been started by a former policeman who has personally witnessed lot of people shop lifting such bags from boutiques and retail stores.

Enthiran changes hands as credit crunch bites hard

2008-12-18T07:17:00.003+08:00

Big production houses have been putting pressure on directors and actors to cut costs and this has created ripples in Kollywood. Few days ago, it came to light that Reliance backed out of Maniratnam's project because of budget constraints. The latest news is that Superstar Rajini's Enthiran will now be produced by Sun Pictures instead of Ayngaran and Eros.

The market rumour is that Shankar and Karunamoorthy of AI has parted ways over the budget of Enthiren which was originally pegged at RS 120 crore. After the meltdown and global recession, the Kishore Lulla-owned Eros International which has a stake in AI, wanted Shankar to scale down the budget. (Link)

After the patch-up in MK's family, Sun Pictures is now making aggressive moves since it has the financial and political backing. If the tussle between MK and Maran's had continued, I doubt whether such a deal would have happened. With corporates slowly fading away from the Kollywood radar, expect more budget scale downs and reduction in star salaries.

In'toll'erable

2008-12-16T18:15:00.005+08:00

The toll plaza on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) seems to have started off on a negative note with complaints pouring in from various sections. It has also provided good photo opportunities to the photo journalists who seem to have had a day out capturing the long queues and the disgruntled passengers / commuters. As expected, lot of the complaints are from people who reside in that stretch where the Toll Road is located as they don't seem to have the necessary documentation to access their homes. If I remember correctly, very similar problems cropped up when the ECR Toll plaza was commissioned sometime back.

With every vehicle taking about 3-4 minutes to cross any of the five toll plazas located on and off Rajiv Gandhi Salai, vehicles lined up one behind another closely. Due to the slow movement at the main toll plaza in Perungudi, the traffic jam extended up to almost the TIDEL Park junction. Consequentially, several employees reported late for work.

Frayed tempers and heated arguments were also witnessed with many of users, particularly autorickshaw drivers, questioning why they should pay the toll. (Link)

With employees of companies located on the IT Corridor facing more hassles it is high time companies start thinking seriously about telecommuting. (Photo Courtesty: New Indian Express)

Fabulous news for 'Scrabulous' brothers

2008-12-16T17:54:00.001+08:00

Kolkata boys Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla of RJ Softwares can now heave a sigh of relief as Hasbro has dropped its case against the Agarwallas for copyright infringement. I think both sides have lost because of this battle. RJ Softwares launched Wordscraper (for Facebook) and renamed their website as Lexulous.com. I'm not sure whether the response for Wordscaper would have measured up to the popularity of Scrabulous. The Official Facebook version of Scrabble has also not managed to garner a substantial audience.

The Scrabulous site launched in 2005 and the game was added to Facebook in 2007. But a Hasbro representative told CNET News in July that the company waited, "in deference to the fans," to file its lawsuit until it launched its official Scrabble Facebook app earlier in July. That version was created by Electronic Arts and is used by a mere 8,900 daily users. (Link)

Caught in such a Lose-Lose situation, I think it was wise enough for Hasbro to withdraw the case.

An Elephant, Not A Tiger

2008-12-13T00:23:00.002+08:00

The word elephant is widely used by the Western media when talking about India and The Economist is no different. Their special feature on India has interesting reports on Inter-state disparities, state of the economy and the outlook for the Indian IT industry. I only hope they'll start thinking of new titles for their future stories on India.

As India’s economy grows rapidly, so will the regional disparities. Of 260 SEZs that have so far been fully approved, a big majority are in India’s richest states, including 42 in Tamil Nadu, 38 in Maharashtra and 23 in Gujarat. This trend will exacerbate Indians’ existing grievances and perhaps lead to more conflict. Managing this schism effectively would require enlightened and skilful government, of which India has too little and not much prospect of more. (Link)

Subhiksha Sails Through Choppy Waters

2008-12-09T21:20:00.004+08:00

Subhiksha, the retail venture of R Subramanian is facing a crisis of grave magnitude. The supermarket chain which has its roots in Chennai has grown too big, too fast in the last few years. While their model had several flaws (No frills / unattractive stores, frequent stock outs), their aggressive growth outside South India indicated that they were probably doing well. The deterioration in the equity markets put paid to Subhiksha's IPO plans. Poor sales and unavailability of easy credit might have resulted in a situation where Subhiksha is not able to pay employees, suppliers and landlords. The New Indian Express carried a cover story on Monday (8th Dec) explaining the situation. Another report in NowPublic has also mentioned similar complaints.

More than 700 employees of 97 stores run by Subhiksha, the supermarket chain in the city have not been paid their salaries for the last two months by the company, which has told them to pick up groceries from the stores in lieu of their pay packets.

However, with the shelves empty — all major suppliers of goods such as HLL have stopped supplies as the firm has defaulted on payments — the employees are in a state of panic. (Link)

Subhiksha has since denied the allegations.

I had tried Subhiksha during their initial days. Back then, the shops didn't allow the customers inside and one had to give a shopping list to the counter staff who would collect the stuff from the respective shelves. With such a concept there was no possibility of an impulse buy as Subhiksha didn't provide a shopping experience. They then tweaked this model to allow customers inside the shop. The shelves were pretty ordinary and one could notice that they had run out of stock for most of the key items. One had to visit other departmental stores to complete their shopping requirements. The only thing which drew people to Subhiksha was the aggressive pricing. They used the pricing power to enter the field of pharma retail. Their offer of 5% discount for pharma products met with strong resistance from the Pharma Distributors and Retailers Association which sensed that their trade will be affected if Subhiksha Medical shops were allowed to expand. Stock outs were another common phenomenon in the Pharma business as well. With so many problems, one could feel that Subhiksha was never among the top of the mind recall of the shoppers.

I could sense Subramanian's ambitions when I spotted him at the Giant Hypermarket in Tampines (Singapore) sometime in 2007. The shop was teeming with weekend shoppers when Subramanian was busy observing the behaviour of the shoppers in the different sections. He came across as unassuming and hardworking. Aggressive expansion, poor back-end infrastructure, improper demand forecasting together with extremely bad credit and equity markets have dented Subhiksha's growth plans.

This is not the first time Subhiksha has been at the receiving end. Even biggies like Reliance Retail are in retrenchment mode. The big question now is whether Subhiksha will fold up. Azim Premji, in his personal capacity, recently picked up a 10% stake in Subhiksha (the stake was acquired from ICICI Ventures). Shutting down unprofitable stores, laying off people and resolving the back-end problems would help them recover somewhat from the current crisis. The other option is to put them up for sale. Whatever be the outcome, Subhiksha has some serious rethinking to do.

Defending Her Turf

2008-12-04T23:27:00.003+08:00

After facing flak from different sections regarding the recent TV coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Barkha Dutt finally comes out with her point-by-point response to the various charges levelled against TV channels. While she admits gaps in the coverage especially with regard to the CST angle, she largely defends most of the other actions surrounding live coverage and reactions from affected people. I wish she had commented on things like the "exclusive footage" one-upmanship claims by the different channels at a time when the country was facing one of the worst crisis ever.

Actor Vishal starts blogging

2008-11-26T17:51:00.002+08:00

Not many from the Tamil film industry have attempted blogging and it is interesting to see a hero hitting the blogging trail. The only other Tamil film personality (that I can think of!) who attempted blogging and left it half-way is Director Ram of Katrathu Tamizh fame.

Action hero Vishal is the actor we are talking about here. The layout is quite trendy (Copied from Big B's blog?). The tab heading on the browser proclaims that it is Puratchi Thalapathi Vishal's official blog. I don't understand why actors still use such funny accolades and titles which don't have any real meaning.

Coming to the blog itself, there are a few posts containing a few lines each. They sound more like a longish SMS. They come across as a bit amateurish. After reading through the blog posts, one gets an impression that he might have either hired a ghost writer or used his PRO to update the blog. Here is a sample post:

Hai Everybody. It is a most unhappy day, the most popular villian of yester years Mr. M.N. Nambiar passed away yesterday. He was a vetran theater artist and a great cinema legend. Unlike his character in films which he potrayed he was a very humble and hardworking actor. He has worked with seven generation of actors. I think new actors like me cannot comment on his acting since he is a legent and a phoneix in acting. I am sad that i missed working with such a great person. I am sure the whole film industry is going to miss him a lot. (Link)

Let's watch his blog closely to see how it shapes up.

PM upset with DMK Ministers

2008-11-26T17:17:00.002+08:00

This is what happens when A Raja and T R Baalu spend majority of their time in Chennai.

Sources have told CNN-IBN that the Prime Minister is very upset with two Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) nominees - Minister of Communications and Information Technology A Raja and Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways TR Baalu.

Raja has been nicknamed the spectrum scam man by the opposition while Baalu is facing flak for not doing enough to build more roads.

But now the opposition's charge has got more teeth. CNN-IBN has learnt that Manmohan Singh himself is very upset with the working of his southern allies, particularly those responsible for infrastructure development. (Link)

Part of the blame should also lie with the PM himself. Instead of vetting Raja's credentials, the PM blindly accepted Raja as the Telecom Minister replacing Dayanidhi Maran just because the ministry was cornered by the DMK.

TN's Rahul Gandhi?

2008-11-26T16:33:00.001+08:00

Karti Chidambaram comes across more as a thug rather an educated politician who holds a lot of promise.

In Tamil Nadu, 'son-rises' and sycophancy go hand in hand. So it was no surprise that when Karti, son of Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, had his birthday, hangers-on had posters up in Chennai hailing him as TN's Rahul Gandhi. We don't know whether Karti took it as a compliment, but his political ambitions are certainly no secret. And like other babalog of his ilk, he's not short on fancy ideas. Sample this: "TN needs a new capital, like Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia." Pray why? Well, Chennai apparently is not a well-planned city. One wonders where Karti was when heritage building Admiralty House and others were demolished last year to make way for the new, monstrous Secretariat building? Coming back to TN's Rahul, the question vexing Chennaiites is, who'll be the state's Priyanka? Well, the DMK boys have no doubts: party chief Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi is "most suited for that honour". (via Outlook)

Credit Crunch Hits Kollywood

2008-11-23T01:10:00.003+08:00

It looks like heroes like Vijay and Ajith who act in formula movies to please their fan base need to be realistic in their salary expectations. With low-budget and offbeat movies like Subramaniapuram, Chennai 600028 and Saroja doing well in the box office, story value is slowly and surely getting more prominence over star value.

Following the poor show of blockbusters, Tamil film producers have asked stars to slash their rates by at least 60 percent, warning that they would have to otherwise think twice before launching new projects, officials in the Tamil film industry said.

The move comes within 10 days of entertainment major Pyramid Saimira saying it had deferred the production of Kamal Haasan starrer "Marmayogi" due to "liquidity constraints in the film industry".

Mani Ratnam may also have to slash the budget of his ongoing bilingual project by at least 40 percent.

Though the South Indian Artistes' Association refrained from comment over the development, two top stars have informed their producers that they would rather sit idle than slash their prices. (Link)

Kanimozhi and Seven Dwarfs

2008-11-23T00:59:00.001+08:00

New Indian Express has an interesting take on the inefficient people in the DMK camp

None of this can be good for Kanimozhi, who, if you’ve noticed, has been unable to live up to her responsibility as Mr Kalaignar’s pointsman in Delhi, as evidenced by her lack of handling of the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue and the 2G spectrum controversy.

It’s probably because she spends all her time in Chennai, rushing from one local function to the next, keeping her visibility high, and feeding her obscenely growing ambition. Unlike Snow White, however, she has enviable maternal support, and it looks as if more than her, it will be the residents of Tamil Nadu who will be biting the poisoned apple and slipping into coma, with no prince charming to rescue us in sight. (Link)

MK-Maran stand-off reaches a climax

2008-11-22T23:36:00.002+08:00

The war of words between Karunanidhi and the Marans has reached such a point that a break-up looks like the only option. The widening rift over the past one year just reaffirms that a truce between the two sides is simply not possible.

In an article in the party organ Murasoli on Friday, MK says that the Maran brothers betrayed him and his party and highlights issues like the Dinakaran polls, Sun TV share settlement, constant criticism of DMK govt. through SUN media and the damage done to the Anna Arivalayam premises which Sun Network occupied in the past. The full text of the Murasoli article has been published by Thina Thanthi.

As expected, Kalanithi Maran replies to MK's complaints and claims innocence. In the past, it was Dayanidhi Maran who responded to such allegations. Kalanithi Maran is usually recluse and has issued a press statement to clarify his stand rather than meeting the media. Even Dayanidhi's media interview was not shown on Sun TV's prime time news on Friday. The Hindu gives more space to MK's accusations and has provided limited coverage to Kalanithi's reply. This has made some believe that The Hindu is favouring MK.

MK has always sidelined people who grow in stature within his party and there have been many examples in the past. When Anna passed away, Neduncheziyan was sidelined and MK took over. More recently, Vaiko was ignored as he had become the No. 2 in the party. Dayanidhi Maran had grown in stature after becoming a Cabinet Minister and his frequent appearance in the media would have made MK believe that Dayanidhi might emerge as a possible successor to MK surpassing Stalin, Azhagiri and Kanimozhi.

Dayanidhi has realized that there is no future for him in DMK and has been carefully planning his moves. The recent blows dealt by the formation of Kalaignar TV and Arasu Cable TV have only renewed the Maran brothers' urge to move closer to political forces (be it DMK or others). Sun TV has been giving increased footage to opposition views (especially Vijayakanth) which is an indication that Dayanidhi Maran might want to partner with one of the opposition parties.

In a post-MK era, Dayanidhi might stick to the DMK only if Stalin emerges as the successor. This is because, Stalin is often seen as being close to the Marans. If Azhagiri takes over the mantle, Dayanidhi would have to join some opposition party or start a breakaway faction together with Stalin if he has serious plans of furthering his political career.

Kalanithi Maran is one of the richest persons in TN (need to revalidate this in the light of the recent plunge in Sun TV stock) and he will go to whatever extent to protect his business empire. To secure his position, Kalanithi needs Dayanidhi to be a force to reckon with in the political spectrum even if it means opposing their own grandfather. Expect more mud-slinging as Dayanidhi's ouster / resignation from the DMK is seen as the natural fallout of the current controversy.

(Photo Courtesy: Murasoli / New Indian Express)

Flying In A Private Jet To Beg For Money

2008-11-20T17:50:00.002+08:00

The US automobile industry is facing its biggest crisis ever and the head honchos of the Big 3 Auto makers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) are lobbying hard for a government bailout. The CEOs of these companies were in Washington DC recently to meet up with the government authorities. The 3 CEOs flew to Washington DC in their own private jets and this has attracted widespread criticism at a time when their companies are in dire need of cash. Critics say that the CEOs should have gone for commercial airlines or jet-pooling instead of flying in 3 different private jets from Detroit to Washington DC.

Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.

"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."

He added, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

When contacted by CNN, the three auto companies defended the CEOs' travel as standard procedure.

Like many other major corporations, all three have policies requiring their CEOs to travel in private jets for safety reasons.

"Making a big to-do about this when issues vital to the jobs of millions of Americans are being discussed in Washington is diverting attention away from a critical debate that will determine the future health of the auto industry and the American economy," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said in a statement. (Link)

Junior Vikatan on Saravana Bhavan case

2008-11-14T14:22:00.005+08:00

Follow up post on Saravana Bhavan Shivakumar's involvement in US Visa Fraud.

Junior Vikatan has a cover story on the same topic with lot of juicy info about the relationship between Shivakumar and his dad Annachi Rajagopal. It also highlights the irregularities going on in some of the overseas operations of Saravana Bhavan.

நம்மூரில் உணவு பரிமாறும் சர்வர்களுக்கு டிப்ஸ் கொடுப் போம். ஆனால், வெளிநாட்டு உணவகங்களில் அந்த டிப்ஸ், சர்வர் முதல் அடுப்படியில் இருக்கும் ஊழியர்வரை போய்ச் சேர்கிற மாதிரியாக ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கும். ஒவ்வொரு உணவகத்திலும் ஒரு பெட்டி இருக்கும். அதில் விருப்பப்பட்டவர்கள் தங்கள் டிப்ஸைப் போடலாம். இரவானதும் அதை உணவக ஊழியர்கள் பிரித்து எடுத்துக் கொள்வார்கள். இப்படித்தான் சிங்கப்பூர் சரவணபவன் கிளையிலும் நடந்து வந்தது. ஆனால், சிவகுமார் பொறுப்பேற்ற பிறகு, டிப்ஸ் பெட்டியைத் தன் வசப்படுத்திக் கொண்டார். அது நிர்வாகத்துக்கே சொந்தம் என்று சொல்லத் தொடங்கினார். இதனால் ஆத்திரமடைந்த ஊழியர் ஒருவர் சிவகுமாரை ஏக வசனத்தில் பேச, இருவருக்கும் கைகலப்பு ஏற்பட்டது. அது அந்த ஊர் போலீஸ் வரை போக, விவகாரம் சீரியஸானது. பிறகு அந்த ஊழியரின் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் பேசி, கணிசமான தொகை கொடுத்து ஏகப்பட்ட சலுகைகளையும் கொடுத்து சமாதானப்படுத்தினார் சிவகுமார். (விகடன் வழியாக)

A Successful Duo Part Ways

2008-11-14T11:44:00.005+08:00

The combination of Director Gautham Menon and Music Director Harris Jeyaraj produced some of the best music in recent times and it is sad to see them parting ways. Together with lyricist Thamarai, they made a mark in every film right from Minnale till the latest Vaaranam Aayiram. Kaaka Kaaka and Vettaiyadu Vilayadu were the other notable hits. Gautham Menon will be working with ARR in his next venture - Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam. A statement from Harris Jeyaraj confirms the break-up and says that there is no ill-feeling between them. Harris has established a permanent place in the Tamil Film Industry and is known to come up with amazing melody numbers film after film. The only accusation on HJ is that his songs are similar to his previous numbers. I believe HJ will not lose much as a result of this break-up.

I have a very good respect for Mr. Gowtham Menon and in return he has reciprocated the same. But now things have gone sour that it's better for us to part ways as good friends leaving behind some beautiful memories. With a heavy heart I have to take this decision on behalf of us. I know this might disappoint my fans, music lovers and well wishers in the industry. But it's best for us to leave it at this, since I always believed that to create soul stirring music, the bond between a music composer and the director is vital. Once it's lost, it is difficult to get back. (Link)

The Hindu adds:

According to industry insiders, Menon's domineering ways left Jayaraj exasperated in recent times. (Link)

Lost in Translation

2008-11-12T18:39:00.002+08:00

If not adopted properly, Hindi ads won't work in Tamil. This is the central theme of Gokul Krishnamurthy's interesting piece in Business Line. He cites examples of ads which have not connected with the audience because the message was literally translated to Tamil. On top of this, I have big issues with the kind of voices used to dub the Hindi ads into Tamil. One recent example was the ICICI Bank ad in which Shah Rukh appears to reassure people that the bank is safe. The voices used were really horrible.

Even the tagline ‘Ho toh BIG ho’ (If it has to be, it has to be big) has been unimaginatively translated as ‘Irundha BIG-ga irukkanum’.

Let’s look at a different category. Fanta’s orangy blast story was refreshingly told with Laga Kya earlier this year. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are said to be more inclined towards fruit-based flavours of soft drinks, making them strategically important markets for a brand such as Fanta. But when Laga Kya got translated into Tamil, the voiceover said: ‘Pattucha’.

Contextually, there are some ads, and smart lines conceived for the pan-India audience, which cannot make as much of an impact when translated into regional languages. When a Virgin Mobile’s ‘Think Hatke’ becomes a ‘Maathi Yosi’, it loses some of its impact, but is still a better effort at reaching those audiences than persisting with the Hindi tagline. When a Philips DVD player’s ‘Plays anything, almost anything’ becomes ‘Edhaiyum play seyyum, Kita thatta edhaiyum’, one wonders who should be prosecuted.

And then there’s the Samsung mobile commercial, which tries to ride on Don dialogue ‘Isko gayab karna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai’. Quite like Big TV’s ‘Mere paas maa hai’, this one too has been literally translated into ‘Idhai maraiya vaippadhu kashtam mattum alla, mudiyave mudiyadhu’. The line does get the message across. But what was the compulsion to use a literal translation? What is more important — sticking to the national TVC word-for-word or connecting with the audience with advertising they can relate to? (Link)

Saravana Bhavan involved in US visa fraud

2008-11-09T13:17:00.006+08:00

Unlike South East Asian countries, it's not easy obtaining visa to the West. R Sivakumar, son of Saravana Bhavan owner Annachi Rajagopal has been arrested in Chennai for submitting improper information for taking some staff to work in the US. I guess it's probably easy (in relative terms) to take chefs to foreign shores but it gets a bit difficult if they try to take waiters and other support staff.

R. Siva Kumar (40), one of the proprietors of Saravana Bhavan hotels, was taken into custody by the Crime Branch CID police here on Saturday night. He was accused of furnishing false information to obtain a U.S. visa for four persons.

According to CB-CID sources, Siva Kumar had tried to secure visa for four persons on the pretext of taking them to the U.S. on a fun trip. During interview at the U.S. Consulate, officials found that their profile did not match with what was actually provided. (Link)

Most of Saravana Bhavan's international expansion has been with the help of Hot Breads Mahadevan. I wonder whether Sivakumar consulted Mahadevan before trying out such tactics. With money power on their side, I won't be surprised if Sivakumar is relieved from this case pretty soon.

Update:

According to Times of India, the people involved in the visa fraud were cooks and were about to be taken to the US under the guise of attending an industrial expo.

The four men, he had claimed, were production executives proceeding to Chicago for an international industrial fair on packaging and processing. But US immigration officials found that they were supervisors employed in his restaurants at Chennai and UAE to help customers. According to police sources, Sivakumar claimed that the four were being taken abroad to help him purchase advanced packaging equipment.

Last Monday, the four met US Consulate officials for an interview. “During verification, Consulate officials found that the four employees had very little knowledge about catering machinery and that Sivakumar had falsely prepared documents and given them false designations only to get them into the US. Anthony K Ramirez, assistant regional security officer at the Consulate, lodged a complaint with the CB-CID seeking action,” a senior police officer said.

In his complaint, Ramirez said he suspected that Sivakumar had devised a plan to get them jobs in the US after getting them tourist visas and that he had devised a cover — delegates visiting an expo in Chicago — to clear the way. He said he suspected that Sivakumar was involved in human trafficking. (Link)

IBN Live has a video report on the same issue.

Follow-up post relating to Junior Vikatan Cover Story.

Power Cuts and Mega Serials

2008-11-07T20:49:00.003+08:00

At a time when students and industries are sufferring from the impact of the power cuts in TN, ToI captures the disappointment of TV viewers (mostly women) who are missing their daily dose of mega serials.

The impact is reflected in the TRP ratings. According to the latest overall TAM ratings (for the period October 26 to November 1), Sun, Kalaignar, Jaya and Raj TV channels have registered a marginal improvement over the previous week. Industry watchers, however, confirmed that daytime viewing of serials has been affected.

Although prime time viewership (between 6 pm and 10 pm) has remained unaffected, with serials like “Arasi’ and ‘Kolangal’ registering an increase in ratings, those aired in the mornings such as ‘Vasantham’ and ‘Athipookal’ on Sun TV have seen a dip in their ratings this week compared to last week.

Niche programmes like ‘Airtel Super Singer’ continue to be unaffected as well, but industry watchers conceded that there was an imbalance in the viewing pattern, not out of audience choice but due to force of circumstances. (Link)

On the topic of mega-serials, would we see a day when Sun TV stops screening Radhika serials and tries out a different concept in the prime time slot? The Star Plus - Balaji Telefilms spat shows that long running soaps would be shown the door one day.

If you are good at identifying Tamil TV celebs, do check out Blogeswari's quiz.

The Tiger Roars After Being Set Free

2008-11-07T12:35:00.001+08:00

(Pic Courtesy: ToI)

The battle of the e-papers'

2008-11-06T17:09:00.003+08:00

I have been reading the e-papers of the English dailies published from Chennai and here is a quick comparison between the different papers.

New Indian Express - No login required. Easy Navigation. Usually gets updated a bit later than the other dailies.

Deccan Chronicle - Login required. Easy Navigation. Probably the first e-paper to get updated in the morning. Users can choose to read their Hyderabad and Chennai editions.

Times of India - Usually the last one to get updated daily. Offers choice of different editions including Chennai. Economic Times Chennai edition is also available. Doesn't offer page preview of other pages. NIE and DC offer page preview of other pages.

The Hindu - The most boring news website one can ever come across. Although the website gets updated at about 1.30 am IST, their website hardly sees any action during the day except for some sparse news updates. The e-paper of The Hindu is a paid service and I often wonder who would sign-up for such a service. It's better to follow The Hindu by subscribing to RSS feeds. NIE and DC don't offer RSS feeds.

Even neighbourhood newspapers like Anna Nagar Times have hopped on to the e-paper bandwagon.

Tamil newspapers like Dinamani, Dinakaran, Dinamalar and Dinathanthi do offer their content in e-paper format. Instead of reading the Tamil e-paper, my preferred route is to catch up on Tamil news via Google News Tamil.

Although e-papers' give you the feeling of reading the real paper, it is more time consuming than browsing the headlines on a website. Because of this reason, it is difficult to say whether the e-paper format is finding favour with the audience.

Drawing Inspiration from Saravana Stores

2008-11-05T01:42:00.003+08:00

Outlook Business has a story on how Kishore Biyani of Future Group (formerly Pantaloon) is grooming the next generation in running the family business. What's interesting to note is the fact that a visit to Saravana Stores in Chennai is almost mandatory for all people who join Future Group in key roles.

Early next morning, the Future Group CEO, the three younger family members, all of whom joined the business over the past two years, and a bunch of about 20 other key Future Group executives are to catch a flight to Chennai. They are planning a ‘deep dive’ into the popular retail destinations in the city, including the dirty, bustling and prosperous Ranganathan Street in T Nagar. This is the old-world retail capital of Chennai, and still holds its own against the swanky malls that have sprung up in other parts of the city. The family is visibly excited about this trip, even though this is the last in a long series of deep dive programmes Biyani has done with his family and professional team. (Link)

I'm surprised Kishore Biyani continues the same training regime even after the recent fire incident at Saravana Stores which exposed the lack of basic infrastructure like emergency exits at the popular shop.

Sometime earlier this year, I read "It Happened In India" by Kishore Biyani and Dipayan Baishya. The book on the growth of Biyani and the Future Group didn't live up to the initial hype. I felt that the narration style was heavily borrowed from Sam Walton's "Made in America". Big Bazaar is not yet a business / retail icon on the lines of Walmart and the book should have presented a humbler story of the Future Group.

Here is an excerpt related to Saravana Stores from the book:

Saravana Stores is a twenty-five year old, family-run store located in the heart of Chennai and has a very simple philosophy to run its business - low margin, high turnover. Covering five floors and a basement, it stocks everything from appliances and groceries, to clothes, jewellery, toys and eyeglasses. Its textile and garment section too has everything from Kanchipuram silks to bed sheets and there is a vessel section that has loads of steel utensils. There is a separate block for fast food, where delicacies include idlis, pooris, parottas, soft drinks and ice creams. These are as popular as the special laddus and the Mysore pauk on offer. Located somewhat close to the railway terminus, one can see hordes of people getting in and coming out with shopping bags at any time of the day and any time of the year. It has around a hundred and twenty people just to manage the crowds but one doesn't get the best customer experience in the store. To many, Saravana may be a shopper's nightmare, but there are lot of customers who just love it and approve of it with their frequent footfalls. I would estimate that this single shop must be doing more than Rs. 200 crore worth business each year.

Will Rebranding of Jobs Work?

2008-11-03T22:39:00.001+08:00

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister thinks he can win over the support of the Indian community by giving jazzier job titles.

Ethnic Indian barbers will be called hairstylists and cooks will be referred to as chefs from now on, as part of a “better deal” that would include more jobs, nationalisation of Tamil schools, and regularisation of the stateless, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister and premier-elect Najib Tun Razak has said.

MIC’s long-time president and Razak’s former ministerial colleague S Samy Vellu was present at the function.

“MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu has asked me to no longer refer to those cutting hair as barbers but as hairstylists. Likewise, Indian cooks will be referred to as chefs,” he said. (Link)

Kuruvis in the limelight

2008-11-02T14:28:00.006+08:00

The Kuruvi (hand- carrier) menace at Singapore's Changi Airport has made it to The Straits Times. In an article in its Sunday edition, the newspaper highlights the growing problem. Usually there will be a bunch of 5 - 10 kuruvis hanging around check-in counters of airlines not having luggage restrictions. Even full-service premium carriers like Jet Airways and Singapore Airlines are not spared. The primary target of these kuruvis is a single male traveller (mostly Indian workers) with limited luggage. They spot such travellers at a distance and approach them with their request. Just outside the check-in counters there will be multiple trolleys full of LCD TVs, Plasma TVs, Hi-Fi systems and musical keyboards. The average kuruvi is a middle-aged male (maybe pot-bellied) and his shirt is usually not tucked in. This may amount to stereotyping, but this profiling holds good for majority of such touts.

Mostly male Indian nationals from Tamil Nadu, these touts are known to accost Chennai-bound Air India passengers with light baggage.

They offer money if the passenger agrees to check in items such as rice cookers and large Sony Bravia and Samsung LCD television sets.

Passengers are paid $7 per kg, which works out to about $140 for a 32-inch TV set and $40 for a rice cooker.

When The Sunday Times visited the airport last Friday evening, we spotted at least six men touting outside Row 6 and Row 10 in Terminal 1, the check-in counters for Air India and Air India Express flights.

Business seemed brisk. More than 10 people holding air tickets were seen carting the TV sets to the check-in counters.

The touts, mostly in their 30s to 40s, tend to target male travellers. According to observers, they turn up at the check-in counters every morning and evening when flights to Chennai depart.

They arrive with airport trolleys stacked with boxes of the items, which they park at one side while they scout for passengers. (Link)

Just before the Diwali weekend, I was at the Jet Airways check-in counter and spotted the kuruvis approaching few educated young men. The passengers refused to carry the luggage. Few other workers accepted the offer and were promised Rs. 1500 upon arrival at Chennai airport. The kuruvis then made some distinctive marks on the packages so that their counterparts can identify the luggage upon arrival in Chennai. Jet Airways is the only India-bound carrier flying from the shining new Terminal 3 which started operations this Jan. The presence of such kuruvis is an eyesore to the new terminal. Once the check-in process was over, the Kuruvis took back their unshipped goods with them. Maybe, it was check-in time for another Chennai-bound flight. (All pics courtesy: The Sunday Times).

First Family of TN Politics

2008-11-02T12:23:00.002+08:00

Good Sunday read from the The Sunday Express to be read together with MK's family tree.

Sun Pictures vies for Marmayogi production rights

2008-11-02T10:08:00.001+08:00

It has been reported in some sections of the media that Kamal's Marmayogi might change hands from Pyramid Saimira to Sun Pictures. This doesn't come as a big surprise given the recent developments surrounding Sun Pictures and Pyramid Saimira.

Over two weeks after Expresso reported that Pyramid Saimira is likely to pull out of its project with Kamal Haasan, the period movie Marmayogi, it seems confirmed now, that the race is on for other producers to take over the movie. Sun Pictures, which has entered the production scene with a bang with Kadhalil Vizhundhen, has confirmed now that they are looking at a proposal to produce the movie. (Link)

Pyramid Saimira is not in the best of financial health after the disappointing performance of Kuselan. Further, Saimira's foray into the North Indian market has not paid off well. They recently closed their North Indian operations. Pyramid Saimira has also shown aggressiveness in entering unchartered territories like the Chinese market where they have very little ground presence and local knowledge. It was widely speculated that Saimira would face difficulties making a commercial success out of such a mega budget movie like Marmayogi which is said to cost upwards of Rs. 100 crores.

Contrastingly, Sun Pictures has made a killing out of Kadhalil Vizhunthen. The low budget movie was promoted aggressively through various forms of media owned by Sun TV and hence the hype ensured that the movie had a good opening. In addition to this, Sun's business model is undergoing a change ever since the balance of power shifted in favour of Kalaignar TV. The rights of all new big budget movies (especially the ones produced by Pyramid Saimira) were going the way of Kalaignar TV. This prompted Sun TV to do backward integration and enter the world of film production. This will ensure that they have a steady pipeline of movies which can be screened in future even if they meet with limited success in bagging the television rights of other popular movies.

Espousing the Tamil cause

2008-11-02T09:34:00.001+08:00

Aditya Sinha of The New Indian Express argues that MK is able to hold forte on the Lankan Tamil issue only because there is no visible successor in place. He also draws parallel between the attack against North Indians in Mumbai and the attack against innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Karunanidhi seems to have had his cake and eat it too. He gets away with his hypocrisy and remains the ‘champion’ of Tamil Eelam, simply because there is nobody to inherit his mantle. If Karunanidhi had roared against the attacks against Biharis, would Raj or Uddhav have had the temerity to tell him to mind his own business, the way they did to Laloo or chief minister Nitish Kumar? Probably not. Of course, Mr Kalaignar takes his alpha-male role too seriously.

But Karunanidhi seems to have had his cake and eat it too. He gets away with his hypocrisy and remains the “champion” of Tamil Eelam, simply because there is nobody else to inherit his mantle (sons Stalin and Azhagiri are no patch on Raj and Uddhav, so Chennai’s Biharis need not worry). After him, there will be a real crisis of leadership in opposition to Jayalalithaa. If Vaiko or Ramadoss were capable of the top job, they would have somehow got it by now; if they have not, they will never. Vijaykanth does not seem to have any depth, relying for advice on the discards from other parties. He seems like nothing more than a popular face. Plus, he has no neck. (Link)

How The Wealthy Cope With A Downturn?

2008-10-31T20:14:00.005+08:00

Tabla! is a newly launched free weekly paper in a tabloid format and it reaches out to the growing Indian (expat) community in Singapore. Run by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Tabla! is a welcome addition to the Singapore media space. The latest issue has a cover story capturing the agony an Indian American family is going through in the US as a result of the global financial turmoil. A closer read reveals that the article is a syndicated news item from LA Times.

For months, Mona has anxiously awaited daily calls from her husband while he is at work. They live in Edison, a comfortable suburb in central New Jersey and a 90-minute commute by train from her husband's office in Manhattan.

For the last two years, Amar, 36, has run a technology unit in the capital markets division for Lehman Bros. until it went bankrupt and was bought in part by Barclays. He's still there, adjusting with the change in management. His salary at Lehman's was $400,000, including a bonus and restricted stock options. Amar's base salary, about $200,000, remains the same, but there are no reports yet on what will happen to 2008 bonuses and options. (Link)

While the problems highlighted in the article are real, I'm not sure whether the case would find sympathy with the larger audience at a time when even people not related to the banking industry are suffering the pain in the form of retrenchments, investment losses etc. Most reactions would be similar to what Finally Frugal says in his blog:

Truly, though, I don't think I can stand to read too many more articles about Wall Street wives (or employees, or whatever) who were making upwards of $200,000 and more a year, who are now forced to (gasp!) clean their own houses and make their own meals. (Link)

Spell Checker on a Deepavali Break

2008-10-27T23:36:00.004+08:00

Too many typos in a front page article that appeared in The New Indian Express today. Expand image to view the full article.

Diwali Dampener?

2008-10-25T22:55:00.003+08:00

With only a handful of Tamil movies releasing this weekend, this Deepavali could turn out to be one of the dullest year for movie fans. You do have Ajith’s Aegan, but there is hardly any competition to the Thala movie. Hari’s Seval is mostly targetted at B & C centres and can only catch on through word of mouth if the reviews are good.

ToI has rightly pointed out that box office fight has actually spilled over to the TV space with Sun TV and Kalaignar TV upping the ante by offering new movies.

Diwali has become a metaphor for big movies. The hype and hoopla surrounding it has to be seen to be believed. Whether it is the star cast, music or just the filmmakers, there is a tremendous buzz about Diwali releases. The fans and trade, to a certain extent, believe that a release during the festival of lights will determine the star power of a hero when he is pitted against other stars.

However, sadly this year, Gautham Menon’s magnum opus with Surya — Vaaranam Aayiram, Madhavan’s comedy Guru En Aalu, Prakash Raj’s Abhiyum Naanum and Silambarasan’s Silambattam have been postponed at the last minute due to various reasons.

To a certain extent, Diwali has lost its lustre due to the invasion of satellite channels. This Diwali, Tamil television channels are beaming super hit films. The market leader, Sun TV, is premiering Rajinikanth’s all time big 2005 blockbuster Chandramukhi while arch-rival Kalaignar TV is going to telecast Ajith’s all time big super hit Billa, released last December!

The trade is worried as they feel the real Diwali battle is on television and not in theatres. Rains all over Tamil Nadu and particularly in Chennai and surrounding areas ahead of the festival are also a worrying factor.

I was under the impression that cable channels can’t telecast movies released within the last 2 years. Maybe the rule might have undergone a change after the entry of Kalaignar TV.

Vaaranam Aayiram holds lot of promise and its music has already made a mark. The movie also made news in the last couple of days after it was announced that MK Azhagiri’s son Durai Dayanidhi has purchased the distribution rights for the movie. This follows the entry of MK Stalin’s son Udayanidhi into film production. Durai Dayanidhi’s film company is called 'Cloud Nine' while Udayanidhi’s production company goes by the name of 'Red Giant Movies'. It looks like their affinity to Tamil is only used to garner votes but not displayed in their own business initiatives.

Sad State of Tamil Lyrics

2008-10-24T22:58:00.002+08:00

It is quite fashionable to put lot of catchy English words (Shankar style) in Tamil songs. This has now gone to an extent where one has to search for the Tamil words in such English songs. Sample this song from the movie Rendu:

Mobila Mobila

நான் உந்தன் post paida pre-paida சொல் சொல்

நெஞ்சுக்குள்ளே கேட்குதே நம் காதல் ringtonea

காதுக்குள்ளே பேசுதே உன் பேச்சு voicemaila

என் குட்டி இதயம் தவிக்கும்

என் பிஞ்சு விரலும் துடிக்கும்

உன் numberukku phone பண்ணுதே

phone பண்ணா

Subscriber cannot be reached at the moment

There will be a day when the TN govt. will have to give tax incentives to promote Tamil lyrics. Till such time, the promise of Tamil preservation will be just an eye-wash.

Deccan Chargers up for sale

2008-10-21T14:04:00.004+08:00

Deccan Chronicle, the majority owner of IPL Team Deccan Chargers has decided to exit the space and sell the team to a new owner. Deccan Chargers was on the wrong side of the action during the IPL and this might have made Deccan Chronicle rethink its strategy regarding IPL. Although Deccan Chargers had a prolific line-up including Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist, the team failed to deliver the odds. The team also had problems at the top and VVS Laxman has since been replaced by Adam Gilchrist.

WorldSpace Goes Bust

2008-10-20T17:31:00.008+08:00

WorldSpace Inc., a pioneer in the field of Satellite Radio has filed for bankruptcy. WorldSpace carved a name for itself providing quality music devoid of commercials. It targetted a premium audience and charged an annual subscription fee. Listeners also had to buy a compatible radio set to enjoy their programmes. The Carnatic music channel offered by WorldSpace was quite popular as there were no other competing offerings in Radio (FM etc) in this niche space. KL Radio, a Tamil channel from the stable of Dinamalar, was also available on WorldSpace. WorldSpace also caught the attention of the public by roping in ARR as their brand ambassador. ARR’s signature tune brought instant recognition to WorldSpace.

Digital satellite radio broadcasting company, WorldSpace Inc, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a court after failing to obtain new financing.

WorldSpace is present in over 130 countries worldwide. It launched its India services in 2000 with over 35 free-to-air channels. In 2002, it converted a few of its channels to pay and went completely pay in 2004.

As at the end 2007, it had a customer base of over 1.6 lakh in India — over 93 per cent of its world-wide subscriber base.

It beams over 45 channels in India, most of which are branded ‘WorldSpace’ though a few are owned and operated by other players such as BBC, CNN, AIR and KL Radio. (Source: The Hindu Business Line)

From the beginning, I had my own reservations about the viability of a paid subscription model for commercial radio broadcasts in India. The hardware requirement was another drawback. In a market where FM channels reign supreme and where the FM feature is ubiquitous in mobile phones and car stereos, WorldSpace should have known that the writing was on the wall.

Introducing Side Middle Berths

2008-10-19T13:22:00.003+08:00

Stupid idea which augments Railways revenue at the cost of passenger comfort.

(Photo Courtesy: Times of India)

Prison Diaries – The other side of Dr. Prakash

2008-10-19T12:46:00.006+08:00

Dr. Prakash, the doctor from Chennai who is serving a life sentence for his involvement in online pornography is back in the news again. He is apparently churning out bestsellers sitting behind bars.

A convict sentenced to life imprisonment is causing a stir in Tamil publishing circles. Dr L. Prakash, an orthopaedic surgeon sentenced for, among other counts, Internet pornography, has spent the last seven years in prison churning out 80 books on every subject under the earth— thrillers, prison diaries, Vedic wisdom, the Mahabharata, short stories, self-improvement. His publisher claims his prison diary alone—Other Side of the Prison Bars—has sold 1.4 lakh copies in Tamil translation. But the biggest triumph for the doctor: his publisher claims Playboy has accepted his short story! (Source: Outlook).

At the height of the investigation, Dr. Prakash was the hottest topic in town with the Tamil crime magazines devoting lengthy columns about the case. Even comedian Vivek poked fun at him in some of the comedy sequences.

From Sathya Sai Nagar to Thalai Nagar

2008-10-18T23:17:00.003+08:00

(Pic Courtesy: New Indian Express)

Datuk Ilayathalapathi and Datuk Thala

2008-10-15T17:22:00.003+08:00

When Shah Rukh Khan can be knighted with the title Datuk by the Malaysian State of Malacca for promoting Malaysia in his films, Billa Ajith and Kuruvi Vijay should also queue up for their Datuk titles.

And the Booker goes to

2008-10-15T16:04:00.005+08:00

Ever since the Booker nominations came out, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger was mentioned as the dark horse in the race. Amitav Ghosh was among the front runners for the prize but Aravind Adiga came out on top eventually. Indian writers winning international book awards are becoming more common. What is more commendable is that this is Aravind Adiga’s first book. With the Indian publishing industry growing drastically, awards like these would bring more cheer.

The shortlist itself propels the books from relative obscurity to prominence. Before the shortlist,The White Tiger managed to sell only a few thousand copies.

I did read the book much before the shortlist was out. The story revolves around a guy from rural India coming to work as a driver in the city. It also covers his observations on city life, rich-poor divide, high society and how he eventually strikes out on his own. Although I found the story to be different, I wouldn’t term it as outstanding.

Beemers for home buyers

2008-10-10T08:44:00.001+08:00

Jaypee Sun Court, an ultra-luxury residential project near Noida is being promoted in an unique way. Buyers will get a BMW 320i car with the purchase of each apartment. Each apartment is priced around Rs. 3 Crores and the estimated price of a BMW 320i is Rs. 30 lakhs.

One would think that a direct cash discount (of say 10%) would matter more to buyers than a free car. Furthermore, most buyers of the multi crore apartments would already own some top-end car model. From a developer’s perspective, offering a car creates much more noise than offering a cash discount.

As the property market absorbs global shocks, expect developers to offload unsold apartments at steep discounts. Some of the developers might also offer to absorb charges like stamp duties and registration fees. We have seen such a situation back in 2002 and I’m sure it’s going to be repeated all over again.

Favourite eating joints in Chennai

2008-10-10T08:34:00.000+08:00

Popular cookbook author Mallika Badrinath lists her favourite eat outs in Chennai. Usual suspects like Grand Sweets and Ratna Café do make it to the list. Long established outlets like Agarwal Bhavan (famous for its yummy lassis!) also find a place.

One has to say that places like Agarwal Bhavan and Ramakrishna Lunch Home are slowly fading away from public memory as they have not kept up with the times.

What is your favourite eating joint?

Market Mayhem Takes Its Toll

2008-10-08T12:54:00.008+08:00

Most of you would have read about the gruesome murder-suicide in an Indian-American family in Los Angeles.

In a suicide note, Karthik Rajaram wrote that he had considered killing only himself because of his financial troubles, but decided to take his family with him.

Mr. Rajaram, 45, shot his wife, three sons and mother-in-law in their bedrooms over the weekend, the police said, then shot himself.

Indira Parthasarathy, 72, who was friends with Mr. Rajaram’s wife, Subasri, 39, and her mother, Indra Ramasehan, 69, said the couple’s three sons were standout students. Two of them, Ganesha, 12, and Arjuna, 7, attended schools near their home, and the eldest, Krishna, 19, was in his second year at the University of California, Los Angeles, taking business and economics classes.(Link)

When I forwarded this news article to few people yesterday, little did I realize that my parents would come back with their own connection with the grief-stricken family. It has emerged that Karthik Rajaram’s father and Subasri’s father worked for the same Public Sector Bank where my parents worked. Their dad’s held senior positions in the bank and are now retired. Subasri’s dad had returned back from the US only recently.

Financial distress is leading to many such murder-suicides in well-off educated families. Not too long ago, a British millionaire also took a similar approach and killed his wife and daughter.

Let’s hope that people will behave more responsibly instead of resorting to such drastic measures that ruin an entire family.

On the Comeback Trail

2008-10-08T11:53:00.003+08:00

After more than 18 months of inactivity, this blog is being revived. It doesn't matter if an obituary has already been written. A big hi! to all those who are still subscribed to this blog using the feed readers.

Madhushree is the new Udit Narayan

2007-03-05T15:59:00.000+08:00

The same Madhushree who gave us mesmerizing melodies like Mayilirage (Anbe Aaruyire) has taken on the task of butchering the Thamizh language. By doing so, Madhushree has replaced the void created by Udit Narayan (remember Kadhal Pisase from the movie Run?) who doesn’t seem to be singing that many Tamil songs these days.

Most of the recent releases have atleast one song by Madhushree and almost all these songs have some mistake or the other.

1. Unakkul Naane from the movie Pachakili Muthucharam (MD: Harris Jeyaraj)

Keerthi has done an elaborate post on this. The word uLLam has been sung as ullam. This is not the first time some non-Tamil speaker is messing up with the same word. It also happened with Sunidhi Chauhan in the film Vallavan.

2. Oru Kalavani Payale Nee from the movie Lee (MD: D Imman)

Like the previous song, Madhushree has messed up the opening line in this too. If you listen to the entire song, you can spot many more gaffes.

களவானி has been sung as கலவானி

3. Perunthil Nee Enakku from the movie Pori (MD: Dhina)

This song has some interesting lyrics and is a captivating melody. It is being featured repeatedly in all the countdowns and those who watch Sun Music will get to see it atleast once every hour. It’s really sad to see such a good song being butchered by Madhushree’s Tamil.

ஆலில்லா நள்ளிரவில்

தினமும் காலையில் எனது வாசலில் இருக்கும் நாலிதல் நீதானே

A line which talks of the hero admiring the mistakes in the heroine’s poetry has been sung with a mistake. One wonders whether they planned it in advance J

எழுதும் கவிதையில் எழுத்துப் பிழைகலை ரசிக்கும் வாசகன் நீதானே

I urge Maruthuvar Ramadoss to give up his protest against Reliance and other retail behemoths and start focussing on chasing the damagers out of the TFM industry. The PMK founder has proved that a Tamil channel (Makkal Tholaikaatchi) can be run with people speaking fluent Tamil and not the popular FM Tamil. Makkal Tholaikaatchi is also using the services of noted Tamil scholar Ma Nannan (some of you might have seen him on Doordarshan in the past) to teach Tamil to the staff and comperes. If these singers are not able to speak fluent Tamil (even some native Tamil singers will fall under this category) they can be forced to get a clearance from Ma Nannan before singing in movies.

Getting trained to wear the saree

2007-03-03T13:00:00.000+08:00

The Overseas Women Club in Chennai seems to be an active community with lot of activities being planned from time to time. Their latest event is a training session where the expat women are learning the basis of wearing a saree. They could also get some help from Ilayathalapathi Vijay :-)

Indiaplaza Price Challenge Revisited

2007-03-03T12:14:00.000+08:00

I had blogged about the Indiaplaza Price Challenge a while back. It looks like Indiaplaza was really serious about the whole thing. Blogger Bala has won cumulative prizes worth Rs. 22000 (via). He might probably spend more time deciding the books to be purchased than the time he spent on spotting the price differential. Although I spotted price differentials of more than Rs. 1000 on a few occasions, Indiaplaza has just sent me two gift coupons worth Rs. 250. I’m surprised that the maximum gift certificate was only Rs. 300 (which works to a price difference of Rs. 150). Something tells me that Indiaplaza might have capped the gift certificate at Rs. 300; eventhough people might have spotted bigger price differences.

So much fuss over a Mookuthi

2007-02-27T17:36:00.000+08:00

We have read many stories about European universities banning religious headgear (like turbans), but this is the first time I’m coming across a story where an educational institution has opposed the wearing of a Mookuthi (nose-stud).

A South African school student of Indian descent has been waging a legal battle with her school (Link in Tamil) in order to uphold her right to wear the mookuthi. The school didn't allow the mookuthi as it was not permitted under the school's code of conduct.

A young Tamil-origin woman in South Africa is sticking to her contention that wearing of a nose stud is a time-honoured tradition and that it’s her constitutional right to do so.

Pillay stood her ground since 2004 when the school demanded that she stop wearing the nose ring. But her mother, Navi Pillay, contended from the start that wearing of a nose stud was a right for passage for adolescent girls whose lineage can be traced to south India. The school, however, banned the girl from wearing the nose stud and the Pillay family took the case to the Durban High Court, which ruled in favour of the school. [Link]

Let’s hope Sunali Pillay succeeds in her battle and the school appreciates and understands the feelings of people from different cultures and religions.

An Early Bird

2007-02-27T11:50:00.000+08:00

An absent-minded passenger seems to have flown Air Sahara one week ahead of his scheduled departure date and this discrepancy has not caught the eyes of the airport authorities and the airline officials. (via)

Mr Srinivas told the BBC it all began with his getting the date wrong.

"I had fixed a meeting in Kochi on 18 February. My tickets were booked accordingly. But somehow I thought I was leaving a week earlier on 11 February."

No one at Delhi airport picked up his error.

"The security at the airport entrance looked at my e-ticket and waved me in. Another security man looked at it too," Mr Srinivas says. [Link]

The poor guy might have ended paying one more time for his travel (flight tickets) as per his original schedule. The only other option for him would have been to stay back in Kochi for one week.

Q&A with TR

2007-02-26T17:05:00.000+08:00

Gabtun Vijayakanth and Vijaya T Rajender are favourite topics for people making fun of Kollywood. Any news / videos concerning these people are interesting subjects which can be instantly turned into blog posts. This video on Kumudam.com (registration required) also falls under the same category. Kumudam has a 7-part interview with TR in which TR talks at length about his film career, political ambitions, hunger to succeed and also about Simbhu.

TR says that he can only provide direction to Simbhu and it is the Little Super star who has to take the final decision. TR’s natural voice is quite loud, so please listen to the interview at a moderate volume level :-)

A Boon for Tamil and Hindi Music lovers

2007-02-25T13:56:00.000+08:00

S Anand has developed a search tool which combines the information available in Music India and Raaga and delivers the results in a single page. The tool also accommodates intelligent search which throws up the search result even if you spell the query slightly differently. Do check out the Tamil and Hindi search tool and also read the story behind the development of this tool.

A Demanding Job

2007-02-23T10:58:00.000+08:00

An extract from an ad on a popular Indian job site:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Although it might sound like position on the shop floor, it is actually for a Director in an ITES company.

Sun TV runs out of ideas

2007-02-22T23:01:00.000+08:00

Sun TV seems to be running low on creativity and is making all out efforts to ape other channels. On the other hand, Vijay TV has been making some rapid strides in non-fiction programming whereas Sun TV has been sticking religiously to mega-serials. Sun TV has shamelessly copied the popular Kalakka Povathu Yaru (Tamil version of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge) from Vijay TV and repackaged it as Asatha Povathu Yaaru. Sun TV has even poached the same artistes from the Vijay TV Show and roped in one of the judges (Madan Bob) from the original show. Right from the costume to the set design, everything looks very similar. I haven’t watched the new show and can’t comment on the content as of now. Going by the promos, I can tell you that the Sun show will be very similar to the original show.

This is not the first time Sun TV is showing its high-handedness. When Vijay’s Jodi No. 1 had just concluded, there were reports that Sun TV is putting pressure on the serial producers to remove Jodi No. 1 winners (Prem and Pooja) from Sun TV mega-serials. Let’s see who has the last laugh.

Sun Network moves closer to The Hindu

2007-02-21T23:24:00.000+08:00

The close relationship between Sun Network and The Hindu is widely known. If rumour mills are to be believed, Sun Network is eyeing a stake in The Hindu (an unlisted entity). It’s not very clear whether The Hindu is actively scouting for investments. As fas as I know, The Hindu doesn’t have any immediate plans of tapping the equity markets either.

Media circles are abuzz that influential representatives of the Maran family have already sent feelers to Editor-in-Chief N. Ram for a stake-sale in The Hindu. (For the record, Sun is flush with money. Its scrip issued at Rs 875 through the book-building process is now hovering around the Rs 1,700 mark.)

Well placed sources say Sun’s initial overtures have been grandly rebuffed by the family owned newspaper. But given the manner in which the group muscled its way into the cable TV market with Sumangali, and the impunity with which it used Dayanidhi Maran’s position as Union Information Technology minister to obstruct the Tata DTH project (because the Tatas refused to give a stake to Sun), observers say the last word on the subject has not been said. [Link]

Although this can be dismissed as a rumour, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be true.

Singapore pulls up Indian MBA grad for fudging CV

2007-02-21T18:08:00.000+08:00

We usually hear such stories at the junior level, but it is not very common to come across such fudging at the senior levels. The only incident that I can recollect is the case of Radioshack where the CEO David Edmondson had lied about his college degrees.

An Indian national who lied several times about having a degree from a top US university was let off with a 6,000-Singapore-dollar (3,870-US-dollar) fine, news reports said Saturday. Mahesh Narayan, the managing director of a consultancy firm, originally faced up to five years in jail and a 20,000-Singapore-dollar (12,903-US-dollar) fine.

Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, representing Narayan in district court on Friday, said he had been hired for his work experience and not his degree, The Straits Times said. [Link]

Mahesh Narayan has an MBA from Osmania Unversity, but he apparently told the Ministry of Manpower (during the Employment Pass Application process) that he holds an MBA from Syracuse University. Since Mahesh now runs his own consultancy firm, he does not face as much public scrutiny like the CEO of a public company and hence there wouldn’t be any pressure on him to step down from the helm.

Comments are closed. You can email me at sambhar[.]mafia[@]gmail[.]com to share your thoughts.

Flying High with Public Money

2007-02-16T02:38:00.000+08:00

Not so long ago, Sun TV tapped the equity market and the issue received an overwhelming response. The IPO catapulted Kalanidhi Maran into the Forbes Billionaires list as he owns about 90% of the listed entity. At the time of the IPO, Sun TV had declared that they are planning to raise Rs. 700 – 800 crores. The objective of the IPO was explained in the Red Herring Prospectus.

The issue proceeds will be used to beef up Sun's subsidiaries, launch more TV channels, construct its own corporate office, set up studio facilities and up-linking infrastructure, purchase new equipment and upgrade the existing ones.

Sun TV estimates that its plan to launch three regional channels would entail an investment of Rs 113.68 crore; the new office and studio facilities would need Rs 62.3 crore and the new equipment/up-gradation would cost Rs 31.26 crore. [Link]

When I read the news about the acquisition of a corporate jet by Kalanidhi Maran, I was under the impression that he is buying the aircrafts in his personal capacity. However, it has come to light that the aircraft is being bought by Sun TV Limited and will be used by Sun TV’s top management for business purposes.

Regional broadcaster Sun TV will join the elite club of corporates, which own private jets, when it imports two Bombardier aircraft at a cost of Rs 236.94 crore to fly senior executives and directors.

The company, promoted by Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran's brother Kalanithi Maran, would join the select club of corporates who own private jets. [Link]

During the IPO, the management had given investment plans for about Rs. 200 crores. Now, they are going to spend Rs. 237 crores towards purchase of corporate jets. From a cursory glance, it shows that the aircraft investment plan was not mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus. Sun TV can always take refuge under the fact that their board approved this investment and it is purely for business purposes. From an investor’s perspective, one would definitely feel cheated if a company raises public funds and channelizes that to fund aircraft purchase for its senior management. For a business empire which is largely focussed on South India, one wonders whether it is worth spending more than one year’s profit (Profit After Tax for year ending 31^st Mar 2006 stood at Rs. 130 Crores) on private jets. If there is a genuine need to acquire such aircraft, they should have mentioned the same in the offer document. The prospectus is anyway up for public scrutiny and the investing public can decide whether it is really worth investing in such a company.

Given the political clout the family commands, don’t expect the business press to raise such issues in the public domain.

Kili Josiyar comes to Trisha's rescue

2007-02-15T08:34:00.000+08:00

(Image Courtesy: Sify)

Will I continue to be No. 1 in the Telugu film industry?

Will Mallu actresses continue to rule Kollywood?

Will I get more offers to do national level ads?

Will my salary touch the Rs. 1 crore mark?

Will my mom grab more attention than me in public functions?

Moto Blogging

2007-02-14T16:03:00.000+08:00

In the Indian context, corporate blogging is yet to pick up steam. At the moment we have people like Basab Pradhan and Nandan Nilekani (occasionally) blogging about their companies and their industry segment. The blogging efforts of Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Motorola have not really been noticed by the Indian blogosphere. Padmasree is one of the highest ranked Indian executives globally and she has been blogging silently over the last few months. Her thoughts on telecom and technology would definitely be of interest to a large segment of the readers.

Chennai on Yahoo! Our City

2007-02-13T19:33:00.000+08:00

On the lines of the recently launched Bangalore and Delhi editions, Yahoo has launched city specific pages for Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The Bangalore and the Delhi mastheads contain some of the landmarks in the respective city. I guess the same concept will be extended to the 4 new cities as well. There is a lot more they can do with this platform (I know that this is a BETA launch). Their local blog page (including the Delicious links) is not too impressive. Like other cities, they have given links to the local Metblog. The Tamil page includes Tamil blogs and contains links to Thenkoodu and Desipundit Tamil. The podcast section links to the Podtech India site as they don’t have too many other quality podcasts in India.

Yet Another Tamil TV Channel in the offing

2007-02-13T17:43:00.000+08:00

After Sun TV’s successful IPO other Tamil TV channels are taking the same route and the latest to join the bandwagon is Raj TV. Raj TV plans to use the funds from the IPO to launch a new Tamil channel and also to build a production studio.

Raj Television Network Ltd, the second-largest Tamil media and broadcast company, is eyeing the youth market with a channel due for a June launch.

Raj is hoping to attract a different audience than its current viewership in Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus channels.

Although Raj has not disclosed the name, it will focus on the 14-30 age group, providing them content primarily in Tamil, mixed with some Hindi and English to appeal to today’s diverse young generation. The paid channel will also include short films by popular directors, talk shows, live news and sports. [Link]

Another phenomenon to be noticed is the acquisition of corporate jets by the new age businessmen. Last heard that Kalanidhi Maran & Co. are buying two private jets. C Sivasankaran (Sterling Group) already has a corporate jet, but he probably spends most of his time outside Chennai. Traditional industrialists in TN have shied away from flaunting their wealth and never really fancied owning private jets. It would be interesting to see if this trend pushes more corporate chieftains to acquire private jets.

Spot The Difference

2007-02-12T16:16:00.000+08:00

Indiaplaza (formerly known as Fabmall) has come out with a price challenge where users can report instances where Indiaplaza’s competitors (online and offline retailers) are selling at lower prices and pocket gift certificates worth twice the difference. This challenge currently covers only books and mobile handsets. This shows that Indiaplaza has become aggressive and wants to prove that they mean business in the etailing space. With new players like Futurebazaar and A1Books entering the fray, it is quite natural to see the aggressiveness displayed by existing players like Indiaplaza.

Indiaplaza already offers more than 20% discount on most books and hence the price differential between them and other players is not very significant. Such price challenges have existed in the offline space where retailers usually say that they will give you the product free if you spot a cheaper product at any other retail shop. This initiative will also help Indiaplaza in cleaning up all their prices. It would have anyway cost them a lot (in terms of manpower) if they had undertaken this exercise internally.

Tip: If you have the time and the inclination, do a comparison between Landmark (SifyMall), Rediff, Prakash Books, Strand Book Stall, Indiatimes and Indiaplaza. Don’t waste your time looking at books which are priced below Rs. 500. Concentrate on expensive books like Coffee Table Books, Business / Management Books and other Hard cover editions. I’m sure you can spot some cheaper prices. I have already done some research and submitted my response to Indiaplaza. I’ll let you know in a week’s time whether Indiaplaza really sent me the Gift Certificate. Multiple Gift Certificates can’t be combined to buy a book and hence it makes sense to spot a huge difference and use it to buy a book.

Nandan meets Nooyi

2007-02-07T18:03:00.000+08:00

Economic Times features an interesting chat between Nandan Nilekani and Indra Nooyi. Nandan plays the role of an interviewer and he quizzes Nooyi on the challenges she has faced in her career. It is definitely worth a read if you can put up with ET’s poorly designed website. ET’s sick system presents this interview over 24 pages :-(

Can Luxury Car Brands Boost Book Sales?

2007-02-05T17:36:00.000+08:00

Coming up with an innovative title is one way of ensuring that a book catches the attention of potential buyers. This style is very prominent with authors who write on self-improvement and motivation. "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" did very well in this aspect. We have yet another addition to this list. An Indian author has come out with the book: “Mercedes & The Missing Clock”. Any takers for a motivational book containing the name BMW?

Staying Clear of Serious Stories

2007-02-05T14:57:00.000+08:00

One of the problems 24-hour news channels face is the shortage of quality content. The news crew needs to continuously scout for new stories to keep the channel running. The TV journalists start ‘inventing’ news when the news flow dries up. One natural outcome of this quest if the dip in quality content.

You can tolerate a bit when a journo does an offbeat story once in a while. How can we put up with a journo when he/she churns out only inane offbeat stories? IMHO a particular journo from CNN-IBN’s Chennai desk falls under this category. Her latest story is on food items named after Kollywood movies and celebrities. One of her earlier stories on Christmas mood at a Chennai bakery was equally boring. She also made another story on how Trisha is losing the numero uno slot in Kollywood. That report was probably good quality material for Sun News and not for CNN-IBN. These kinds of reports are really artifical and boring. Who would want to know whether a Khushboo idli is still popular or whether the Khushboo temple is still patronized by devotees. If you want to portray the current trend, atleast do stories on Namitha :-)

A Concept That Works

2007-02-01T17:12:00.000+08:00

Annalakshmi restaurant in Singapore is quite famous for its unique concept. The restaurant is run by a charity organization and their menu card doesn’t carry the usual price list. They let you pay what is appropriate for the quantum of food you have consumed. Since they trust you, they don’t really monitor whether you have paid appropriately. IMHO, their model works because lot of people (affluent clientele) pay more thereby cross-subsidizing the crowd which might pay less. Most of the people who work at the restaurant are volunteers (usually well-qualified) who are associated with the charity organization. The charity also makes some money by selling paintings, arts and crafts which are prominently displayed at the restaurant. A recent Reuters article talks about how they manage to run the show.

Annalakshmi has three outlets in Singapore, and eateries in Malaysia, Australia and India. Staff range from retired civil servants to women from broken homes to executives and doctors who believe serving and preparing food is the ultimate blessing.

The flavorsome food -- and unique concept -- attracts hundreds of tourists, expatriates and Singaporeans every day. The restaurants serve north and south Indian specialities such as tamarind soup, chickpea curry and savory lady's fingers.

Lunch is served buffet-style at the Chinatown bistro or at the stall in the bustling Lau Pa Sat downtown food center. The main restaurant offers the most choice with a dinner menu that changes with the seasons. [Link]

I have found that Annalakshmi’s service is a bit sloppy at times (personal experience based on few visits in the past). If you go to a regular restaurant, you can demand a certain level of service for the kind of money that you pay. By going to a restaurant which is run by volunteers, you are in a way expected to behave in a diplomatic manner. Do you feel that we should tone down our expectations while going to such concept restaurants?

It’s quite strange to note that Annalakshmi has not followed the “Pay As You Wish” concept for their Indian operations. Back in the 90s, a meal at their Chennai outlet (opposite LIC in Mount Road) used to be priced at Rs. 150. I’m sure the price would have gone up now. I have nothing against the restaurant or the charity but I somehow feel that if the restaurant can trust its customers in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia they should also trust the Indian clientele by following the same concept back in India. Do you really think this concept will succeed in India?

LiveMint Goes Live

2007-02-01T11:39:00.000+08:00

Hindustan Times just launched it's new pink paper. Mint is currently available only in Mumbai and Delhi. The closest I can get to it is the online edition – LiveMint. Although the design looks refreshingly different (when compared to the clutter of most other Indian business sites), my excitement stops there. The site requires you to register (free) before you can read any of the articles. Although they have something called RSS feeds, it doesn’t seem to be working. Even if the RSS feeds start working, I’m not sure how they can make RSS readers login to LiveMint everytime somebody wants to read the full article from the RSS feed.

Mint’s tabloid-style print layout would be a viewed as a welcome change. Tehelka (weekly) and Tamil Murasu are others who offer their print editions in such a format. It makes it that much more easier to take it to the loo :-)

A Peek Into One's Profile

2007-01-31T11:38:00.000+08:00

In recent times, there has been lot of talk about privacy on the internet. Social networking sites are usually the focal point of such debates. Most people would not want their personal profiles (like the one in Orkut) to show up in search results. Social networking sites like Orkut take care of this as only registered users have access to your profile. Even this doesn’t ensure that your info remains private.

While googling for a person’s name, I noticed that the person’s profile on a popular Indian matchmaking portal was among the top results. I don’t understand why the Indian matrimonial site is offering free access to this information. Shouldn’t the profile be available only to people who are actively looking for partners. It may make sense for the Indian matrimonial site to offer this information only to registered users. I don’t think most people know that such a profile can throw up in search results. If that is the case, they might have taken up this issue with the respective sites. Maybe this clause is neatly tucked under the terms and conditions page where people usually click on the ACCEPT button.

Those who have refrained from disclosing their name in such sites can heave a sigh of relief. The others need to bear in mind that all their personal info is just a click away.

TN Multiplexes Heave a Sigh of Relief

2007-01-01T14:38:00.000+08:00

As widely expected, MK has exempted multiplexes from the Rs. 50 upper limit for movie tickets and has fixed a cap of Rs. 95 – 120 for multiplexes meeting certain criteria.

Multiplexes with three or more theatres, having additional entertainment features, food counter and airconditioning could charge Rs. 120 (maximum) and Rs. 10 (minimum) per ticket. Multiplexes meeting specified norms could charge a maximum of Rs. 95 and a minimum of Rs. 10.

Those with two or more air-conditioned halls, a total seating capacity of 800, a generator with 100 per cent power back-up, digital projection and sound system and any five additional specified features could charge a maximum of Rs. 85 and minimum of Rs. 10.[Link]

I still feel that MK should not have poked his nose in this whole affair. By fixing Rs. 10 as the cap on the cheapest ticket, MK is indirectly pushing the multiplexes to charge higher for premium tickets so that they can cross-subsidize the two categories.

Costly Typo

2006-12-30T23:24:00.000+08:00

I do come across occasions where people type Sidney Sheldon as Sydney Sheldon, but this one was even more amusing:

A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles) away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site.

Dressed for the Australian summer in T-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany on Saturday for a four-week holiday.

Instead of arriving "down under", Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.[Link]

MSM and Juvenile Crime

2006-12-30T01:30:00.000+08:00

The report about the kidnapping of 11-year old Arvind and the subsequent recovery of his body has gripped Chennai during the last few days. There are some established norms in the media regarding the reporting of such juvenile crime. It has come to light that the people behind this gruesome murder are minors in the age group of 16 – 17. An earlier article by The Hindu’s Readers’ Editor lays down the broad guidelines regarding media reporting of juvenile crime. It looks like Rediff.com has decided to flout some of those norms in covering the Arvind murder investigation. Rediff has gone ahead and published the names of the three kids accused in the Arvind murder case.

Novel Cheating Thru Bluetooth

2006-12-28T15:14:00.000+08:00

An Indian news item is doing the rounds in all the popular international tech sites. An Indian chess player apparently hid a Bluetooth device under his cap and got remote (computer) assistance from friends. It seems he has been growing in stature over the last few months and also secured a Central Government job under the sports quota. One wonders how such a thing was not spotted during the earlier stages of his career.

An Indian chess player has been banned for 10 years for cheating after he was caught using his mobile phone's wireless device to win games, chess officials said on Wednesday.

The player, Umakant Sharma, had logged rating points at a rapid pace in the last 18 months and also qualified for the national championship, arousing the suspicion of officials and bemusing rivals.

Sharma was finally caught at a recent tournament when officials discovered that he had stitched a Bluetooth device in a cloth cap which he always pulled over his ears.

He communicated to his accomplices outside the hall, who then used a computer to relay moves to him, Indian chess federation secretary D.V. Sundar said on Wednesday. [Link]