Gagan explores thoughts and ideas on technology and business.
As another round of talks continue, I would like to share a beautiful wallpaper on global warming. The ideation and design has been done by my colleague Animesh Banerjee. The soothing green color is a refreshing change from the dull black that was my screen wall earlier.
You can download the wallpaper by clicking on the thumbnail.
As a part of its golden jubilee celebrations, IIT Bombay has launched a mega event – 10 Great Ideas to change the world in the Next 50 Years.
The message on the website reads: “In this event we invite you, IITB alumni — IITB students — IITB Faculty (current and retired) — IITB staff (current and retired); to submit ideas that you believe will change the world in next 50 years. In essence, these ideas could be the prime movers for the world in the next 50 years.”
The contest will be judged by thought leaders and ideators from across the globe: Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Dr. R. Chidambaram, Former Head of Nanoscience at Cambridge University and Scientific Advisor to Government of UK Prof. Mark Welland, Chief Mentor of Infosys Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Director Forbes Marshall India Naushad Forbes, and Chairman Nicholas Piramal India Ltd. Ajay Piramal, American biologist Dr. Craig Venter, Co-Founder of Intellectual Ventures and former CTO of Microsoft Nathan Myhrvold, among others. The panel will be chaired by former president, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
The last date for entries is October 30, 2008. Check out the 10 Ideas website.
The sale of Bear Stearns at $2 per share to JPMorgan Chase has created headlines globally. The swift end of Bears Stearns is being used as a case example to highlight the laissez-faire philosophy that allowed financial services to spread almost unchecked. I am seeing a lot of debate online on how Fed bailed out the ailing and illiquid Bear Stearns. Separating fact from fiction, Jim Hamilton has done an excellent postmortem of the supposed “bail out” by Fed through JPMorgan Chase.
How the downturn in the US economy affects India is also being debated. Financial experts and economists believe that with liquidity drying up in troubled international Markets, Indian banks are turning to the domestic markets to raise funds for their corporate clients. International banks operating in India have also started to look at ramping up their domestic activities, rather than raise funds at cheaper interest rates from international markets. These are the best of times … These are the worst of times!
Check out the views of our analysts on Budget.
The big daddy of IPOs was around the corner. And voila! It took India by storm. Everyone I know has been talking about the IPO and there is hardly anyone who has not invested in this. As per market reports, the offer has been oversubscribed 73 times. This is the first for an IPO in India. The herd mentality being followed by investors is purely based on the fact that the Reliance Power shares might give them manifold listing gains.
As much as I would like to believe in this hypothesis, there is a good chance that the hype that has built up is going to dilute its listing. I would rather take a cue from similar stocks listed on the market. I believe that Reliance Power might take a significant time to return value to the shareholders. Remember Reliance Petroleum, which is yet to start production? I want to write more but I do not want to be too negative here. Personally, I would love to enter this stock, but only when the valuations seems right. For now, I would rather watch from the sidelines. And of course, the multibaggers in market are aplenty.
Veni, Vidi, Vici!!
Netscribes has opened its second center in Kolkata. As we strengthen our unique positioning in the void created between KPO and consulting firms, Kolkata will offer a largely untapped talent pool as well as immense growth opportunities for our business.
As Sourav said in a recent interview, “Our growth mantra is clearly profitability by providing high-end consultative solutions to clients. With the Kolkata centre in place, we are looking at growing aggressively with a talent pool that can scale up skills wise and not only in numbers.”
I am looking forward to my visit to Kolkata in August. It will be exciting to meet the new members of the Netscribes family and feel the same energy that we have become so used to in Mumbai. I am sure each of the new members of Netscribes family will be getting ready to set on a new career path, embrace the challenges, and chalk out a growth story.
And this is just the beginning …
The inevitable match is now on! As environmentalists continue to raise awareness about increasing global warming, the corporates, who up till now have been rubbishing such claims, have suddenly sat up and started to take notice. The time for “passing the buck” has ended, as rivals join hands to fight a common enemy - global warming. Even though the debate continue to rage about whether global warming is natural or man-made, the fact remains that the temperatures worldwide have risen by more than one degree in the recent past. The match between man and nature has started. It remains to be seen how efficiently nations can manage this crisis.
A lot has been written on the subject of global warming. A recent article in Economist (requires subscription), for example, is particularly noteworthy. The article concerns a recent study conducted by Govindasamy Bala, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California. The recent study suggests that removing all the trees from the planet might actually make it cooler, whereas adding more trees might well make the planet more warmer. Surprised?? … Read on …
Trees help remove atmospheric carbon dioxide through a process called photosynthesis, whereby they take in carbon dioxide through their leaves and give off oxygen. This helps to cleanse the atmosphere of harmful gases and generate more oxygen - the ether of life. Similarly, water evaporating from the leaves and stems of plants, through a process called transpiration, is responsible for local cooling. Bala’s research suggests, however, that trees are also heating the planet by other means. According to the article:
“The reason for this is that trees affect the world’s temperature by means other than the carbon they sequester. For instance forests, being generally green and bristly things, remain quite a dark shade even after a blizzard. They are certainly darker than grasslands smothered in snow, and thus they can absorb more of the sun’s heat than vegetation which might otherwise cover the same stretch of land. That warms things up.
Dr Bala’s model suggests that complete deforestation would cause an additional 1.3°C temperature rise compared with business as usual, because of the higher carbon-dioxide levels that would result. However, the additional reflectivity of the planet would cause 1.6°C of cooling. A treeless world would thus, as he reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, be 0.3°C cooler than otherwise.“
This is still being discussed from a theoretical perspective. However, the article references examples in Russia and Canada though, where chopping down trees has resulted in local cooling. The debate continues and the occurrence of terms, such as carbon trading and energy efficiency, is becoming more prevalent in the media. All the while, global warming has become a greater concern - so much so, that analysts are suddenly concerned about the future of this planet and the wars that this threat might instigate. There are a plethora of measures and ideas being suggested to counter the impact. The choices we make and the decisions we implement will finally determine the future of this planet in the years to come.
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