Indian retail sector seems to be on the upbeat with more entries by multinationals like Walmart. The latest to enter would be UK based Argos.

Seems like the indian consumers are going to get themselves stuffed with options when they decide to go shopping.

Labels: Serious Matter

Is Ipods and portable Mp3 players taking us to an era of semi-deaf generation.

That's what this and this say

Well i should confess that i use the mp3 players very frequently (daily commute to work and on any long journeys..). Infact the latest Sony mobiles profess this trend in their latest ad campaigns for their walkman phone series.

Nevertheless its going to be hard for me to get out of this habit since the practice doubles up as an added protection for me against the very cold wind. I will, but, henceforth reduce the volume (lessen the extent of the damage..)

Labels: Serious Matter

I am not being chauvinistic.. I have seen a lot of binge drinkers of both sex in my rather short period in London (Kudimakkals in Singara Chennai are sometimes far better).

But the Binge drinking crowd in the fairer sex is growing alarmingly nowadays.. I am not opposed to drinkers as long as they can carry themselves well after the session.. Its only when they drink to their full and cause trouble to the fellow people on the roads and on the streets that makes it a sorry state.

See this report

Labels: Serious Matter

After the serial blasts that took Londoners by storm, there is a noticeable difference in the security. We can see more cops on the roads and on the tube stations. I am sure many of those CCTVs that weren’t working for long (performing the work similar to a scare crow) would have been looked into by now.

Anyone causing a slight suspicion is interrogated and bags checked. Though it at times caused discomfort for many, I somehow feel, I am much safer now than before. I noticed something very interesting couple of weeks after the blast (Pretty late to realise the change).

I had finished a can of coke while rushing to catch my tube in the morning (hmmph those early morning rush almost everyday) and when I was searching for a trash can to dump the can.. This is what I found….





So, you would have imagined what would have happened next…
I had to carry that empty can till I reached office where finally I could dump it in the bin next to my workspace. For those who thought otherwise, well I am quite civilized… :-)

Labels: Serious Matter

Read this piece of article in the Indian Express today.. Makes mockery of our civil aviation..

What does the government’s new, ultra-tough policy on hijacking really mean? A look at a ‘breaking-news’ item on TV that we might expect soon...

(0915 hrs): Indian Airlines plane may have been hijacked! According to sources, flight IC-911 with 196 passengers on board took off from Patna for Delhi at 0900 hrs. Air Traffic Control lost contact with plane thereafter. The plane’s transponder appears disabled,” says an ATC official in Delhi.

(0930 hrs): IC-911 located by IAF! A Home Ministry spokesman confirms that the IAF located IC-911 within minutes of its reported disappearance. Two MiG-29s are escorting the plane as per procedure. So far there have been no demands by hijackers. Two members of Crisis Management Group are in Geneva, three in Adelaide; they will hold a tele-conference at 1100 hrs.

(1030 hrs): Anger grows at government apathy. Hundreds of anxious relatives of passengers throng Delhi and Patna airports. “My bhatija’s second cousin’s nephew Tuntun is on it. Why hasn’t the government talked to the hijackers yet? Why shouldn’t they release a few terrorists in exchange for Tuntun?” snarls H.L. Raunak, a Patna businessman. “Are terrorists more important than Auntie Kichkich?” asks socialite Poonam Loneckwali.

(1200 hrs): Protestors lathi-charged! Police use ‘mild force’ to disperse a 2,000-strong crowd gathered outside the PM’s residence to protest against government ‘inaction’ over crisis. Some protesters injured. The PM has appealed for calm. CMG says a tough and proactive strategy will be followed.

(1230 hrs): Hijackers foiled! Acting on the CMG’s recommendations, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, 15 malls, and the residence of the Opposition leader have been blown up. “The hijackers will be left with no targets; we will demolish other vital installations shortly,” says official.

(1345 hrs): Hijack crisis over! IC-911 landed safely at Srinagar airport at 1315 hrs. Turns out that the plane was never hijacked. Sources reveal that the plane’s transponder did not work because of incessant use of cellphones by passengers. Significantly, 185 of the 196 passengers are related to a Union minister, currently lodged in Beur jail and awaiting bail in 37 criminal cases. “We would have landed in Delhi, but found that all runways had been blown up by the government,” explains Capt Joe De Mentia, pilot of IC-911.

(Flash) Capt Joe De Mentia has been arrested for violating air traffic laws. The government has set up an inquiry commission.

The source of the article can be seen here

Labels: Serious Matter