New Tax at Mumbai Airport from 1 April

Please keep an extra 600 Rs with you when you travel from 1st April at Mumbai
Airport. Please forward to all your relatives & friends so that they dont face any

problems at the airport.... 

Passengers to pay for Mumbai airport modernisation 

Mumbai airport on Friday became the fourth airport in the country to be allowed to
levy a development fee from passengers to bridge the shortfall in funds for
modernising the facility.

The government approved collection of Rs 100 from outbound domestic passengers and
Rs 600 from international passengers from April 1. The fee would be in force for
four years, but be reviewed after six months.

The Mumbai airport modernisation project cost is pegged at Rs 9,802 crore and the
Mumbai International Airport Ltd has been allowed to raise up to Rs 1,543 crore
through the development fee. However, if the project cost escalates beyond Rs 9,802
crore, MIAL would have to tap other fund sources. 

New airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore have been charging a development and DIAL,
which manages the New Delhi airport, too was allowed to charge the development fee,
although the move has come in for criticism from global airlines' body IATA. 

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had on Thursday said such fees could be
imposed even at airports being modernised by the state-owned Airports Authority of
India. The massive aviation infrastructure required in India "cannot be made on such
a scale without the contribution from passengers and other stakeholders," he had said. - PTI

Source: Now, Mumbai airport to charge devt fee: Business Standard

Times Food Guide 2009: Awards - Ahmedabad

Hi Guys

Well as you all know I am a food junkie and so many of your are. Well here are these years Times Food Guide 2009 Awards: 

- Best Coffee Shop: Cafe Piano 
Awarded by: Payal Rohatgi Awardee: Hemant Somani 
My Verdit: Agree

- Best North Indian Food: Barbeque Nation 
Awarded by: Parthiv Patel Awardee: Munawar Garbadawala 
My Verdit: Can't Say as Not tried Yet. But Mirch Masala is Good.

- Best Mithai Shop: Kandoi Bhogilal Mulchand 
Awarded by: Devang Patel Awardee: Kamlesh Kandoi, Nitin Kandoi and Aakash Kandoi
My Verdit: Agree

- Best Gujarati Food: Agashiye, House of MG 
Awarded by: Manjula Pooja Shroff Awardee: Dharmendra Rawat 
My Verdit: Agree.

- Best Confectionery Shop: Cafe Upper Crust 
Awarded by: Umang Hutheesing Awardee: Lester and Monisha D’Souza 
My Verdit: Agree

- Best Mexican Food: Tomato’s 
Awarded by: Dushyant Joshi Awardee: Pranav Joshi 
My Verdit: Agree. 

- Best South Indian Food: Dasaprakash
Awarded by: Raksha Bharadia Awardee: Mukund Singh 
My Verdit: Can't say. I am baised to Sankalp

- Best Desserts: The Chocolate Room 
Awarded by: Payal Rohatgi Awardee: Chaitanya Kumar 
My Verdit: Disagree. Shocolatery and Upper Crust is better

- Best Italian restaurant: La Feasta 
Awarded by: Hiten Vasant Awardee: Alpesh Shah 
My Verdit: Agree

- Must visit for tourists: Vishalla 
Awarded by: Pravin Mishra Awardee: Raju Bhai 
My Verdit: Agree

- Best Chinese food : Oriental Pavillion, Fortune Hotel Landmark 
Awarded by: Ishira Parikh Awardee: Team Oriental Pavillion 
My Verdit: Not Sure. Haven't tried yet. 

- Best Coffee Bar: Cafe Coffee Day 
Awarded by: Dr Ganesh Nayak Awardee: Balaji K 
My Verdit: Disagree. I would rate Lodge9 and Mr.Beans over CCD.

- Best vegetarian snacks restaurant: Swati Snacks 
Awarded by: Anjou Musafir and Karl Antao Awardee: Shaan Jhaveri 
My Verdit: Agree

- Best Ambience: Vishalla 
Awarded by: Anil Relia Awardee: Raju Bhai and Smita Patel 
My Verdit: Not Sure. It depends as what kind of ambience we are looking. Is it traditional or wester etc.. and even in traditional I would vote Rajwadu over Vishalla.

Pictures of the Winners: http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1295/winnder.gif

Jai Ho Mania

Since A.R.Rahman have won the Oscars, it's been a crazy Jai Ho!!! Mania around India.

There are lot of merchandise available with "Jai Ho" on it.

Recently I read some party was organized with Jai Ho Theme.

Also their were Holi colors with Jai Ho Name on it. And yes, you can also buy the t-shirts at http://itemraja.com

well oh well...that's not it here are two Jai Ho versions:

1. The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)

2. Congress buys Jai Ho rights for $200000

Lead India ' 09

Well Lead India was a great show from last year. It was one of those few shows that I used to watch. And here we go again. This year it have started a great website towards election. Check it out. Also check the Vignettes of Leadership and Ignite your mind from news room section. It also has nice political cartoons and wallpapers and section called Leadership vaccum. Check for your self and GET INVOLVED. 

Also since we are talking about elections and websites, there is also one very good website which is worth visiting - www.jaagore.com

Websites:

Lead India '09

Jaagore.com

Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General Motors!!!!

Never underestimate your Clients’ Complaint, no matter how funny it might seem!

This is a real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its
Customer-Care Executive.


Please read on.....

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

This is the second time I have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not
answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in
our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice
cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which
kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it.

It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to
the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my
car won’t start.

If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine.

I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds

“What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream,
and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?”

The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an
Engineer to check it out anyway.

The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man

in a fine neighbourhood.

He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the

car and drove to the ice cream store.

It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the

car, it wouldn’t start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights.

The first night, they got chocolate. The car started.

The second night, he got strawberry. The car started.

The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was
allergic to vanilla ice cream.

He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the
problem.

And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time
of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other
flavour.

Why? The answer was in the layout of the store.

Vanilla, being the most popular flavour, was in a separate case at the front of the
store for quick pickup.

All the other flavours were kept in the back of the store at a different counter
where it took considerably longer to check out the flavour.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less
time.

Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!!

The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapour lock”..

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavours
allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start.

When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapour lock to
dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple
only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.

Don’t just say it is “IMPOSSIBLE” without putting a sincere effort....

One-man marketing army

Aamir Khan does not employ a marketing agency to help him devise all those ideas behind his film promotions.

A few weeks before Ghajini was to release, I found Aamir Khan’s handwritten note resting at my desk. Although it is now old news that he had written personally to a select few journalists — a marketing gimmick of sorts — it was also a glimpse into the actor’s marketing skills.

While Ghajini broke box-office records and emerged as one of biggest hits of 2008, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, another film marketed by Khan, emerged as one of the more successful movies of 2008.

Clearly a one-man army, whose endorsements aren’t managed by any celebrity management company (“he’s his own manager,” confirms a spokesperson at Spice PR, a company that does marketing for most of his films), Khan may not have beaten Shah Rukh Khan’s number one position in the endorsement market (source: TamAdEx, 2008), but still commands the highest fee, as an insider explains. “While others charge Rs 10-12 crore for a period of three-five years, Aamir Khan charges Rs 12 crore per endorsement for one year,” reveals this source.

According to his spokesperson, “Aamir has a wide net of endorsements, ranging from colas, to watches to mobile phones to even socially relevant causes. He works on just one condition; he needs to believe in the brand that he endorses.”

Little wonder then that people who’ve worked with him closely insist that Khan is so serious about his brand that if one meets him, he’ll be found drinking Diet Coke (for which he had, reportedly, charged Rs 6 crore in 2003 and renewed it recently for Rs 10 crore), eating Parle G between shots, wearing only Titan, driving an Innova, watching TV on Tata Sky at his residence and talking only, and only, on Samsung. What’s more, he also has two honorary endorsements including “Incredible India” — the commercials of which were on air recently — and the Lead India campaign. And though he doesn’t like delving into details, some of his friends say that Khan does make time to reach even far-flung destinations to teach children in the interiors of the country.

“He adds a very sharp sense of credibility in all his endorsements,” says Harish Bijoor, brand specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, who has also met the actor personally. “He may not be the most down-to-earth person but that’s not what you see on screen,” he says, adding that Khan’s biggest asset in terms of endorsements is that he still remains one of the “freshest faces in the industry with immense experience and talent on his side”.

What’s more, says Bijoor, “while in most endorsement deals you don’t find an immediate connect, all of Aamir’s brands are immensely personal. You can feel his involvement in promoting the brands that he endorses.”

Khan works on the creative aspects of the advertisements personally and that’s a reason why, for instance, the marketing skills extend to almost all of his films that he supports and acts in. Ghajini’s release, for example, saw a special Samsung handset which was promoted in the film.

A leading multiplex owner reveals that before the release of the film, some multiplex owners even met the actor at his Panchgani residence where he worked a marketing campaign personally for Ghajini. What followed later was the now-famous haircut that was sported by employees in select multiplexes.

How does he manage to reinvent himself again and again? According to a Spice PR spokesperson, “Aamir doesn’t have any brand manager planning anything for him. He just does everything on his own. So if he believes in a cause, he’ll do it, not worried about what others might think.” Bijoor adds, “There’s one major difference between Aamir Khan and the others. Audiences, without putting him on a pedestal, can relate to him. They want to hear what he says, because he’s very seriously involved.” Prathap Suthan aka Pat, national creative director, Cheil Communications, feels that Khan fits the bill for the Incredible India campaign because he just carries tremendous respect. Suparna Mitra, global marketing head, Titan, says, “The fact that Aamir constantly reinvents himself — on his own — and is a leader in his field, makes it beneficial for us to have him as a brand ambassador.” Samsung, in fact, has emerged from the number four position to number two position in GSM handsets, within just a year of being associatewith the actor, says Asim Warsi, GM (marketing), mobile division, Samsung Electronics. Even Vikram Kaushik, CEO & MD, Tata Sky, feels that Aamir’s association with the brand has been immense. “He’s willing to take up challenges, even if it means having his face half made-up as a woman, and another half, as a man,” he adds, speaking about the Tata Sky advertisement that was on air sometime last year.

With films like Delhi Belly (an adult comedy) and 3 Idiots (loosely based on Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone) coming out from his production stable, Khan is already working out logistics to promote them to his audiences. He knows the art of marketing and this time round too, success will continue to be Khan’s second name.

Article by: Abhilasha Ojha in Business Standard

Bollywood's Copy Machine

We all have seen Bollywood pictures been copied / plagiarize / inspired from Hollywood. (If you want a partial list of movies that's been so called "INSPIRED" from the english films then visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood_and_plagiarism)

But poster ....yeh... posters are also been copied now a days.  Here are some posters that's been plagiarized... enjoy

Interesting Links:

http://www.bollywhat-forum.com/index.php?topic=6458.0

http://www.bollycat.com/

Pirates of Caribbean - The League of Extra. Gentle. - Eklavya

 

Zameen - Enemy at the Gates

Hum Kaun Hai - The Others

 

South indian movie - 3 iron

Naksha - Sahara

 

Alag - Shawshank Redemption

JodhaAkbar - Matrix (look at the style... even doom2 had similar promos)

 

Jism - D&G ads

Krish - Step (event krish have other copies from Dare Devil and Matrix)

 

Hangama - Greek Wedding

Gulal (coming soon) - Shield

Naye Padosan - Aitraaz - Graduate (I loved aitraaz and graduate)

Being Cyrus - He died with a Felafel in his hand

Drona - Brotherhood wolf (even drona have many copies from matrix)

 

Bhoot - Final Dest.

More Indians find 'superior' career options at home than in US

Well here is an interesting article from Mr. Vivek Wadhwa - who is a Professor at Duke and Researcher at Harvard.

New York, Mar 2 (PTI): Uncle Sam's land may not be as attractive a destination as widely believed, as a survey shows that many Indian immigrants found professional and career prospects far better in their home country than in the US. Besides, in several cases, better career avenues back home influenced their decision to return. The study conducted by Harvard professor Vivek Wadhwa surveyed highly-skilled immigrants, who had worked or received their education in the US and later returned to their home countries.

"Respondents strongly indicated that they felt that professional and career opportunities at home were superior to those in the US. Eighty four per cent of Chinese and 68.7 per cent of Indian respondents stated that better professional opportunities were strong factors in their decision to return home," the study titled 'America's loss is the world's gain: America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part IV' said. The survey, which covered 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants, revealed that better career opportunities was the reason for more than 63 per cent of the Indians to come back to India.

Above aticle is from Yahoo! Business News

Also who can find more info. about the article at:

American Public Media: Marketplace

America's Loss, The World's Gain

And yes... as most of you have already guessed - the reason I find this article interesting is cause I think there are good opportunities in India then past.

Congress loses battle of websites

For want of an up-to-date website, will the election be lost? This is a question that the Gujarat Pradesh Congress should ask itself. While Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is legging it across Gujarat, trying to attract professionals and youngsters to join his party, the website has not a single mention of his efforts. The website fails to list Rahul’s Youth Congress membership campaign for which he has already visited the state thrice. And though the whole exercise is being conducted to attract youngsters, most of whom are net-savvy, the site does not even have an online membership form! 

What’s more, BJP’s present MLA Devusinh Chauhan, who had defeated senior Congress leader Narhari Amin in Matar assembly, is displayed on the permanent invitee list of the state Congress on its website. Devusinh was a Congress leader. But the BJP offered him the Matar seat in 2007 assembly election and he won from that seat under the BJP banner.

The BJP has been tapping the power of the Internet since the last elections. This time, to portray its 81-year-old prime ministerial hopeful L K Advani as an experienced man with a young heart, the party members have created an exhaustive website. It has 800 pages, 250 videos and 4,000 photographs and is interactive! The party has even put out five ad campaigns on 2,000 websites, including those of the US, British and Pakistani media, which are frequented by Indians. 

NOT WITH ‘IT’ 

In contrast, the Gujarat Congress has not even updated the list of their new office-bearers. “I heard Rahul Gandhi was in Ahmedabad. Thinking that the Gujarat Congress website would be the best place to check out for news and photographs of the visit, I logged on and received a shock to see how behind times Congress was. Rahul has been visiting the state like never before to strengthen the party base, and there was not a single word about his work. If the Congress wants to enrol youngsters, the first thing it should have done was upload an online membership form. Even that is missing,” said Dhaval Karia, student of Gujarat University. 

Prashant Makwana, a young entrepreneur who checked out the website after Rahul’s visit, said: “Even the party press release is from 2008. The website mentions a cycle yatra and Janmitra programme which was held before the last assembly elections. 

But, recent party programmes like Abhay Udaan — attended by Rahul Gandhi — were not listed. The Congress talks of Rajiv Gandhi’s 21st century dream. The National Knowledge Commission is headed by Sam Pitroda, who is fully backed by the Congress. And yet, their website makes it clear that they have to usher in the IT age.” 

CASTING WEB WIDE

In the war of websites, Gujarat Congress lags far behind the BJP’s IT cell which has 75 office-bearers to maintain their websites and other IT dealings. 

  When this reporter contacted Congress state president Siddharth Patel, the leader asked him to call back later. Contacted the second time, Patel said: “We have upgraded the website.” The site now has photographs of Abhay Udaan and a ticker blinking the message ‘Join Youth Congress’. However, Devusinh continues to figure in the invitee list, and the membership form still remains missing. 

Taking a lesson from Barack Obama’s book, Rahul Gandhi had also planned to launch a website where the youths could share their ideas on framing policies. However, all his efforts to enrich the state Congress with young blood may go down the drain, if the party fails to realise that out of site is out of mind in this age of technology.

Source: AM BUREAU

Some Political websites:

http://lkadvani.in/eng/

http://aicc.org.in/home.php

http://www.barackobama.com/

http://www.narendramodi.in/

Selling the Sun: Jigar Shah

Hi my cousine Jigar Shah's review is the cover story of OnEarth. The article is been written by Michael Behar and is been in the Spring 2009 issue. Check it out:

http://www.onearth.org/article/selling-the-sun?page=all