The bidding war

The Tata CNS bid for Corus has dominated business headlines for days. The price war started with the TATA’s offering 455 pence per share (company value at 4.3 billion pounds) The present offer is 515 pence a share from CNS compared to 500 pence per share from the TATA’s (company value 5.7 billion pounds and 5.1 billion pounds respectively).

The media has been awash with speculations of what the TATA’s might do and what CNS might do. Theories and counter theories of market dynamics. About which company would be a better suitor. Which company would be able to synergise with the company better and what not. Some people have even gone as far as saying that Corus felt it was undervalued by the TATA’s and wanted to increase its valuation by getting CNS to offer a better price.

But there is one important statistic that has hardly been talked about since the first report. Since CNS already hold a 3.8% stake in Corus, even if they fail to win the price war they will still laugh all the way to the bank. 3.8% of 0.8 billion pounds (difference between the two TATA offers) is a comfortable 30 million pounds.

A related article on Canary Warf that had the same price war

Malt March

After being a NITwit four years, people regularly ask me how do people from Surathkal manage to live in a place like Surat. When asked to define what they mean the answer is usually to the effect "Emmm, u know, dry state and all."

Well, for the ignorant out there, Gujarat is the only state in India where the sale of alcohol is illegal. The reason given for this is that it is Gandhiji's home state. "So what?" you may say. Well, the government took it upon itself to impose Gandhiji's philosophy through the rule of law.

But as we all know, when you tell some one don't touch something, it exponentially increases the chances that the person will actually touch it. Bootlegging is as common here as it was in America during the Prohibition. Incidentally it is idea that is said to have fascinated Gandhi (Prohibition, my friend, not the bootlegging)

With prohibition miserably failing to attain what it set out to, many people are questioning the government's policy. One enterprising group has actually come out with the idea of a MALT MARCH. To imitate Gandhi's salt march with a difference. Will it succeed in creating a wound and rubbing salt on it? Only time will tell.

P.S. I plan to post more about this Malt March as and when I get details. So stay tuned.

Black or white?

Rs 50 lakh were paid as ransom for the release of Anant Gupta, the son of Adobe India Chief, who had been kidnapped this Monday. This was revealed on late Friday night with STF launching an operation at Kakod Near Bulandshehar.

Naresh Gupta admitted that he had paid Rs 50 lakh to secure his son's release, a fact that even the Noida police were not told about.

full article

I guess most people assumed (like the kidnappers did i'm sure) that the head of India operations of Adobe would have that much to spare. On the other hand, it looks like our Income tax Department had no idea that there was that much money involved in the business.

The Income Tax Department has slapped a notice on Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta, who had allegedly paid a huge ransom to kidnappers for release of his three-year-old son Anant in November. Additional Income Tax Commissioner Amar Vir Singh has asked Gupta to appear before him on December 28, informed sources said.

The department has sought from Gupta details about his property, bank balance and other things to determine that the alleged ransom amount was not part of any hidden income, the sources said.

full article

While the media kept portraying the helpless family during the 3 day ordeal the second news item was buried somewhere inside. Black money or white money? Your guess is as good as mine.

Who gets to decide what is good for us?

A blanket ban on junk food and colas in school and university canteens countrywide and mandatory yoga classes in schools — that’s Union health minister A Ramadoss’s prescription to fight rising obesity among India’s youth.

"Colas with or without pesticides are harmful for health and should not be consumed. We want all forms of junk food like pizzas, chips, samosas and burgers banned from canteens," Ramadoss said here on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference on nutrition.

And, it’s not merely a statement of intent. The minister is aggressively pushing the proposal. He has written to state health ministers, asking them to plan and implement the ban on junk food — seen as one of the main causes of the rise in heart disease, diabetes and cancer among India’s 300-milion-strong, and increasingly wealthy, middle class.

Man. This is like we are NIT wit's (excuse the pun). That we cant decide what is good or bad for us. That we need someone else to take care of us. Teaching us is one thing. Forcing it down our gullets is something else

Winning is everything

Indian athletics plunged into further gloom and embarrassment as news came through on Sunday that S. Santhi, who won the silver medal in the women's 800 metres in the Asian Games, had failed a `gender test' at Doha.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to withdraw the medal from the Indian athlete and was in the process of officially intimating the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Click here for full story

When i was growing up, i often heard statements like "It doesn't matter who wins or loses. It matters how you play the game" Looks like that was just a load of trash since cut throat competition seems to rule the stage.

How far are we willing to go? I mean, sports and games were meant to be means of relaxing after a hard day's work. But with competition on the sports field hotting up (not just olympics or asian games) ; seems that the only time a person rests is when he is 6 feet under.

Chalk one up for the MODERN way of life.

Pesti Cola round 2

When the CSE went public with "its findings" of pesticide in cola's it was on the front page of almost every newspaper in the country (did i say almost? more like ALL)


Ditto, when the court asked them to reveal their ingredients

Coke and Pepsi told to spill secrets or face ban
INDIA’S highest court yesterday demanded that Coca-Cola should reveal its secret formula for the first time in 120 years.

But yesterday, the Supreme court made a statement during the PIL hearing to the effect "who is asking you to drink it (the colas)? If you have a problem with it, stop buying it!!" The small text of this news article was buried on page 8 of yesterday's Times of India. I thought I would post the whole text here. But guess what???? After half an hour of trying different combinations on google, I still can't get the text.

Am I suprised? I guess not.

Dhoom 2

I watched this much hyped movie yesterday and I can sum it up as mission impossible + a vin disel movie + Bollywood love masala. Oh. i forgot, you will have to divide it by three to get the average.

I agree that the stunts are awesome from a Bollywood perspective. However, the story line that connects these stunts will leave you scratching your head like an ape. Possibly that is what they expect; you to behave like your most primitive ancestors and go "goo gah" over the skin show that happens. Many scenes in the movie seem to be just fillers in between its stunts, the Hrithik - Aishwarya kiss and the figure revealing costumes. If you want to watch this movie, I would recommend leaving your brains outside the theater.