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Darr kay baad hee Jeet hai !..Yesterday was ‘Fear’ful Friday the 13th..today it’s ‘Love’ly Valentine Day!

Kya Life Hai !

Yesterday was Friday the 13th…many carry a Fear  of this Day…the phobhia is called ‘PARASKAVEDEKATRIAPHOBIA’….that’s Greek..’Paraskave’ denoting ‘Friday’ and ‘Dekatria’ meaning denoting ‘Thirteen’ and ‘Phobia’ standing for ‘Fear’

Interestingly the Fear for the Number 13 is called ‘TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA’

Now you know why Some Tall Buildings prefer to label their 13th floor as ‘M’…because it’s the 13th letter in the English Alhabet

And Today it’s February 14…Valentines Day…Love Conquers All…Day to express your Love for Family,Friends and Lovers

Watch out ,this year 2009 even the next month March has Friday the 13th !…November too !

In fact every Month that begins with a Sunday will have Friday the 13th in it…also every calender year will have atleast one Friday the 13th

If you want to know the origins of these Two days,you can google search them easily

What’s Gaelic and what’s Gallic ?

Gaelic is a Noun.It’s a Celtic language spoken in parts of Ireland and Western Scotland and even a part of Canada..It has three variants,Irish,Scottish and Manx…It was on the verge of fading out but there has been a revival of sorts and the Scotland Government is keen to support it’s existence….Barely 100000 people have some ability to speak this language…..As an adjective,Gaelic referes to ‘pertaining to the Gaels’ 

Gallic is an adjective referring to the French or France…However it also could refer to Gaul,a region in Europe that is traced to being largely a part of Modern France.It also could refer to a Gaulic Celtic Language spoken in Gaul before the Roman conquest

Remember Asterix the Gaul ! ..Asterix and Obelix feature in the hilarious Comic Series that pits their Village in Gaul against the Roman Might of Caesar…no matter how hard the Romans try,these shrewd villagers beat them at their own game 

Larsen’s CMD, Mr A M Naik tries to justify increasing stake to 12% in Satyam

This is a gist of the Conference call that Larsen organised today to justify and clarify the 12% stake in Satyam

  • L&T management clearly stated that L&T is no longer just an E&C company. It’s businesses span a range of activities in manufacturing as well as services, including heavy engineering, manufacturing,  power, process engineering and financial, IT and engineering services.
  •  L&T Infotech, with revenues of US$400mn in FY08, has been in the IT services business for 10 years and hence, the acquisition of a stake in Satyam is not an unrelated diversification for L&T.
  • L&T acquired the 1st tranche of 3.95% stake in Satyam after the announcement and subsequent cancellation of the proposed acquisition of Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties by Satyam, but before the news of fraud by Ramalinga Raju was announced. The average market price of Satyam at which the stake was acquired was Rs 174/share.
  • The 2nd round of acquisition of ~8.09% was completed on January 23, 2009 at an average price of Rs 34.share. L&T now holds a 12.04% stake in Satyam, at an average price of Rs80/share.
  • The initial stake was acquired with an intention to form a strategic alliance with Satyam for targeting clients jointly, especially in areas where L&T Infotech and Satyam were competitors.
  • On disclosure of the fraud by the ex-Chairman of Satyam, L&T decided to increase its stake with a view to preserve the value of the already acquired stake and to have a say in any major action the new Board of Satyam would decide about the company’s future
  • L&T’s decision to acquire the additional stake was based on its assessment (and feedback from various stakeholders in Satyam) of Satyam’s demonstrated track record, trained manpower and valuable client relationships.
  • L&T believes that major clients are unlikely to terminate contracts for two reasons – one, most clients are satisfied with Satyam’s services and would likely continue if issues of governance etc are addressed wby the new Board and two, the prohibitive costs of transition to new vendors.
  • L&T’s decision to increase its stake was also in part, influenced by the knowledge gained that Satyam did not have any debt on its books and all its properties were mortgage free and that Satyam has in its possession, 250 acres of land with clear titles.
  • On potential/contingent liabilities, L&T management is reasonably confident of no material impact of the UPaid case on Satyam. However, the management is yet to assess the impact, if at all, the class action suits filed against Satyam in the USA.
  • L&T has acquired the 12.04% stake in Satyam through L&T Capital, which is the designated vehicle for acquisition of all such strategic stakes.
  • The other strategic acquisitions made by the company in the recent past include NIIT Technologies (~5% stake to access markets in Europe where NIIT has a strong presence) and Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers (~14.5%, to leverage Kalindee’s capabilities in EPC and allied services for Railways).
  • The management clarified that the Satyam acquisition, being strategic in nature, L&T Capital will not be providing for any MTM losses in its books.
     
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    Anthropophagy…Came across this Killer ‘Cannibalism’ Word

    Anthropophagy means Cannibalism !…Humans eating other Humans !….It a combination of two words….’Anthropos’ is Greek for Human Being and ‘Phagein’ means to eat

    It is also practised widely on all Stock Exchanges around the Globe

    It’s does not feature in the Oxford English Minidictionary…came across it in the ‘Open Space’ Segment,Page 24 of today’s Times of India Sunday Mumbai Edition

    Years ago,when my family and I had visited the Andaman & Nicobar Islands,we were warned that there were some islands inhabited by indigenous tribes who would not allow us near their island…would shoot poisonous arrows at us if we tried…and were known to practice Cannibalism !….No wonder we just visted only the Capital,Port Blair

    But we did enjoy one unplanned privilege…we had gone by Ship and Captain Kavina of the ‘Nan Cowry’ arranged for us to go by Motor Boat, from his ship anchored a km or two away,to Bar Nicobar…It’s the central island of Nicobar Islands and has a dense Jungle infested with Pythons,around which runs a circular road at the periphery…There are Seventeen small Villages around this jungle periphery and we visted the Chieftain who ruled over of all of them…What a sight ! Obesity and he were friends…. and except for a skirt made from Feathers and Thick Grass he would have been naked…He wore a Crown made of Feathers too….He was sitting on a Cot and was being fed his lunch by several women who were hovering around him…What a Life ! …Our Lunch was a Picnic Hamper…so very thoughtful of the Captain…he had put in a few Beer too !…we had it on one of the secluded beaches on Bar Nicobar…for the record,all beaches on Bar Nicobar are secluded !…No fear of Anthropophagy on this Island…but Pythons are known to gobble humans whole !   

     

    Learnt ‘Filibuster’ and ‘Pusillanimous’ whilst reading on Mugabe of Zimbabwe

    I just love reading write ups in ‘The Economist’…for two reasons really….For One,they always present a comprehensive yet concise and rational viewpoint on Issues and secondly I learn a lot of words

    Take this write up for instance in their July 26,2008 edition on Pages 20 and 22  where ‘The Economist’ agrees on Morgan Tsvangirai,Opposition Leader agreeing to talk with current and controversial  Head of Zimbabwe,Robert Mugabe to try and bring about normalcy in Zimbabwe….Inflation runs at Millions of Percent and state sponsored violence has seen hundreds being killed and thousands been tortured and jailed  

    I learnt two words…

    ‘Filibuster’…means Prolonged Speech which obstructs progress in a law making assembly…It’s used in context to  a suggestion that Tsvangirai should walk away from the Talk if Mugabe cheats and filibusters

    ‘Pusillanimous’…means Lacking Courage and in the article refers to many African nations who had not raised a stink on Mugabe’s terror regime but may be turning against him now but yet remain pusillanimous 

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