Random Thots...

Well, the day finally arrived, when the TATA's juggernaut unveiled the common man's dream car (some say its Ratan Tata's Dream which he spoke about in 2003 though!) at the 'Auto Expo 2008' being held in the capital today. The "People's car" as it was and is being labeled would definitely be a welcome to all those of us, who wanted more than a bike but could not afford a car, at the today's prevalent prices. But if you really consider the practicalities, a lot of 1Lakh car options have been available and are available, albeit in the used-car space. What now is possible is to have a new and by the looks of the car "desirable" version for the common man. CONGRATULATIONS TATA! Guess, a lot of the sceptics are now lost for words, who earlier scoffed at the 4-5-year back promise / dream of Tata for a car in 1 Lakh!. 'A promise is a promise', said Ratan Tata unveiling the 'People's Car' which would have a dealer price of Rs ...

Well, here's an excerpt from http://www.e-investing.in/ Reliance Power IPO has been hit by serious allegations about corporate governance and wealth destruction for REL shareholders. ================================================== Reliance Energy's assets will be taken away and given to Reliance Power. Anil Ambani will have 50% stake in Reliance Power. Anil Ambani has got this stake for only Rs 500 crore. After the IPO, Anil Ambani's stake will be anywhere between Rs 35000 crore to Rs 45000 crore. 35 to 45 times returns by just making a new company and floating an IPO. Nobody can make money better than the Ambanis. . Even if the promoters subscribe to 14 crore shares in the IPO, their financial contribution to the company will still be far smaller than those of the other shareholders. ================================================== So who loses? First are the Reliance Energy shareholders. They currently hold 100% of the assets that are being passed on to Reliance Powe...

There has been huge rush for Reliance Power IPO after looking at its pre IPO response. The IPO price band is between Rs 405-450 per share and lot size is 15 shares and in multiples thereof. It will open on January 15 and close on January 18, 2008. The company is entering capital market with a public issue of 26 crore equity shares. Net issue to the public will be 22.8 crore shares. The company is going to raise more than Rs 10,000 crore from this IPO. There are 2.28 crore shares available in the NII category, which is 10% of the total shares available in the IPO. Comment: This is the first IPO from Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and experts say that at least 100 times subscription is likely in Non Institutional Investors category. The grey market premium (GMP) for the Reliane Power IPO is around Rs 390-400. (Ref: NDTV Profit & MoneyControl.com) Notes: A strong word of caution for those who do WANT to understand the details! GMP or Grey market premiums are what traders or other inves...

Cricket has always been called a Gentleman's game, but not any more, if what we saw today @ the SCG, in the 2nd Test Match between India & Australia is anything to be taken as a reference. Indians done-in by the poor Umpiring decisions, the un-gentlemanly sportsmanship of the world champs Australians and the racism row, is anything to go by! India losing out to Australia in a critical match, and leaving Australia 2 up in a 4 match series! Anil Kumble's rightly said in the post match conference that "Only ONE team played with the spirit of the game!" It was quite evident which team was he referring to. Here are the world champions against world champions, and if this was a gentleman's game, we should have had the highest standard being set / show on the field by both sides - unfortunately it was not to be. Starting with Ricky Ponting, the captain himself, who appeals for a catch when he did not take it clean, and when the ball was not nicked by Dhoni - says som...

Ten Things to do Want to do something to help stop global warming? Here are 10 simple things you can do and how much carbon dioxide you’ll save doing them. Change a light Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Drive less Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive! Recycle more You can save 2.400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste. Check your tires Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere! Use less hot water It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year). Avoid products with a lot of packaging You can save...

Am sure we all have heard of Global Warming, sometime, somewhere, but, most of us, would have left it at that (including me, till a couple of days back). I wonder why ??? Are we so busy that we do not have time to "pause" and "ponder" in life ? Are we so caught up in the everyday aspects of life, that we fail to see it beyond the immediate? Or is it that we think, we have enough problems of our own, that where can we go ahead and solve other's problem, or problems created by others? Well, after watching " An Inconvenient Truth " - a documentary by Al Gore (the erstwhile 'next President' of US - so referred, as he was slated, to be the President after Clinton, but lost out on Florida's voting, and then entered Bush!), who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize (along with our very own Pachauri). His acceptance speech makes for some very interesting reading - it brings fore, a very topical and important area of consideration for EVERY HUMAN BEIN...

Season's Greetings & A very happy new year! WELCOME 2008 - By the Chinese Calendar 2008 is the Year of the Rat, which is also known by its former name of Wu Zhi. The "Rat" is the first sign of the chinese zodiac. Legend has it that the Jade Emperor invited the animals for a party. The first 12 to arrive was the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and lastly, the Pig. All the animals were named after the 12-year cycle that governs Chinese life thereafter. Various versions of the Rat's story are particularly revealing about his character. One version has it that, towards the end of the journey, the animals had to cross a celestial river, and the Rat asked the Ox to ferry him across. When they arrived on the other side, the Rat jumped down off the Ox's head and that's how gained first spot in the order of the Chinese zodiac. Those born in the Year of the Rat are clever, ambitious, creative, hard-working, ...