The GATES

Here are some images of the ongoing "The GATES" Public Exhibit in Central Park in New York City

http://arzan.org/arzan/events/

Click on "The Gates"

The aerials were shot from the Bank of America (our client at work) offices on the 48th floor of the Solow Building on 57th street between5th and 6th Avenue.

BOMBAY dictionary

Mumbai dictionary

The language of Mumbai is an altogether different lingo ... wonder why?

Heres why!!!

Bus kya :The meaning of it is that com'on don't take me for granted.

Apun : It's actual meaning is WE but in Bhindi it means I or me...

Chava / Chavi :Actual meaning of a chava is a lion's cub. However, in Bambaiya hindi (Bhindi) it would mean a Boyfriend/GirlFriend (normally the one that's going steady). Chava, is also used to describe to a good looking chap or the normal stud in the locality. No, Chavi would still mean the steady one.

Chikna / Chikni : Stands for any good looking fellow. Chikna actually means smooth.

Dhapnya / Battery / double battery : Refers to a person wearing prescription glasses. Dhapnya is a marathi word.

The Ghati way of saying this would be "bya-tree".

Chaayla : The original meaning is quiet demeaning. The contemporary meaning is so flexible that "Chaayla" can be used anywhere in a casual conversation. Agmatically speaking this word doesnt have any meaning.

Haila: This originated from "Hai Allah " But I don't think 99% of the users know about this.
Haila would translate to "Oh God"

Keeda /SulemaniKeeda / RehmaniKeeda: An absolute pest.

Paka : Its means don't eat my head or leave me alone.
Actually pakana in hindi is to cook.

Jhakaas : Superb. Excellent.

Mandvali / Mandavli :
Compromise /Negotiation or truce

Gangaram:
For a barber. Gangaram is a guy's name. I guess some Gangaram must have played an immortal role in some play or movie for his name to stick on.

Dhakkan: Dhakkan in its true sense would mean a cover. Here it refers to anyone with a moronic intellect or an Idiot.

Dhating: The word Dhating also refers to drama.

Atrang : One meaning of this word is similar to Hajaam.

Atrangi also mean something strange or extraordinary.

Funter / Tapori : Roadside loafer. Tapori is among the most commonly used words in Bhindi.

Shana : Literal meaning in marathi means wise..but mostly used in sarcastic way.

Dhid shana : The word dhid means 1 and half times the original one.That means 1 and half times shana.

ChappanTikkli : Actual meaning 56 spots : this is not used now-a-days. but in Bhindi it means one with lots of pimples / marks on his/her face.

Dum : Actual meaning is cigarette with marijuana for kick.but nowdays commonly used to refer ordinary cigarette.. or even scold someone.

Hul [Hool] : hul means to scold but not quite literally ..

Bevda / Gutter / Taankee / Batli / JohnnyWalker : A Drunk. Johnny Walker comes from either the actor by the name or the whiskey brand. Daru and gutter are very closely linked for reasons beacause cheap beer is made from gutter water or so goes some old saying.

Bevda is often used to describe the drink as well as the totally drunk

Charsi / Fookya / Soootya : A smoker. Charas is exactly marijuana. Charasi would mean any guy who
smokes though.

Rappak [ Rappppppppak ] :Means Slap.

Tapri : A road side shop.

Chotay / Ramu : For any kid working in a Tapri.

Mava / (120 - 300) [ EkSauBees-TeenSau ] : This is a prototype of paan you get here. 120 and 300 are the Flavors of tabacco. Mava is everything that paan has without the betel-leaf. Also refer to the person who consumes it.

Dhakta : Actual meaning is younger. in this case it is small paan packet.

Dhoop Chaav : Means Sun and Shade. Refers to the shops owned by the road side barbers who just have a rag for the Chaav and is obviously hole-ridden to let the Dhoop come in.

Chinese Gaadi : No this is not a Chinese make of anautomobile, Its the "Tapri" Selling chinese food on the side of the road. You find one after every 10 meters. The best part is that all these Chinese Gaadis are red in color, with the picture of a dragon or a chinese man and have names like "Red Sun","Red Dragon", "Fong's", "Ching" "Sung-Ming"or "Chow" or anything that Sounds even vaguely Chinese. The cook is normally a Nepali working as a night watchman in some nearby apartment complex. The only criteria to get a chef's job at a Chinese Gaadi is to have slanted eyes.

Mahim - Matunga / Vasai - Virar : This is a term used for squints.

Ghungroo Salmaan : This term is very new but catching on fast. Ghungroo refers to a Curly haired guy. Salmaan (Khan) comes in the picture since the "Ghunroo Salmaan" fellow is obviously mistaking Himself to
be a Hindi film hero. It's used as a put-down.

Cutting : A little_more_than_half cup of Tea is a cutting. The Cutting concept would have been started by people who used to split a cup of tea between 2 people... and finally the tea vendor started selling
half cup of tea and called it "cutting". A little_more_than_half is given to increase the patrons.

AndhaDhuni / Aadva-Patta : These are a cricketing terms. AadvaPatta comes from Pune, means "Cross batted shot". AndhaDhuni means "Blind shot".But nowadays these refer to any guy who doesn't bat well.

Mama / Maushi : Mama and Maushi translate to the maternal uncle and aunt. These words are thoroughly misused to get some work done. Normally used while speaking Marathi. Every other Marathi speaking street vendor would be a Mama or a Maushi. (to increase the stakes while bargaining)

Dada / Tai : Translate to elder brother or sister.

Uncle / Auntie : This is used for the more sophisticated public. Normally with the Marathi ignorant.

Ghaati : Ghaatis are the residents of the rural regions of Maharashtra. It's usage is quiet demeaning..... and thus heard more frequently.

Gujju / Marwadi : The money men of Mumbai. These guys are easily spotted on the road - either in colorful shirts, embroidered trousers, against the mirror of a parked vehicle combing their hair, or doing something equally funny. These guys are the second largest community in Bombay after the Marathi-speaking people.

Madrasi : Madras (now chennai) is a place in the southern part of India.Madrasi refers to any guy from a place to the south of Maharashtra. Doesn't matter where he is from. Bangalore, Goa, Anywhere....And the best part of being a Madrasi is that you are supposed to eat idli sambar forbreakfast, lunch, and dinner. And rasam-chaval is supposed to be the favourite dish.

Gulti : This is a fairly new term. Used for people from Andhra Pradesh.I don't have a clue about its origin or actual meaning.

Bhaiya / Pandit : Any guy from UP / Bihar / MP / Delhi / Northern states is called a Bhaiya. Pandit is also used interchangeably but is mostly used for the guys at the Lassi/Doodh shops or for Panwallas.

Paapay / Papajee : A Sikh. Dont know what a paapay means. Actually its not insulting or anything like that.

Pavwalla : The Christians. I guess this started because of the fact that they eat bread instead of chapatis.

Another very common used bhindi word is abey or abe ! This is often used in combination with other words like abe saale, abe halkat (females tend to use this more often), abe dhapnike, abe battrey, etc.

And last but not the least is

Saala : Literal meaning wife's brother....but in Mumbai it is used in every context whether good or bad...when friends meet and greet then it is "kya saala kaisa hai....." when angry "abey saale....phoot na"... in fact this is the most common used word in mumbai.... and can be used when you are happy / sad /depressed / angry / shy / vulgar / teasing / and when there is nothing else to say then use a saala....

There's a minor problem
Arre yaar, "Waanda" ho gaya

There's a big problem
Arre yaar, "Zol" ho gaya

There's a huge problem
Arre yaar, "Raada" ho gaya

You'll be surprised .
Ekdam "Hill" jayega tu

I am going out of this place
Chal apun "Kaltii" marta hai.

Don't make a fool of others
Dekh , Tu "Shendi" mat laga sabko

Just get out of here, you oversmart fool!!
Chal e Shaaane, "Hawa" aan de

I am not a stupid out here
Apun kya "ALIBAUG" se nahi aaya

There's some misunderstanding
Arre kuch "Galat Faimili" ho gayi

Do u drink daily?
Tu kya roz "FULL TO" hota hai?

See, You are afraid..
Dekh , teri to "FAT" gayi

Shall I just bash u?
E Du kya "Kharcha Pani" ?

Just take him into a secret place
Use jara "Khopche" me leke ja

What a beautiful lady !!
Kya "Zakaas Item" hai yaar!!

What a sensuous/unexplainably sexy lady!!
Kya "Raapchik Maal / Piece" hai yaar!!

Don't just bluff..OK?
E Jyaada "RAAG" mat de..

Don't take much tension..
Jyaada "LOAD" nahi leneka kya??

Your clothes are very awkward!!
Kya "ZAGMAG / DHINKCHAAK" pehna tune?

I don't care about it much..!!
Abe yaar , "Hata Saawan Ki Ghata"

Please don't overbore me..
Jyaada "PAKAA" mat be tu

All this must be done without anyone's notice
Sab kaam "SUUMDI" me hona chahiye.kya?

Delhi guys and girls....
lets see if you can catch-up..

Chinese Century? Not So Fast

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/14/bloomberg/sxpesek.htm

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Commentary: Welcome to the Chinese century? Not so fast
By William Pesek Jr. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Everyone has an opinion on who will lead Asia in the years ahead, including the Group of 7 industrial nations. This month, the group clearly seemed to be putting its money on China.

The wealthiest industrialized nations have not exactly said that India will play second fiddle to China, having invited both nations to attend their Feb. 4 meeting. Yet the G-7's almost linear focus on China and its currency policy leaves little doubt about which country it is betting on. The same is
true for the policy-making elite who gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this year.

All this matters because the G-7 is realizing that Asian nations' economic might will one day rival or even eclipse its own. This region, after all, is home to many of the world's most vibrant economies, ones that will increasingly alter the G-7's clubby way of viewing the global financial
system.

Markets also are trying to digest recent investment bank reports arguing that China and India will become the world's second- and third-biggest economies sooner, rather than later. In the age of globalization, size matters more than ever; the bigger the economy, the more long-terminvestment it seems to attract.

As bond and stock markets in the two Asian giants grow along with gross domestic product, G-7 members may have a harder time remaining on investors'radar screens.

Yet G-7 ministers and investors should think twice before downplaying India's potential relative to that of China.

China is the heir apparent, according to conventional wisdom. Its 9 percent pace of expansion is largely responsible for Asia's rapid economic growth in recent years. It is the world's leading destination for foreign directinvestment.

Yet Daniel Lian, a Singapore-based economist at Morgan Stanley, can think of at least two reasons to be optimistic about India.

First, economic forecasters have a poor record of predicting the next Economic megatrend. Second, India could spring a few surprises that haven'tentered the calculations of global investors.

Remember how everyone assumed that Japan would lead the so-called Pacific Century? The decline of Japan's economic might, however, along with China's rise since 1994 and the collapse of the Asian tiger economies in 1997, havealtered the dynamics for this century.

It is not clear to what extent the rest of Asia will be able to compete with China's low wages and growing market share. The phenomenon is not unlike how Wal-Mart Stores is shaking up the U.S. economy - only China's impactglobally will unfold on a much larger scale.

Another big question is the fate of China's banks, which have been undermined for decades by an institutionalized misallocation of capital with little regard for international norms of risk management and the extension of credit. Rating agencies think it will cost several hundreds of billionsof dollars to resolve their bad loans.

Enter India, which has a measure of economic and political stability that will take China years to develop. Hovering constantly above China's economy is the question of whether it can complete the transition from socialism to capitalism - and whether theCommunist Party can hang on to power.

India, for all its warts, is not preoccupied by such risks. Its troubles include a massive national debt, a daunting poverty rate, an inefficient and bureaucratic government and ramshackle infrastructure. Yet India's entrepreneurial vigor, as seen in companies like Infosys Technologies, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Wipro, is more impressive than China's.

India's financial markets are also more developed. China, unlike India, does not have much of a bond market, for example. Indian companies have big head start and a significant advantage when it comes to raising capital in the debt markets. What China must build from scratch, India already has up andrunning.

A big push into export-oriented manufacturing also is under way in India. While China is clearly ahead on that count, India's efforts could contribute significantly to poverty reduction, by creating jobs for those without theskills to enter India's software and call-center industries.

Western investors, says Lian at Morgan Stanley, ultimately could favor India over China. Reasons include India's well-established democracy, the belief that the nation is better equipped to protect intellectual property rightsand fear of China as a geopolitical competitor.

Yes, China has vast potential, but so does India. You would think that the g-7 would be hedging its bets on which economy will dominate Asia aGeneration from now. It may not be the one they think.

India and China : Part I

Financial Times (London, England)

February 23, 2005 Wednesday

London Edition 1

SECTION: COMMENT & ANALYSIS; Pg. 21

HEADLINE: Opening a three-part series, Martin Wolf looks at why Beijing has enjoyed the greater success in stimulating growth - and what New Delhi will have to do to catch up

By MARTIN WOLF

Almost two out of every five people on the planet are either Chinese or Indian. China alone has more people than Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa combined. The economic rise of Asia's giants is, therefore, the most important story of our age. It heralds the end, in the not too distant future, of as much as five centuries of domination by the Europeans and their colonial offshoots.

What sort of economic performance have the two giants shown in the past quarter-century? Why did growth accelerate at much the same time in both? Why has China performed so much better than India? Will both continue to grow rapidly? Will India even catch up on China? These five questions need to be addressed if we are to understand the world of tomorrow and, even more, of the day after.

Let us start with what has happened. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the two Asian colossi fell far behind the rapidly growing economies of western Europe and North America. In 1820, China generated about a third of world output(measured at common international prices) and India about another 16 per cent(see chart); by the mid-20th century, China's share in world output was 5 per cent and India's 3 per cent.

After both of these giants gained independence in the 1940s, India became the world's largest democracy and China a communist despotism. Yet, though they differed in their politics, both embraced similar economic ideas. Scarred by their countries' experience with 19th century imperialism, their leaders feared renewed subordination to foreign economic interests. Both saw capitalism as both unjust and inefficient. Both, as a result, embraced socialist economics.

The pursuit of socialist self-suffi ciency failed. By the 1970s, neither had begun to regain its historic position. Since then, however, a transformation has occurred. Both economies have begun the journey from state controls to the market and from would-be autarky to international economic integration. Both have begun to catch up on the world's leading economies. But China has done far better than its rival.

In the mid-1970s, the gross domestic products per head of the two giants, at common international prices, were similar, at roughly a twentieth of that of the US (see chart). By last year, however, China's real income per head had reached 15 per cent of US levels, while India's was roughly half of China's level.

If both have done well, China has done far better. Between 1980 and 2003, China's economy grew at an average rate of 9.5 per cent a year, against 5.7 per cent in India. China's real GDP per head (in constant domestic prices) rose faster than that of any other economy, while India's was ninth-fastest. At common international prices, China's real income per head rose by 300 per cent over this period, while India's increased by 125 per cent.

Since the beginning of its take-off into accelerated growth, in 1978, China's GDP per head has risen relative to that of the world leader, the US, in almost exactly the same way as Japan's between 1950 and 1973, Taiwan's between 1958 and the late-1980s and South Korea's between 1962 and the early 1990s (see chart).


But it has done so from a much lower relative starting point. Today, China's income per head, relative to US levels, is roughly where South Korea's was in 1972, Taiwan's in 1966 and Japan's before 1950. For China, then, these are early days in the catch-up process.

For India, they are earlier still. Not only has its convergence on US GDP per head been slower than China's but it remains far behind. Relative to US GDP per Head, India is today where China was in 1986. Even in absolute terms it is only where China was in 1993.

Now let us turn to the second question: why did the acceleration in economic growth begin in the two giants at much the same time? The broad answer is that both countries moved from the plan to the market at much the same time and for much the same reason: their economies were performing dismally.

Both of the giants were then able to exploit the opportunities created by their huge supply of hard-working people, on the one hand, and the yawning productivity gap with the world's leading economies, on the other.

In China's case the direction of reform has been both relatively consistent and remarkably well managed. In India's, however, it has been less so. A period of half-hearted reform ended in a balance of payments crisis in 1991. This proved the opportunity for a burst of radical reforms under the direction of the then finance minister (and present prime minister) Manmohan Singh. That came to an end in the mid-1990s and so, in due course, did the economic acceleration.

Now let us look at the third and, in many ways, most interesting question:

what explains the superior growth performance of China, at least hitherto? To answer that, we need to appreciate the difference not just in economic strategies, but also in the polities.

Both are the heirs of great civilisations. But China's civilisation is inseparable from its state, while India's is inseparable from its social structure, above all from the role of caste.

This difference permeates the two countries' histories and contemporary performance. As Lord Desai of the London School of Economics has noted, "for India, the problem (is) achieving unity in diversity". China, however, is a "unitary hard state, which can pursue a single goal with determination and mobilise maximal resources in its achievement".*

These political and social differences explain, in large measure, the contrasts between the two development strategies. China has largely replicated the growth pattern of the other east Asian success stories, though its financial system is still weaker and its economy more open to foreign direct investment than those of Japan and South Korea. Its growth is based on high savings, massive investment in infrastructure, universal basic education, rapid industrialisation, an increasingly deregulated labour market and an internationally open and competitive economy.

India's pattern of growth has been extraordinarily different, indeed in many ways unique: it has been service-based and apparently jobless. Savings are far lower than in China, as is investment in infrastructure. India's industrialisation has hardly begun. Literacy is low, while elite education is well developed. India's formal labour market is among the most regulated in the world. Regulations and relatively high protection against imports continue to restrict competition in the domestic market.

China has accepted both growth and social transformation. India welcomes growth but tries to minimise social dislocation. The Chinese state sees development as both its goal and the foundation of legitimacy. Indian politicians see the representation of organised interests as their goal and the foundation of their legitimacy. Chinese politics are developmental, while India's remain predominantly clientelist.

Consider, in this light, the following contrasts between the two giants (see charts).

* In 2002, China's gross national savings were 44 per cent of gross nationalincome, while India's were only 22 per cent.

* In 2002, China's trade in goods was 49 per cent of gross domestic product,while India's was 21 per cent.

* In 2003, China generated 5.8 per cent of world merchandise exports, which made it the world's fourth-largest exporter, and 2.6 per cent of world exports of commercial services, which made it the world's ninth-largest. India generated just 0.7 per cent of world merchandise exports, which put it at 31st, and 1.4 per cent of world exports of commercial services, which put it at 21st.

* By 2001, China's weighted average tariff was down to 12.8 per cent, from 35.6 per cent in 1992, while India's was still 28.4 per cent, down from 70.8 per cent in 1992.

* In 2003, the stock of inward foreign direct investment in China was Dollars 501.5bn, against just Dollars 30.8bn in India. In the same year, the FDI inflow into China was Dollars 53.5bn (12.4 per cent of capital formation) against Dollars 4.3bn into India (4 per cent of capital formation).

* In 2000, India's overall illiteracy rate was 35 per cent, against just 6 per cent in China. In 1999-2000, only 47 per cent of all Indian children had passed through five years of primary schooling, against 98 per cent in China.

* In absolute terms, China is now spending eight times as much as India on infrastructure. As a share of GDP it is spending more than three times as much.

* Between 1996 and 2002, private investment in Chinese telecommunications was Dollars 13bn, against Dollars 9.2bn in India. In energy, it was Dollars 14.3bn in China, against Dollars 7.5bn. In transport, it was Dollars 15.9bn, against just Dollars 2.3bn.

* Between 1990 and 2002, China's agricultural value added grew at 3.9 percent a year, against 2.7 per cent in India and its services grew at 8.8 per cent a year, against 7.9 per cent in India. But China's industrial value added grew at 12.6 per cent a year, against a mere 6.0 per cent in India.

* In China, the share of the population engaged in agriculture dropped from 68 per cent in 1981 to 45 per cent in 2001, against a slower decline, from 67 per cent to 59 per cent, in India.

* India's consolidated fiscal deficit is running at 10 per cent of GDP,against less than 4 per cent in China. India's public sector savings have been running at minus 3 per cent of GDP, against a surplus of 1-2 per cent in the 1990s.

* The formal sector employs less than 10 per cent of all Indians in employment, with only a third of these employed in the private sector. The proportion of the labour force employed in the Chinese modern sector is at least 20 per cent and rising. t is not difficult, therefore, to see why China's growth has been far higher than India's. China has not only saved and invested far more, it has exploited, to a far greater degree, the opportunities afforded by the global economy. Its population is also more skilled, while the social and economic transformation it has embraced is more profound.

This, however, brings us to our fourth question: will the two giants continue to grow as rapidly? They certainly can do so. The potential for rapid growth is determined by the gap in average productivity with the world's leaders and the quality of institutions and policies.

On the former point, if China replicated the catch-up performance of Japan or South Korea, relative to the US, it could grow extremely rapidly for another three decades.

On the latter, Transparency International ranks China 71st equal in the world for corruption, a little ahead of India, on 90th equal. In the 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, China is ranked 112th, while India is ranked 118th. The World Bank's investment climate and "doing business" indicators suggest that China and India both offer problematic business environments, with the law's delays and the insolence of office a slightly more serious handicap in India than in China (see chart).

The quality of institutions and policies is, in short, poor in both countries. Yet this also indicates the room for large improvements in the years ahead. Bad institutions are both constraints and opportunities.

Now consider the fifth and last question: can India match China? This depends on the performance of both countries. The principal internal constraints on China's growth are institutional: the lack of a rule of law, the consequent uncertainty of property rights, the inefficiency of state enterprises and the profound weakness of the financial system. Important symptoms of these weaknesses have been the reliance on foreign entrepreneurship and an offshore financial and legal centre, namely, Hong Kong.

Behind these weaknesses lies something more profound: a political system that is unlikely to prove suitable for an increasingly sophisticated economy and society. The political transition from one-party state to a more democratic regime could prove highly problematic. An important symptom of China's institutional weaknesses is the inefficiency with which capital is used. As Ihave noted elsewhere, China's investment rate has been substantially higher than those of other fast-growing Asian economies at comparable levels ofdevelopment, but its growth is not.**

The explanation for this is partly the scale of investment in infrastructure needed by such a vast country. But it is also partly the fact that 60 per cent of all loans between 1993 and 2000 went to state enterprises. It is astonishing that, in the world's fastest growing economy, as much as 40 per cent of existing loans is considered bad. The scale of the waste is breathtaking.

China does not only confront domestic challenges. It may well also confront external constraints. China's extraordinary success in export markets has been a powerful engine of growth. Yet it is hard to believe that this can continue, now that China is such a huge player in world trade and its own economy is already so open.

The challenges ahead are large, by any standards. But it is a good bet that China will continue to grow rapidly for at least another two to three decades. This will require continuing and painful reforms. But the alternative of letting the economic dynamism slow must seem worse to China's policy makers.

If China's growth does remain rapid, can India match it? The optimistic view has been well expressed by Vijay Kelkar, a former senior civil servant.*** Mr Kelkar argues that India's political stability, well-entrenched democracy, relatively effective financial system, deepening international economic integration and improving environment for provision of infrastructure augur well for future growth.

More fundamentally, India enjoys a greater demographic dividend, with the population of working age expected to rise as a share of the total until 2050, unlike in China, while the quality of the labour force is also improving. The private savings rate should continue to rise as living standards improve and the child dependency ratio falls. Finally, the growth of productivity has been reasonably good in India since 1980, with total factor productivity (the rise in output per unit of input of labour and capital) increasing at about 2 per cent a year.

Yet India, too, suffers from many constraints. Public sector dis-saving imposes a significant limit on capital formation. The political and legal systems, though well developed, are also cumbersome and inefficient. Politics lacks a focus on development. Hitherto, in addition, the growing supply of labour has not been matched by a rise in demand. As a result overall employment has risen at only 1 per cent a year over the past decade. Literacy remains too low. There is also evidence that trend growth has slowed since 1996-97 to below 6 per cent a year.

Faster growth is certainly possible in India. But that will also need substantially higher savings and investment, greater inflows of FDI and significantly more rapid industrialisation.

What then should the world expect of the Asian giants? More of the same is the reasonable answer. Morgan Stanley concludes an excellent analysis with the view that "today it is India and China".**** This is not wrong, even though it will remain more China than India for some time. Lord Desai concludes, in similar vein, that "China will again become a viable great power; India may become a great democracy".

As Arvind Virmani of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations has noted, by 2025 China is likely to be the world's largest and India the world's third-largest economy, at purchasing power parity.***** The impact of the rise of the two giants on the world's demand for resources, centre of economic gravity and balance of power will be enormous. Adjusting to such changes has always proved difficult. The rise of China and India is likely to pose the biggest challenges of all.

Up there, at 120 km an hour!

By: Ram Parmar
February 11, 2005

Palghar: Mohammed Illyas Ali (44) of Vapi wanted to reach Mumbai fast and cheap. So he chose to travel on the rooftop of the 2954 Up New Delhi-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express. But his joyride ended soonas he was detrained by alert signaling staff at Palghar, last week.

According to reports, Illyas, a father of six and a carpenter by profession, wanted to meet his friend at Goregaon. At Vapi station, hepurchased a Rs 25 shuttle ticket for Borivali.

But suddenly he spotted the Rajdhani Express, which had halted at Vapi, and without thinking twice, climbed on the rooftop of the S-7 bogie andstayed put.

The train hurtled at a top speed of 120 kmph, but it did not frighten Illyas, who waved at shocked bystanders when the train whizzed paststations.

However, the Vangaon signal staff did not find it amusing and promptly informed the Boisar station, who were unable to halt the train on time.

It was when the train halted for a minute at Palghar station that Illyas was arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and charged under Section 156 (rooftop travelling), said sub-inspector M S Thakur, chief, RPF, Palghar. Illyas has been produced before the Vasai Railwaycourt.

http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/february/103395.htm

Happy birthday, Thane agiary!

One of Thane?s oldest landmarks, the Cawasji Patell Agiary, completed 225 years this week.

The simple structure near Court Naka that houses the fire temple is hidden behind high walls and foliage.

But worshippers request you to ignore the unpretentious building. ?The agiary is not an imposing structure. But the sentiments it evokes are important, because for over 200 years, it anchored a community to this city,? says Rustom Cursetji, president of the Thana Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman.

The first Parsi to come to Thane was probably Cawasji Patell (C P Tank is named after him) of Suvali village who was appointed the Patel of Thane in the early 18th century. He founded the agiary and the Tower of Silence. Others followed him.

?Since there were no roads connecting Thane to Mumbai, they came by boat to Kalwa Bunder,? said Noshir Kotwal, a former bank employee who now works as a part-time priest at the agiary.

There are an estimated 1,200 Parsis in Thane, a number that is now stable after declining for decades. But no descendents of the Patell family live in Thane.

The community may form a miniscule part of the million-plus population of Thane. But the city is full of institutions that have Parsi connections like the municipal Wadia dispensary, the Khan Bahadur Divecha town hall, Taraporewala garden and the J J School where Bal Gangadhar Tilak is reported to have studied for a few years.

But despite its old and happy history in Thane, some members of the community said they feel helpless about the encroachments on the agiary property by local politicians.

A house that was used by fire temple servants and pallbearers from the Tower of Silence is still under litigation after it was illegally encroached upon.

To mark the anniversary, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is reinstalling a stone tablet marking the road?s name as Agiary Lane. The old marker was destroyed when the road was widened.

Discoveries That Men And Women Made

Discoveries That Men And Women Made
�
The man discovered COLOURS and invented PAINT,

The woman discovered PAINT and invented MAKEUP

The man discovered the WORD and invented CONVERSATION,

The woman discovered CONVERSATION and invented GOSSIP.

The man discovered GAMBLING and invented CARDS,

The woman discovered CARDS and invented WITCHERY.

The man discovered AGRICULTURE and invented FOOD,

The woman discovered FOOD and invented DIET.

The man discovered FRIENDSHIP and invented LOVE,

The woman discovered LOVE and invented MARRIAGE.

The man discovered TRADING and invented MONEY,

The woman discovered MONEY and invented SHOPPING.

Thereafter man has discovered and invented a lot of things...

While the women STUCK to shopping.

PTI on US companies and benefits

The Press Trust of India
February 20, 2005 Sunday

US companies paying employees to look after their health

Washington, Feb 20

Some US companies have begun to pay employees to exercise, eat right and look after their health, a media report said Sunday.

The move is driven by soaring health insurance costs. The companies say the fitter their workers are, the fewer claims they are likely to file, the Washington Post reported.

PacifiCare is among the more ambitious in its incentives. In addition to cash, the health management company offers its 9,100 employees rewards for participating in classes to stop smoking or to manage their diabetes or asthma.

Workers can also earn credit for non-health-related activities, such as trying to manage their personal finances better, learning about art or music, washing their car or teaching their children not to play so many video games. The credits can be converted into iPods, spa certificates, water noodle toys for the pool and other goodies, the report said.

A number of other companies are trying similar approaches on a smaller scale. Many efforts focus on smokers, and some are not voluntary, the newspaper said.

A pil for all ills !!

Aishwarya Rai to Appear on 60 Minutes

The show is scheduled to air on Jan. 2, 2005.


Bob Simon interviews Aishwarya Rai on 60 Minutes.

"The Most Beautiful Woman in the World"

Hollywood December 10, 2004 - America's most prestigious, highest rated and longest running television news magazine 60 Minutes has traveled across the globe to Mumbai, India for an exclusive interview with Aishwarya Rai who is deemed by millions as "The Worlds Most Beautiful Woman."

Aishwarya, or "Ash" as she is more widely known...first burst upon the international stage when her striking beauty, poise and commanding intelligence won her the Miss World crown in 1994.

She is the reigning Queen of Bollywood, the highest paid actress with her 30 films having been seen by millions. She has won numerous acting awards and legions of fans that have dedicated over 17,000 websites in her honor.

Ash became the first Indian actor to be a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. She's also the latest member of the elite L'Oreal Dream Team,joining beauties Catherine Deneuve & Andie MacDowell as their international ambassador. She's graced the covers of countless publications including the prestigious TIME Magazine, with Time also having named her on their list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World Today.

Veteran reporter Bob Simon who conducted the interview has reported stories from all around the world, continuing a CBS News career that makes him one of the most honored foreign correspondents in the business. Throughout his storied and distinguished career, he has covered the activities of numerous major international figures, from Pope John Paul ll's historic visits to
Poland and Cuba to the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The segment is produced by Neeraj Khemlani.


"This will mark the first time in the history of 60 Minutes where they feature an in depth one-on-one profile with a Bollywood star" says Khemlani. "Ash's popularity is global and America will soon get a taste of this international phenomenon," says her manager Simone Sheffield.

Program airs Sunday January 2, 2005 on CBS at 7:00 pm (in all time zones)

US radio jocks air abuse call

Listen to the radio program that was aired

http://www.edrants.com/_mp3/Power99_Call_to_India.mp3

Here is the article for those who don't know what I am talking about

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/988029.cms

Indian cities wrestle with changed names

Indian cities wrestle with changed names

By Ramola Talwar Badam
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOMBAY  You say Bombay and I say Mumbai. You say Calcutta and I say Kolkata. The old rhyme about pronunciation  "Po-tay-to, po-tah-to; to-may-to, to-mah-to"  could be the refrain of most Indians, as well as citizens of other former colonial territories bent on dropping the Westernized versions of city names.

In 1995, the city council of Bombay renamed India's largest city "Mumbai"  after the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi. Nine years on, the financial and entertainment hub is still mostly known as Bombay, although much of the world, including the U.S. government and the European Union, officially accepts Mumbai.

Bombay's rechristening triggered the renaming of several Indian cities in a show of muscle-flexing by municipal officials. Madras in southern India, which gave its name to a cloth print popular in the 1960s  became Chennai, a shortened version of the name of an Indian who once owned the land on which the city grew. The eastern city of Calcutta  infamous in British history for the brutal imprisoning of colonials in the "Black Hole of Calcutta" Kolkata.

This renaming can create peculiar problems. Tour operator Hameed Shahul, for instance, notes
that since the southern state of Kerala renamed the old city of Calicut six years ago, some tourists have insisted they want to visit both Calicut and Kozhikode  which is the city's new name.

"I have to convince tourists that both cities are the same," Mr. Shahul said. Adding to the confusion, many top institutions have stuck with the old names. It's still Bombay High Court, Madras High Court, Calcutta High Court and Cochin High Court because altering these would require an act of India's Parliament. The Bombay Stock Exchange, Bombay Gymkhana club and the University of Madras also kept their names, for tradition's sake. When the Kerala city of Cochin was renamed Kochi, administrators at the Cochin University of Science and Technology kept the old name
because they feared the school could be confused with Japan's Kochi University.

"Some people argue that by changing names India is becoming more patriotic," said K.V. Kunjikrishnan, the university's registrar. "But I strongly feel that ... it is a political smoke screen to impress people and get votes."

Sharda Dwivedi, author of two books on Bombay, feels name changes distort history. "You can't eradicate 300 years of history," she said. "I personally think the collective memory of people is what really matters, even in terms of heritage."

Sometimes renaming proposals are provoked by misplaced ideas that the familiar names are linked to British or Portuguese colonial history. A couple of years ago, downtown Bombay's Laburnum Road was to be renamed because of the British ring to the name. "Then someone said, 'But that's a tree, not an Englishman,' " Miss Dwivedi noted, alluding to the golden-yellow flowered native Indian laburnum trees that line the street. To be politically correct, some businessmen carry
two sets of visiting cards, presenting one with Mumbai's new name to government officials and the
other with the older, better-known name at international seminars.

"They don't want to upset protocol if they're dealing with any officials," said Gul Tekchandani, chief investment officer of Sun F&C, a Bombay-based brokerage.

There is reason for caution. In Bombay in the late 1990s, workers of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party blackened signs on businesses and schools that did not use Mumbai. Last June, activists vandalized signs on cobbled streets in western India's Goa state to demand the renaming of 14 roads with Portuguese names.

India's colonial past included British, Portuguese and French rule in different regions. And in a nation with 18 official languages and hundreds of dialects, Indians are divided over renaming efforts.

In Calcutta, Bengali grocer Tapan Mondal said the city's renaming "made no difference because we never used Calcutta. For us it was always Kolkata in our conversations."

But Mita Dutta, a consumer rights activist, said she uses Calcutta in most conversations. "To say
Kolkata is a conscious effort." India is not alone. South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are among many countries that have renamed provinces and cities.

Sri Lanka, the island nation off India's southern tip, dropped the British-era name of Ceylon. The
revised name, meaning "island," was used in early times and derived from ancient Sanskrit. But the Bank of Ceylon, Ceylon Petroleum Corp. and even the Ceylon Tourist Board have stuck with the colonial name.

Some countries merely corrected spellings based on faulty British pronunciation of unfamiliar languages. Bangladesh changed the spelling of its capital to Dhaka from the British Dacca. Similarly in China, the government changed from Peking to Beijing in the 1950s to bring the spelling closer to the Chinese pronunciation and later turned Canton into Guangzhou.

In western India, where India's name changing all began, Pramod Navalkar, leader of the right-wing Shiv Sena party that spearheaded the change to Mumbai, says things may be getting out of hand.
"It began with cities, then roads, then intersections. Now even street corners are being renamed," Mr. Navalkar said. "Everybody gets confused." He added, chuckling: "Many a time I also say
'Bombay.' "

AP reporters K.N. Arun, Pamela D'Mello, V.M.Thomas and Nupur Banerjee contributed to this story.

Up there, at 120 km an hour!

Up there, at 120 km an hour!
By: Ram Parmar
February 11, 2005

Palghar: Mohammed Illyas Ali (44) of Vapi wanted to reach Mumbai fast
and cheap. So he chose to travel on the rooftop of the 2954 Up New
Delhi-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani Express. But his joyride ended soon
as he was detrained by alert signalling staff at Palghar, last week.

According to reports, Illyas, a father of six and a carpenter by
profession, wanted to meet his friend at Goregaon. At Vapi station, he
purchased a Rs 25 shuttle ticket for Borivali.

But suddenly he spotted the Rajdhani Express, which had halted at Vapi,
and without thinking twice, climbed on the rooftop of the S-7 bogie and
stayed put.

The train hurtled at a top speed of 120 kmph, but it did not frighten
Illyas, who waved at shocked bystanders when the train whizzed past
stations.

However, the Vangaon signal staff did not find it amusing and promptly
informed the Boisar station, who were unable to halt the train on time.

It was when the train halted for a minute at Palghar station that Illyas
was arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and charged
under Section 156 (rooftop travelling), said sub-inspector M S Thakur,
chief, RPF, Palghar. Illyas has been produced before the Vasai Railway
court.

http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/february/103395.htm

Commentary: Chinese Century? Not So Fast

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/14/bloomberg/sxpesek.html

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Commentary: Welcome to the Chinese century? Not so fast
By William Pesek Jr. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Everyone has an opinion on who will lead Asia in the years ahead,
including the Group of 7 industrial nations. This month, the group
clearly seemed to be putting its money on China.

The wealthiest industrialized nations have not exactly said that India
will play second fiddle to China, having invited both nations to
attend their Feb. 4 meeting. Yet the G-7's almost linear focus on
China and its currency policy leaves little doubt about which country
it is betting on. The same is true for the policy-making elite who
gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this year.

All this matters because the G-7 is realizing that Asian nations'
economic might will one day rival or even eclipse its own. This
region, after all, is home to many of the world's most vibrant
economies, ones that will increasingly alter the G-7's clubby way of
viewing the global financial system.

Markets also are trying to digest recent investment bank reports
arguing that China and India will become the world's second- and
third-biggest economies sooner, rather than later. In the age of
globalization, size matters more than ever; the bigger the economy,
the more long-term investment it seems to attract.

As bond and stock markets in the two Asian giants grow along with
gross domestic product, G-7 members may have a harder time remaining
on investors' radar screens.

Yet G-7 ministers and investors should think twice before downplaying
India's potential relative to that of China.

China is the heir apparent, according to conventional wisdom. Its 9
percent pace of expansion is largely responsible for Asia's rapid
economic growth in recent years. It is the world's leading destination
for foreign direct investment.

Yet Daniel Lian, a Singapore-based economist at Morgan Stanley, can
think of at least two reasons to be optimistic about India.

First, economic forecasters have a poor record of predicting the next
economic megatrend. Second, India could spring a few surprises that
haven't entered the calculations of global investors.

Remember how everyone assumed that Japan would lead the so-called
Pacific Century? The decline of Japan's economic might, however, along
with China's rise since 1994 and the collapse of the Asian tiger
economies in 1997, have altered the dynamics for this century.

It is not clear to what extent the rest of Asia will be able to
compete with China's low wages and growing market share. The
phenomenon is not unlike how Wal-Mart Stores is shaking up the U.S.
economy - only China's impact globally will unfold on a much larger
scale.

Another big question is the fate of China's banks, which have been
undermined for decades by an institutionalized misallocation of
capital with little regard for international norms of risk management
and the extension of credit. Rating agencies think it will cost
several hundreds of billions of dollars to resolve their bad loans.

Enter India, which has a measure of economic and political stability
that will take China years to develop.

Hovering constantly above China's economy is the question of whether
it can complete the transition from socialism to capitalism - and
whether the Communist Party can hang on to power.

India, for all its warts, is not preoccupied by such risks. Its
troubles include a massive national debt, a daunting poverty rate, an
inefficient and bureaucratic government and ramshackle infrastructure.
Yet India's entrepreneurial vigor, as seen in companies like Infosys
Technologies, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Wipro, is more impressive
than China's.

India's financial markets are also more developed. China, unlike
India, does not have much of a bond market, for example. Indian
companies have big head start and a significant advantage when it
comes to raising capital in the debt markets. What China must build
from scratch, India already has up and running.

A big push into export-oriented manufacturing also is under way in
India. While China is clearly ahead on that count, India's efforts
could contribute significantly to poverty reduction, by creating jobs
for those without the skills to enter India's software and call-center
industries.

Western investors, says Lian at Morgan Stanley, ultimately could favor
India over China. Reasons include India's well-established democracy,
the belief that the nation is better equipped to protect intellectual
property rights and fear of China as a geopolitical competitor.

Yes, China has vast potential, but so does India. You would think that
the G-7 would be hedging its bets on which economy will dominate Asia
a generation from now. It may not be the one they think.

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Al-gebra

At New York Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule and a calculator.

Attorney general John Ashcroft believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a very fearsome cult, indeed", Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on a tangent in a search of absolute value. They consist of quite shadowy figures, with names like "x" and "y", and, although they are frequently referred to as "unknowns", we know they really belong to a common denominator and are part of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the great Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say,� There are 3 sides to every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

�