Alliance University in Bangalore .. "out of awe ..."

A beautiful academic campus exists in South Bangalore, http://alliance.edu.in  

I got the opportunity to meet the Director of Alliance University, Mr. Sudhir Angur, B.Tech (IITB)  last week. This private University in Anekal on the Karnataka-TN border is set to go great heights and places in the next few years ..  see the video to catch a glimpse of the world class campus .. http://bus.alliance.edu.in/asp/wt.asp

The chancellor is Dr Madhukar Angur, NITK, IIMA and Ph.D. Uty of Texas (Austin). Dr. Angur was the David M. French Distinguished Professor in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan for many years ..   http://alliance.edu.in/html/profile-of-the-chancellor.html

Profile of their BSchool..   http://bus.alliance.edu.in/

An example of how reverse brain drain can benefit the country .. Really able, talented, highly qualified technocrat promoted Centre of Learning right here in the technology capital of the country, Bangalore.

This mail is just born out of the "awe" and dreams, human enterprise is capable of weaving !!

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The contributions of Oceans to global economy ..

Truly, today's businesses neglect the contribution of oceans to the survival of humans on planet earth. They take Oceans to be a "given to humans" and tend to exploit it to the maximum without ever considering the value it creates to human life on planet earth.

As per 2010 figures to the global GDP of $ 60 trillion, the oceans have added a hidden and unnoticed $ 70 trillion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_economy,

Why oceans are key to the global economy (courtesy Reuters .. )

If Oceans were not there, world climate would have gone topsy turvy .. The contribution of ocean currents and the resultant trade winds to trade and world climate is beyond any comprehension. The Pacific Ocean (28% of earth surface, avg depth of 4km and max of 11 km)  by itself covering about 155m sq.km is the largest of all the five and is app equal in size to all landmass on earth and slightly less than all the other oceans put together (180m sq km) !!

It contains water equivalent to 155,000,000,000 sq.m x 4,000 m = 620,000,000,000,000 cu. m of H20, ie. app. 620 trillion cu.m of water !

http://geography.about.com/od/locateplacesworldwide/tp/fiveoceans.htm

Oceans help us in many ways,  besides giving oxygen, controlling global climate and rain ( that hidden source of water which nourishes the water bodies of the earth and its flora and fauna annually), it offers sea food, trade opportunities (80% trade volume and 40% trade value), tourism, livelihood to people, supporting other species (almost 50%), storing CO2 reserves and the like...

Let us appreciate nature around us and not belittle its contributions to making our human existence so pleasant ..!

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Innovations in Low cost healthcare - need of the times ..

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-12-30/news/30572877_1_speciality-clinics-glocal-healthcare-rajat-goel

Wharton India paper on Innovations in healthcare ..

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History of Kerala of 3000 years unfolds at Muziris - present day Kodungalloor ..

Indian History is replete with all great articles about the Mughals and Kings who invaded North India. Very less is written of south Indian history except the Cheras, Cholas etc .. I was really bored reading about them ..

Recent archaeological excavations at Kodungalloor reveal history of 3000 years, where old Roman earthenware 200 BC and Drachma coins of 100 AD were found in Muziris, the present day Kodungalloor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muziris   . The flooding of Muziris in 1341 AD led to the growing importance of places north like Calicut and South like Kochi, Alleppey etc.. Wonder why this grand history of Kerala lay hidden for so long when all evidence points to the rich and vibrant trade it enjoyed with Greek, Roman and Arab empires about 2000-3000 years back.

Feeling proud of my state that our forefathers were all so enterprising, industrious, active, rich and influential .. And feeling doubly good that I have not severed links with my homeland .....

Was reading some time back an article in Frontline magazine (feb 16, 2012) on Indian history ( http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2902/stories/20120210290208900.htm ) which said a very startling fact - India is a country of immigrants who came to this land for almost 10,000 years.
Quote : The original inhabitants of India, as it is believed now, were the pre-Dravidian tribal people such as the Bhils, the Santhals, the Gonds and the Todas. Called Adivasis or Scheduled Tribes, they form hardly 8 per cent of the population today. ; unquote.
In the whole history of India only at two points of time have natives left their homeland. The first was in 19 th century when poor Indian peasants were sent to Fiji, Mauritius and West Indies as plantation labourers and the second was the diaspora of highly qualified engineers and doctors migrating over the last 30-40 years to all parts of the world (because of limited opportunities back home). At no other point have native Indians,( the fair skinned Aryans and the dark skinned Dravidians who have come to this land over 10,000 years) ever left their homeland !! All through India has only attracted people from all over !!

i.e. even our forefathers in Kerala have migrated from other parts of the world, though as Dravidians we claim to be the real inhabitants of the land - a theory which is being disproved now.. Maybe our roots go back to Arabs / negroids from Africa and so on ..

Hope the history from Kodungalloor will open up new perspectives of how the peoples of the world traversed the oceans, traded and communicated with each other and civilizations evolved over the last 5000 years ...

Click here for the article in manorama ( in malayalam) to read in detail ..



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Impact of SC ruling cancelling 122 2G licences ..

The Feb 2 SC ruling cancelling 122 2G licences sanctioned since 2008 has ruffled lot of feathers within India as also Norway and Russia govts.

The attached graphic shows how this decision affects the present players in the market. The new players have stayed back in the 2G arena and have managed to get customers thru their lower cost 2G telephony, like for eg. Unitech and Telenor - Uninor, gave 2p/min for U2U ( same network calls, ie. Rs. 1.20 for an hour anywhere in the country).

How this affects India' s political recognition across the world and would attract foreign high tech investors to the country remains to be seen ..

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My first book order at amazon india site www.junglee.com, 40% discount ..

I purchased the book, "Incredible banker" by Ravi Subramaniam from www.junglee.com who is the official channel of amazon in India. A trial purchase ..

Got 40% discount + free shipping while flipkart was offering only 30%. On the net it is easy and fast to switch loyalties ..

Junglee.com offers 1.2 crore items thru 500 product categories and 1200 retailers..

The e-commerce scene in India is hotting up .. the main battle is between flipkart.com, yebhi.com and junglee.com .. The present $ 5 b market is expected to be a $200b market by 2020.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/02/02/in-india-amazon-targets-flipkart-with-junglee-launch/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFV73dyGS6RQ8n88Gxxa9dZ1z6ig?docId=13230e77f05549708d20138c64fff238  (Associated Press..)

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Lake Vostok .. Virgin lake and a mystery land ..

Will this virgin lake buried under antartican ice for 20 million years change human perception of life on earth ? World is eagerly watching what unfolds in the bext few months ..

From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/lake-vostok-antarctica-russians-penetrated_n_1258440.html

First traces of human life appeared on planet earth around 2.5 million years back and the first migration of humans outside of Africa happened about  55,000 years back.

The virgin waters of Lake Vostok have not been touched for almost 20 million years !! To reach the lake Russians have been drilling for the past 20 years for a depth of 4 kms...

Terribly excited to find what the lake has in store to surprise people of the world with .. Unknown forms of life at temp of -100C.

The pollution from Kerosene (used as antifreeze) and freon (as cleaning agent) is a cause of concern for everyone..

http://rt.com/news/vostok-lake-drill-process-703/

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Aboard Vivek Express .. journey thru India ..

83 hours (4 days..), passing thru 615 stations with 55 halts, 4243 kms, 8 states  all for Rs. 673.00 for 2nd sleeper ( AC 3 tier Rs. 1900.00).

The weekly Vivek Express is the longest running train in India and offers the sixth longest ride in the world ..

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/02/riding-indias-railways&fsrc=sky|IPoltis

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