Yup, its tough to believe that a man who lives such a colourful life, flies over the pacific and atlantic oceans in a balloon, jumps off planes, does all kinds of wierd stunts to keep his business in news was dyslexic as a kid.  He had trouble reading, was one of the worst student in class.  But started off his life running a music store, which moved on to record label (Virgin music), music business to one of the most loved airlines in the world (Virgin Atlantic) to running a telecom company (Virgin telecom) to tens of other business.

The book starts off with his exploits on trying to cross the Atlantic in a balloon where he cheats death to his childhood life and then to his music business where his label published such world class music groups like the Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson etc.

The dirty tricks that British Airways use to discredit, defame and try to kill the small and fledging Virgin Atlantic is also described in vivid detail.  The end of which Branson sues the whole top brass of British Airways and gets not only monetary compensation, but also an unreserved apology from the British Ariways brass.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says one of his prime business criteria is “fun.” Fun made Branson a billionaire, and few business memoirs are one-billionth as fun as Branson’s, nor as niftily written. Not only does it relate his side of near-death corporate experiences, it tells how the chairman literally cheated death by gun, shipwreck, and balloon crash.

Branson’s empire–now encompassing interests in an airline, pop music, soda pop, e-commerce, and financial services–began when the dyslexic 16-year-old dropped out of school in 1968 to found the British magazine Student. His headmaster said, “I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.” Briefly imprisoned for dodging customs selling records, Branson got his first million by releasing Tubular Bells, a maverick recording all the stuffy executives rejected. (1998′s Tubular Bells III puts the series’ sales over 20 million.)

Despite wild tales of Branson’s wife-swapping and Keith Richards fleeing naked from Branson’s studio at gunpoint with another man’s woman, the most shocking parts of the memoir concern British Airways’ James Bond-like “dirty tricks” campaign against Virgin Atlantic, resulting in the biggest award for damages in English history.

Though it’s filled with famous names, witty quotes, and pulse-pounding accounts of lunatic balloon adventures, it is as a business thriller that the book really scores. His instinctive bet-the-ranch tactics could cost him all, or earn another billion. Either way, Branson will likely remain the most entertaining entrepreneur in Europe

-source: Amazon

Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way
Author – Richard Branson
Pages – 416
Publisher – Crown Business

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The club confirmed that talks with the Venky’s conglomerate over a £46million deal are close to conclusion and a takeover should be completed next month. The price includes £25m to buy the club from the family of the late Blackburn benefactor Jack Walker and a further £15m to clear debts.

Venky’s managing director Balaji Venkatesh Rao, whose father founded the company, said: ‘It’s very much confirmed and we will be announcing it formally in the next 10 days.

‘It’s a £46m deal. I wouldn’t say that is cheap or expensive but we will have to pump in some more money later on. The money is up front from our own sources. We are not here to compare with anybody but this is a first for India. It’s a prestigious moment for everybody and one we should cherish.’

Read the full article here

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Well, ignore the naysayers.  No matter what we say or do, the first thing the western media likes to portray when it comes to India is a cow standing in the middle of the road.  What they cant seem to understand is how inspite of being the so-called beacons of democracy themselves, the cows of India have so much rights on walking on the roads of India.

Let’s face it.  Poverty sells.  Else the movies of Satyajit Rays and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s of India wouldn’t be patronised whole-heartedly by the western media / public when they are themselves consigned to the garbage by the Indian public (the world’s biggest patrons).  Of course its not easy for some of the snooty public / media in the western world to understand why and how the games could be awarded to a developing nation.  The same happened with the Australia and English cricket teams.  Today they see that their traditional source of power in cricket has been usurped by the BCCI.  Its not easy to accept the truth that you are not longer relevant in the grander scheme of things.   Wiser people accept the truth and mould themselves accordingly to the changing situation.  Fools are buried in the shifting sands of time screaming and kicking.

The collapsed rainbow bridge is up; courtesy the Indian Army which put it up in 5 days flat.  Eventhough, its a bailey bridge, it still does its job of standing up when people walk over it.   The stadiums are ready, the games village has been praised by officials and players from all across the world.  The food has been simply divine (according to the players), there are regular cultural programs and the players themselves are actively participating in them.

Lets admit it, the city of Delhi and its citizens are the biggest benificiaries of the games.  A new world class metro, many flyovers, bridges, roads, parks, traffic lights; in short great infrastructure for Delhiites.

Of course there will be detractors who will complain of child labour being used for the construction of venues (What else will the child do sitting around when their parents are working at the site?  They will also contribute and earn some money…so what’s wrong with it?). Shanties and slums being demolished (they were all illegaly occupying the government land and they were demolished.  Is that wrong?  Why don’t those bleeding heart liberals take each of the families affected by the demolition and give them shelter in their own homes?).

So ignore all the crappy complaints, rest and relax as the biggest ever carnival on the land of India begins tonight.  The opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games gets underway at 1900 hrs IST.  Watch it on TV or at the stadium (if you are lucky to get the tickets).  As for all the ones who complain of human rights abuses and corruption, go and take a hike.  The people of India care two hoots for your complaints.

By yesterday, 6700 players had confirmed their entries to the games making it the biggest Commonwealth Games ever (beating the 5766 athletes and officials who took part in Melbourne four years ago). 71 teams from 54 countries.  Millions of viewers across the world watching the games and a giant alien over the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for the opening ceremony. 5000 years of civilization and the secular ethos of the country will be a part of the ceremony.  Enjoy.

Come out and Play.

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At the end of the day, Kalmadi and his band of merry men still reign.  He is determined to put up a good show fully knowing that the whole country is looking to pin him down on a single mistake of his. Whether all the spending has been worth it or if the organising comittee and the people involved in the same have been corrupt is for time to tell and for the investigative departments to find out.

Meanwhile, lets keep our differences aside and put up a positive cheerful face for the world to see.  With just 16 days to go for the games to happen, i plan to have a roundup of the venues and the changes the games have brought to New Delhi.

First of all, the games village which had a soft opening yesterday and going by the reivews of the people who have seen it, its mighty impressive.  Our crappy media will for sure find some negative points to ham about, but lets look at the brigther side of life.

The gym in the games village

Kitchen @ the games village

Shera looks hungry

Leisure swimming pool @ the games village

Complete schedule of the games and the venues can be seen at the games website here

All pictures courtesy: NDTV

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He writes about the way the police along with the MI5, MI6, and various other investigative agencies put the pieces together in the biggest manhunt ever undertaken in the UK to catch the culprits involved in the mayhem.

Andy also goes about his frustration with the inefficient policing and investigative system; the self centered politician who wants his 2 minutes of fame; the ego clashes within the police department which are neatly exploited by the terrorists etc.

Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, CBE, QPM, was in overall command of the UK’s national counter-terrorism offensive, at the centre of every major terrorist investigation – overt and covert – of the past five years. He handled the Metropolitan Police’s response to 7/7 and dealt with the politically explosive murder of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

Based at New Scotland Yard, in charge of thousands of Special Branch and counter-terrorism officers in the UK and across the globe, deciding strategy, working directly with the Prime Minister with a budget of GBP500 million, Hayman is able to give unprecedented insight into key top-level crisis meetings he attended with intelligence chiefs and political leaders worldwide. In an inspirational and at times heart-breaking account, he describes how he led a dedicated team of men and women, committed to protecting the UK from dangerous enemies. Hayman lived through the pain and soul-searching when terrorists did succeed – and the pride when intelligence officers prevented attacks.

Andy Hayman leaves no holds barred in his analysis of the way law enforcers tackle terrorism. He outlines his radical blueprint for the future to protect the public, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games and beyond. If you thought you knew the stories behind the news, you’ll realise you didn’t until you read this book.

The Terrorist Hunters
Authors – Andy Hayman & Margaret Gilmore
Pages – 352
Publisher – Bantam Press

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India has crossed the $100 billion milestone in FDI through equity since 2000 up to July this year testifying the country’s increasing profile as a safe and sound investment destination in the midst of the global financial crisis.

As much as 44% of the money came through the Mauritius route, apparently because the investors wanted to take advantage of India’s double taxation avoidance treaty with the island nation. The cumulative FDI inflows since 2000 and up to July 2009 amounted to $100.33 billion. The inflows in the first four months of the current financial year was $10.5 billion, according to data compiled by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The other big investors included Singapore, the US, UK and the Netherlands.

Commenting on the $100 billion milestone, economists said India is being perceived as a safe and dynamic destination for global investors. “This is a reflection that India is being taken as a safe and dynamic destination for investment as the economy is growing at 6%. The investors also want to diversify their portfolio from China by investing here,” Rajiv Kumar, CEO and director of Icrier said. The FDI would further improve if the economic recovery continues.

“We did not receive much FDI initially…since 2008 we have started receiving good numbers…there are signs of economic recovery in a few countries and I think inflows will improve with the economic recovery,” Crisil principal economist D K Joshi said.

Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra said FDI not only brings money but also new technology and managerial capabilities. “FDI’s main impact comes from new technology, new managerial capabilities, new benchmarks in corporate functioning,” Mitra said.

Above news source: TimesofIndia

Picture source: The Hindu

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Ajit writes about an imaginary future where the Indian Finance Minister writes to all the bank CEOs, CFOs, Chairmen etc to repatriate the money that they have helped save in their tax havens in countries like Bermuda, Channel Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, Lichtenstein, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Letter to: All Banks in Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA,

Dear mostly-overpaid CEO:

As you are aware, there are a lot of Indians with a lot of “black” money.
You see them when they visit your art-infested offices or when your mostly-overpaid relationship managers wine and dine them to the tune of “hum kale hain to kya hua, dilwale hain”.

Some of this “black” wealth that they have earned – on which they have not paid any taxes – lies in your bank. It may be in a branch at your head office, or it could be deposited in one of the branches that you have so conveniently set up in countries and jurisdictions which allow you global thugs to indulge in legal theft.
Countries like Bermuda, Channel Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, Lichtenstein, Singapore, and Switzerland are some of your favourite hiding holes.

We recognise that there are millions of persons of Indian origin who have bank accounts with you because they legitimately work outside India and use these legitimate bank accounts with you to pay their grocery bills and live their daily lives. This letter is not intended to question your relationship with them.

We are interested in accounts which have the following characteristics:

1. they belong to a holder of an Indian passport,
2. who shows his or her residence to be in India,
3. or, if the first two points are not true, where the signing authority over any individual, trust, or corporate account is held by someone with the above two qualifications.

To make your life easier, I am attaching a list of:

1. all Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies in India since 1950 – and the names of their spouses, children, brothers, sisters, and in-laws,
2. the names of the Top 1,000 founders of companies in India – just as an aside we call them “promoters” because most of them promote the corrupt habits of our politicians and bureaucrats
3. the name of the bureaucrats – and their family members – who have had senior decision-making positions at the federal/central and state government levels since 1950,

This list, enclosed in the attached box, is also being published in the newspapers in India. In no way are we suggesting that all – or any – of the people in this list are corrupt or have illegal wealth. But it is a starting point and shows the seriousness of our desire to get some results. Any person named on this list will still enjoy all the travel benefits and other rights as a citizen of India.

In case your bank decides not to cooperate with us, we will ensure that any assets you own in India will be seized and taken over by the Government of India. Till this investigation is completed, there will be a temporary ban on any sales of your shareholdings and other assets in India.

And, since most of your management have been bred on the philosophy of greed and rewards, we will carry on that tradition to ensure that we get your full cooperation in this matter of national importance.
For every account that your bank helps us identify as a haven for “black” money, we will pay you a fee of 2% for helping us find it.
And we will ensure that your bank gets a license to operate in India as a 100% owned subsidiary to tap the growing banking opportunities in India.

Needless to say, you will be regulated by a proper regulator – the venerable Reserve Bank of India – and not by some tin-pot regulators like the SEC in USA and the SIB in UK that have fallen asleep on the job.
But that should not worry you – there are so many ways to make money without compromising on ethics.

Thank you for your support and, if you need any clarifications, please do not hesitate to call me directly on my mobile.

With regards,

The Finance Minister of India.

P.S.: you will see that my name is missing from the list, and the name of a few other very well known people. Let’s keep it that way. I will discuss with you when we next meet in Davos, Switzerland. Ssshhh till then.

To read the archives of Ajit’s Honest Truth, click here.

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I wonder what is the difference between the terrorists who attacked the city of Bombay and the goons of Raj / Bal Thackeray who regularly kill, injure people and destroy property just to further their political agenda?

Why dont we feel the same pain and shame when a politician rouses communal fears and tries to divide us and makes us fight among ourselves?

What makes the Indian / Deccan Mujahideen / SIMI / Lashkar  any more dangerous than home grown terror like the VHP, RSS, Shiv Sena, Maoists, the Christian fundamentalists in Eastern India?

Is Advani not responsible enough for all the violence we are facing today due to his role in the Babri Masjid demolition?  Is the Congress not responsible for repeated miscarriage of justice by their pseudo secularism and pandering to the extremist muslims?  Is Narendra Modi not responsible for the 1000s of muslims killed under his watch in the Gujarat riots? Is Congress not responsible for the thousands of Sikhs killed in 1984?

And then, why are we surprised that someone from our own country wants to kill his fellow countrymen?  When he/she asked for justice as his house was being burnt, his sister was being raped, where were we?  Why did we turn a blind eye?

All the miscarriages of justice is finally coming home to roost.

We will still bounce back and am sure of that.  But is it this kind of a society that we want to live in?

Raj Thuggeray, the leader of Maharashtra Napunsak Sena (Maharashtra Eunuch’s Army) and the paper tiger leader of Shiv Sena, Balls Thuggeray are so busy setting up vada pav stalls that they have retreated into the kitchens of their houses. The bloody uncle and nephew team that has held Bombay to ransom over their petty anti-North Indian politics are nowhere to be seen.  The NSG, Marine Commandos, RAF and Black Cats from other states of India have to come down to clean up the mess.  How come the Thuggeray family is not complaining now?  Bloody nincompoops.

Narendra Modi after lording over a state that recently was hit by more than 20 bomb blasts at various places tries to blame the central government saying that they are lenient.  For all his show of bravado, i have never seen a bigger coward.  In any other country, he would have been hung on a pole for being a mass murderer. Advani, the ever colour changing chameleon of Indian politics and the biggest terrorist India has ever produced is also busy fishing in troubled waters.

For all my respect for Manmohan Singh, i should admit that when it comes to internal security, he is the worst PM we ever had.  Sorry Mr Singh, i appreciate your honesty, your work in finance and the Indo-US nuclear deal, but you are pathetic when it comes to the security of our country.  It would be great if you could take your bloody incompetent Home Minister, Shivraj Patil (who might be busy at some clothes shop looking for the shirt to wear in the next press conference), your boss Sonia Gandhi and resign.  Please do us a favour.

What about RAW (Research & Analysis Wing), IB (Intelligence Bureau), the spy agencies who were supposed to smell the conspiracy and nip it in the bud?  We have another incompetent National Security Advisor in Narayanan.  He is so bloody camera happy that he has no qualms shooting off his mouth on TV.  Mr Narayanan, i wish you had the same competency in your work, at least these attacks would have had been stopped.  The RAW & IB has not been able to stop at least 20 attacks in different places of India in the past 2 years.  If they even have a shred of shame, heads should roll in all these 3 organisations.

If you cant bloody well protect us, then get the hell out of your seats.  We do not have a choice and that’s why we go back to our schools, work and daily routine inspite of a bomb blast.  Now that’s been bandied about as the resilience of our people and economy.  And, iam sick of being reminded of my resilience when iam being ruled by spineless and incompetent people who instead of saving me and my family are more busy playing politics hiding beind a bullet proof screen and being swamped by some black cats who put their lives at stake so that ingrates like you can live to see another day.

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Everything about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Nuclear Research Centre (CERN) in Geneva is big. The money spent on the project — $3.8 billion — is big. Thousands of scientists, thousands of instruments are part of this mega project.

The 27-km tunnel is the longest for a project of this kind. The instruments which line the tunnel are a few thousand in number, especially the super-sensitive, super-precision magneto-detectors which are key to the success of the super-duper experiment ever in theoretical physics. It is here that Indians make their dramatic appearance, though it is kind of a bit role in the lavish drama. Fifty per cent of those magneto-detectors have been engineered by Indian scientists, right from conception to execution and installation.

What is overlooked in all this number crunching of the elementary kind is that beyond the big budget, big site-laboratory, big instruments and big teams of scientists is that it all stems from a big idea — what is the source of the universe. Without the pioneers’ passion to cross the frontiers of knowledge, to go back to the ancient beginnings — now reckoned to be approximately 13.7 billions years or so — the whole enterprise would be a titanic empty shell.

Consider what nuclear means for most informed Indians? It just brings to mind nuclear power, nuclear bombs, nuclear medicine, not necessarily in that order. But very rarely would it also connote in the minds of these people the teasingly infinite, infinitesimal universe of sub-atomic particles.

Indians will be able to cross this mental frontier if they can stop thinking of science in terms of its utility, in terms of visible technology and its benefits to India.

Click here for the full article

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What the Congress has managed is a far far superior deal than what BJP could do.  No wonder the heart burn among the chaddi gang and the name calling of the Prime Minister.  They simply cant believe that the wily sardar has simply stolen the thunder from right under their nose.

As for the commies, no comments.  One doesnt need to bother much about mad barking dogs.  Prakash Carrot Karat, Bardhan, Raja (all are on the Chinese payroll and hence loyal pets to their masters). They thrive in the gutters and are better left there.

Meanwhile i would love to see Advani’s sorry face.  He’s nowhere to be seen these days.  Maybe he’s reconciled to the fact that he might never be able to become the Prime Minister of India

The group of nations which regulates the global nuclear trade has approved a US proposal to lift restrictions on selling nuclear technology to India. The controversial deal now needs to be ratified by the US Congress before it can be implemented.

India says the deal is vital for it to meet its civil energy demands. The approval came after India pledged to keep its nuclear non-proliferation commitments and to uphold a voluntary moratorium on testing atomic weapons.

The real leaders in the whole deal has been none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and George Bush. Though Bush had nothing to lose even in case the deal fell through, it was Manmohan Singh who staked his career and reputaion at the altar of the nuclear deal.  He’s been called the “weakest Prime Minister” by the eternal Prime minister in waiting LK Advani (he never will sit on that seat).  After decimating the opposition in the no confidence deal, the Prime Minister has marshalled his troops for a fine victory at the NSG.

For months, the oscillation continued till Manmohan Singh upped the ante saying he could not renege on this international commitment on a deal he firmly believed was the best for India. Despite critics from within his party, the support of the Gandhis gave him the backing he needed and it was a transformed prime minister who faced Parliament this July in a dramatic vote of confidence.

Eventually the government emerged victorious with a new ally and without the Left. Closely watching India’s domestic battle over the deal was the White House, the deal a personal legacy for an embattled President Bush. After the Iraq fiasco, the Indo-US nuclear agreement was seen by him as a foreign policy coup and a huge opportunity for American business, something he was willing to go the extra mile for.

On Saturday, as China threatened a walk out, President Bush picked up the phone and called his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, a toned down version of his infamous, ‘you are with us, or against us’ rhetoric.  A pact clinched by two men who couldn’t be more unlike each other, one a flamboyant Texan known for his foreign policy gaffes, the other a mild mannered economist turned politician.

In the end however, the two men came together to push through a historic deal for India amid huge domestic and international opposition.

Above pictures and news courtesy: IBNlive, NDTV, Atomic Archive

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