"War is the natural condition of man": Robert Fisk

Last updated on: July 29, 2008 at 6:24 am By Desh Kapoor

I remember having seen the book by Robert Fisk "The Great War for Civilization" at an airport and I couldn't even wait and bought it right away. This is an interview with him. Anyone who has any interest in journalism or history or the world affairs would love and learn from this discussion. He has a great and powerful insight! A Must Watch!! Another thing, I had always - personally believed - based on what I had read in the US media, that the ONLY analyst in the US who had any modicum of honesty and knowledge of the world affairs and the truth on the ground - it was Seymour Hersh. I was very happy that Fisk seconds that! Read more

Conquest of Goa and our blind generation!

Last updated on: July 29, 2008 at 4:59 am By Desh Kapoor

Tale of India's conquest and its decline is so horrendous and so depressing that everytime you hear about a new element it leaves you will utter disbelief! How could someone do such a thing?? Read this story of Goa's conquest. It would have been fine, if we had learned from it - but looking at the present and the recent past, I doubt we have! Look at how the entire neighborhood was slowly and steadily taken over by China and Islamic militancy (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Tibet, and now Nepal). Our government kept silent all this while. When will we ever learn?!! *************** *************** Albuquerque had not come to India looking for conquests. He was invited to conquer Goa. He had under his command 23 ships which were armed by 1200 fighting men, which was really not enough to launch a military operation on land. His squadron was lying in wait for its natural prey which were the Mecca-bound ships of the Sultans which always made rich prizes, when a man called Timoja, (or Thimmaya), who is described as a commander of Vijayanagar's navy, approached him and told him that "if the Portuguese fleet were to enter the Mandovi, Goa would not be able to withstand an attack". He did not hesitate. The squadron sailed up the Mandovi in tight formation. Everything went off just as Timoja had predicted. On 3rd March 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque, Captain-General of the Indian Ocean, had become the master of a fine port and a flourishing town from which the commander of the Adilshahs and his principal subordinates had already fled, leaving their women and children behind. It is given to few to become witnesses to such a truly historic spectacle, this spearhead of the western world's invasion of the eastern. At this moment, an Era began. Albuquerque the man had met his hour. He entered the city with fanfare, to be welcomed by many of its citizens. "The palms of Goa offer their leaves to bind Albuquerque's victorious forehead. Like a lion or a bull, he charges the Moors and puts them to flight", gushed one of Portugal's greatest poets, Luis de Camões, in his epic, Os Lusiadas. Read more

Orange Juice can be very harmful to your health

Last updated on: July 28, 2008 at 3:44 pm By Desh Kapoor

Are you one of those who likes to have a glass of Orange Juice in the breakfast? Most Americans do. In fact that seems to be the ubiquitous drink for most people in the US. People think that it is healthy. But is it? Orange Juice really doesn't have much in it. Its a good source of Vitamin C but that's just about it! It has almost no fiber and large amount of Sugar. Because of this now, the researchers feel there is a direct correlation between drinking Orange Juice and Type 2 diabetes - which is a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes. Having said that, eating the fruit is NOT The same as drinking the juice - meaning that eating the fruits can be immensely useful - but drinking the juice from that fruit can be harmful! They found that those who drank just one glass of orange juice increased their risk of developing diabetes by more than 18 percent while who ate three servings of the whole fruit slashed their risk by 24 percent. Unfortunately, the study was done only on women, so one does not know if the men also have the same issues with the Orange juice or not - I would venture to think they do. Read more

Top Stock Analysts in India

Last updated on: July 28, 2008 at 3:33 pm By Desh Kapoor

I got this list forwarded by someone and the write ups. Its a list of analysts who have been rated by Business Today (based on inputs from various fund managers) as the top ones in India today. They are believed to have a hand on the pulse of the stock market and the various companies. Personally, I am not an industry or company type of guy - because then you are stuck. What you need to understand is the economy and which will be the best stock going forward given its price. Do you agree with list, btw? Have you interacted with any? Bhavtosh Vajpayee 33, Senior Investment Analyst Research House: CLSA Sectors: IT Services, Education and Internet He's a star analyst who almost didn't become an analyst to begin with. Until 2001, Bhavtosh Vajpayee was an investment banker at JM Morgan Stanley, happy doing deals for India Inc. Then, one day, "a Bschool friend who is also currently my colleague at CLSA recommended me internally," and that's how Vajyapee ended up trading his suits for smart casuals. Since then, there has been no looking back for Vajpayee, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Ahmedabad. Vajpayee's best call last year was the downgrade of IT services sector, a move that, he says, "was a quarter too early but eventually turned out well". Vajpayee also took on some unique themes, such as CLSA's "Chain Reactions" project that quantified, for the first time, the impact of the IT sector on the broader Indian economy. "There is always something new to explore, understand and communicate," says Vajpayee, father of two, about his job. No doubt, it's that spirit that makes him a favourite among fund managers. Jagdishwar Toppo 38/ Analyst Research House: Enam Securities Sectors: Metals and Cement In February this year, Jagdishwar Toppo tore through 1,500 km of southern India in just four days. No, the 38-yearold wasn't doing a cross-country rally, rather he was trying to figure out how cement capacities were shaping up. To his surprise, most of the new capacity was behind schedule. That led him to conclude that till the end of March 2010, demand for cement will continue to outstrip supply. Sure, Toppo, who also visits China at least once every year to get a bottom-up view of the global metals industry, had to put up with bad roads, poor infrastructure and unhygienic food, but his unorthodox research technique has huge pay-offs. "The management of a company may say good things, but to know the ground realities, I travel to their plants and meet industry people," says Toppo, who was in BT's Best Analysts list in 2005 as well. Yet, even Toppo's best efforts can be tripped up by powers that be. Take, for instance, his positive call on the cement industry. Soon after he advised his clients to buy cement stocks, the government cracked the whip on manufacturers, putting a ban on cement exports and asking them to rein in prices within the country. But for Toppo, who received his MBA from IIM Calcutta in 1994, such surprises are nothing new. In the 10 years that he has been with Enam, he has seen and lived through highs and lows of the metals and cement industries. Now, Toppo is scouting for the next big thing. One such sector that he has zeroed in on is fertilisers. In fact, a report he wrote on the sector last year ended up putting most of the sector stocks on fire. "There is going to be a boom in agriculture, besides which new gas (from Reliance Industries) is coming in; this bodes well for fertiliser companies," he says. However, Toppo was surprised that many of the fertiliser stocks moved far ahead of his price targets. "(But) you have to trust the market," he says. Even in these times, it's hard to disagree with that. Read more

Long term investing is a smart option!

Last updated on: July 28, 2008 at 12:57 pm By Desh Kapoor

Picking stocks and investing is not as easy as it seems. There are many who go around thumping their chests because they think they can pick winners (yours truly included!). But real winners are few and far between for anyone. Only very few investors and the top ones do it most often! One thing, however, is very clear to the smart investors (again, yours truly included - lol) that trading often and buying and selling at the drop of the hat is never a good strategy. Many people still do it - despite the fact that the best in the world have succeeded due to lesser trades as opposed to more. Buffett is legendary for not selling his stocks. He has sold very few. Now, a study confirms this for us: In one study, Odean and his frequent collaborator Brad Barber looked at the buy and sell decisions of 78,000 households over a five-year period in the 1990s. When they divided the investors into those who traded more and less frequently, they discovered that "trading can be hazardous to your wealth." Those who bought and sold most often earned a net annual return of 11.4 percent, whereas those who traded least often earned 18.5 percent (remember, the period studied overlapped with a significant bull market). Barber and Odean note that the typical investor trades frequently, turning over 75% of his or her portfolio annually. They attribute this fact, and its unfortunate effect on the bottom line, to profound overconfidence on the part of individual investors. Picking winners is much harder than it appears to the average investor. Most often people spend more time and do more analysis buying a pair of shoes worth $40 as opposed to buying $10,000 worth of stocks! Even the size of their investment doesn't help them realize the context. Since an individual investor can really not take into account all the factors and so really good stocks are hard to come by, it makes sense to invest in few but really good stocks! And if you are in India, where long term capital gains tax from stocks is 0, it makes sense to go long on things! Read more

Health effects of bad bras

Last updated on: July 28, 2008 at 12:46 pm By Desh Kapoor

Of all the dress accompaniments, a lady's bra must definitely rank as the most interesting and intriguing of garments. It is unique in its construction and has revolutionised the handling of a female's "assets" ever since it arrived on the scene! As much as it is worn (and fantasized.. by men), it is definitely highly misunderstood! In any exercise, a lady's breasts move in vertical and horizontal movements. Yet, most bras just manage the vertical movement.... if they are properly configured and worn! Which most arent. It has been found through a treadmill test that breasts move up to 21 cm during exercise and for a size of 36D the breasts could move upto an inch vertically if the woman walks at 4 mph, and two inches if she walks at 6 mph! Most women do not even understand or realize what is the right size for them. In fact most do not even know what the connotation of a bra size even means! For example in 36C, 36 is the size of the chest over the breasts, and C is the cup size. So, if the size of the breasts increased for the same chest size, then it should go to 36D. Not many even realize this. The result is either too big or too small bras supporting the essential assets. A study has now highlighted the ill-effects of this incorrect selection of this important under-garment. The study has found 95% women to be at risk (that's the number who are doing it wrong!). An ill-fitting bra can prove harmful for your breasts leading to many serious problems like discomfort and pain in breasts, pensive psychological effect, body pain (i.e. Neck, back and shoulder pain) and even breast cancer in the later stages of life. So, its not a matter of sexual titillation, but an important need for a women's structural health and could even lead to fatal conditions... so, ladies do get to know your garments. If you could spend only 50% of the time choosing your bra as much as you spend choosing what you wear on top of it, then you would not only look good but also remain pain-free and healthy! Read more

Mindful Meditation slows HIV progress

Last updated on: July 28, 2008 at 12:24 pm By Desh Kapoor

Meditation is a bastardized word. People have made it into practices into exercises into methodologies.. everything other than what it is supposed to be. The word for meditation in Sanskrit or Hindi was "Dhyan" - which means "to contemplate". The eternal question is the most suitable for contemplation - "Who Am I"? It is this question and this alone which takes you to the very edge of creation and beyond. One of the accompanying step in this contemplation is that one is in the present (the here and the now). Bringing the baggage of the past or the anticipation of the future to a moment, prevents that awareness. Some call it "Mindful Meditation". Scientists have just discovered that Mindful Meditation slows the progress of HIV in patients. CD4+ T lymphocytes, or simply CD4 T cells, are the "brains" of the immune system, coordinating its activity when the body comes under attack. They are also the cells that are attacked by HIV, the devastating virus that causes AIDS and has infected roughly 40 million people worldwide. The virus slowly eats away at CD4 T cells, weakening the immune system. But the immune systems of HIV/AIDS patients face another enemy as well -- stress, which can accelerate CD4 T cell declines. Now, researchers at UCLA report that the practice of mindfulness meditation stopped the decline of CD4 T cells in HIV-positive patients suffering from stress, slowing the progression of the disease. Interesting! It seems this meditation - of losing ones self - not only gets you spiritual dividends but also health dividends.. and what amazing ones! Read more

4 Failed States in India's neighborhood

Last updated on: July 27, 2008 at 1:16 am By Desh Kapoor

In the latest "Failed States Index, 2008" by Foreign Policy, four countries in our neighborhood have ended up in top 15. The list headed by Somalia, has Afghanistan as #7, and Pakistan at #9, Bangladesh and Burma are in a dead heat at #12! Pakistan and Afghanistan are two sometimes-friends-sometimes-enemies are very close to each other. And if Taliban has its way, then they may be together... failed! Read more

Aadmi bulbula hai paani ka (Man is a bubble)

Last updated on: July 27, 2008 at 12:53 am By Desh Kapoor

Very interesting creation from Gulzar. Was in the mood for this after the bad news that has been coming from India for last few weeks culminating in the blasts. Read more

Now, Ahmedabad attacked!

Last updated on: July 27, 2008 at 12:23 am By Desh Kapoor

Indian MujahideenThe IB believes the outfit was floated by youth from Hyderabad, as a faction of the Students Islamic Movement of India. With the arrest of SIMI's top leaders in Indore, the Indian Mujahideen has been given the responsibility of carrying out terror strikes. Although the outfit is not as professional as SIMI,it is capable of creating chaos, sources said. The Indian Mujahideen e-mail said its intention was to cause panic and fight political outfits which were opposed to Islam.The mail read, 'We the Indian Mujahideen have carried out attacks and will continue to do so. Stop us if you can.' The Indian Mujahideen first surfaced during the Uttar Pradesh blasts in November 2007. Immediately after those blasts, a mail was sent out by the outfit, claiming responsibility for the blasts. The police, however, dismissed the mail as a prank and continued to look for a Harkat ul Jihad e-Islami/Lashkar-e-Tayiba link to the blasts.The outfit was again in the news after the Jaipur blasts on May 13 when it claimed it was responsible for those acts of terror. The IB says the latest e-mail reveals that the Indian Mujahideen was behind Friday's blasts in Bengalaru, and the city police is trying to ascertain the similarities between Friday and Saturday's blasts in Bengalaru and Ahmedabad. IB officers told rediff.com that in both cases the intention was not to cause casualties, but to create a scare. The mail says the outfit's intention is to fight governments which it feels is anti-Muslim. The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in both Karnataka and Gujarat. Now, Ahmedabad has been attacked! In 17 serial bomb blasts across the city, 26 people have been killed and 100 have been injured. Just minutes before the blasts, the Intelligence Bureau received a mail from the Indian Mujahideen, which stated, "Stop us if you can." The explosions were mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the city, all within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius Cycles were used to plant the bombs and some bombs were planted in buses of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The explosions occurred at Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar and Sarangpur bridge, Sarkej and Odhav. There were two blasts in Maninagar and the first blast occurred in this area at 6.45 pm. The second blast occurred near LG Hospital. Maninagar is the constituency of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. If there was a mockery of the Government and the security - if there is any, that is - this is it! Serial blasts in Bangalore and double that number in Ahmedabad. As if it was done without any restraint. Why this timing? Is it because India getting closer to the Nuclear deal? Or was it to be done in any case? Another strange coincidence that cannot be missed - both the states have BJP Governments! Karnataka recently made history with the first real BJP Government in the South and Gujarat has been BJP for awhile. Given that the blasts in Bangalore were low intensity - not to kill kind of - one could assume that it was done more to damage the trust in the local Government than anything else. Otherwise, was the local terrorist school headmaster holding a bombing class practical for the new trainees??!! Whatever it may have been - it was designed to send a message with the audacity and "strike-at-will" capability of the perpetrator! Sick of Condemnations There were usual rounds of condemnations from all political circles - Sonia Gandhi and the President, both chipped in with their sob story. They probably have ready made templates of such messages by now which their secretaries simply throw out to the press. Thankfully for them and the public, their secretaries have not made a mistake on the the type of template for the occassion.. so there hasnt been any embarassment.. yet. Thank God for small mercies .. eh?? And the CPI-M - those anti-national bastards... who are already busy helping Maoists come into India also shed their crocodile tears. Meanwhile Dr. Singh's principled Government lost no time is beginning to make a case against Modi's Government! The blasts in two different cities shows that these terrorist organizations have a nation-wide network and this joker is trying to tell us - the ordinary citizen - that his job was done by simply issuing the "high alert"??? What the f*** were the intelligence agencies upto?? Why didnt his ministry get to know of these nation-wide blasts before?? Even my four-year kid could have willy-nilly issued a "high alert" - if that is what this idiot thinks the ordinary tax-payer pays him for?!! Minister of State for Home Affairs Shakeel Ahmed said: "We are surprised and shocked. On Friday, it was Banglore. Today it is Ahmedabad. This happened even after the government of India issued high alerts to all sensitive states. "We condemn the blast," the minister said, assuring the Gujarat government "of all possible assistance. "If they need any assistance, the government of India will provide it," Ahmed said. "Let the hour of crisis pass. We will seek information from the Gujarat government. Let the normalcy return." What needs to be done? Maybe its time to throw all our politicians out of the country.. they are more busy making money or prostituting themselves as opposed to running the country anyways. So, just send them to Thailand or something.. let them pimp themselves. Security is a big priority and nothing should left to just human intelligence which is what India relies on! The other kind of intelligence operations are very poor. There is no secure system for immigrants - those who come in. Even what we have is for effects. The other day on a TV reality show, Pakistani contestants told their tale of having spent the night sorting out stuff in the police station! These guys were on national (international, actually) TV.. so why do you need to harrass them so much.. while the real culprits were moving around scott-free! One has to do things intelligently not just do things! Read more