WINDOWS 7 in KANNADA - WHAT WE STILL DONT KNOW......Massive Tech News

With today's release of the public beta of Windows 7 Kannada, there are still plenty of unanswered questions related to Microsoft's new OS. Let's examine some of them here.

Windows 7 Kannada editions

The beta build that Connect beta testers, TechNet/MSDN subscribers and the general public interested in testing the OS will bet is the Ultimate flavor. A thousand beta testers have been given access to Windows 7 Kannada Home Premium beta 1 (I'm one of those beta testers). So we know that there will be two versions. Crave has confirmed that there will be a Netbook edition of Windows 7 Kannada too. There's also word of a Professional edition (replacing Business) and Enterprise.

That gives us:

* Home Premium
* Professional
* Enterprise
* Ultimate
* Netbook

We can also assume that there will be "N" sub-flavors of each edition that satisfies the EU that won't have Windows Media Player installed. (and that no one will want)

Is that accurate? Is it complete? No idea ¡Ä we'll just have to wait and see!

What will be in each edition?

No word from Microsoft on this one either, other than to assume that things will be roughly equivalent to Vista.

How easy will it be to migrate to 7 from XP?

This question is a biggie, especially when you consider that XP has a 65% market share, compared to Vista's 21%. Problem is, Windows 7 Kannada Beta 1 doesn't allow testers to upgrade from XP, only from Vista SP1. Why? Not sure. Maybe that feature is unfinished, or maybe it's not as smoother or impressive as going from Vista SP1. Either way, it's odd that Microsoft isn't trying to tempt XP users with Windows 7 Kannada.

Final system requirements

Speaking broadly, Microsoft is telling people that a PC that can run Vista should be able to run Windows 7 Kannada. However, we don't yet have the system requirements for Windows 7 Kannada.

Price

Beyond guessing that it will have similar tiers to those of the Vista editions, there's been no word on pricing from Microsoft.

When will Windows 7 Kannada ship?

Microsoft is sticking to its "early 2010¡í timeline. However, unless something catastrophic turns up during the beta test phase, I really can't see Microsoft dragging out the beta phase for a year.

India grapples with high maternal death rate

In Sindri village in a dirt-poor district of eastern India, Manohar Kumbhakar and his family are still mourning the death of his wife, who died in childbirth aged 25 while being treated by a local quack.

"I don't know what he did to my daughter-in-law. The quack kept me outside the room and later, after almost two hours, he said she had to be taken to a hospital," said Kumbhakar's mother, Helubala. "He later denied he had any role in the treatment."

Every year, about 78,000 mothers die in childbirth and from complications of pregnancy in India, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The figures illustrate how poor women in rural India have largely been left behind by India's economic boom which has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

India's maternal mortality rate stands at 450 per 100,000 live births, against 540 in 1998-1999. The figures are way behind India's Millennium Development Goals which call for a reduction to 109 by 2015, according to UNICEF.

By comparison, fellow Asian giant China's maternal mortality rate has dropped to below 50.

UNICEF's 2009 State of the World's Children report, which was released in January, said India's fight to lower maternal mortality rates is failing due to growing social inequalities and shortages in primary healthcare facilities.

Millions of births are not attended by doctors, nurses or trained midwives, despite India's booming economy which grew at nearly 9 percent in each of the past three years.

Around two-thirds of Indian women still deliver babies at home. Women from the lower castes suffer the most as they are often denied access to basic healthcare.

"It (the maternal mortality rate) is definitely not going down fast enough," Avinash Kumar, Campaign and Policy Coordinator for Oxfam India, told Reuters.

GENDER INEQUALITY

Traditional midwives such as 50-year-old Chapa Sahis are often the only help available for women in labour in remote areas. UNICEF and local authorities offer dais proper training, but Sahis' qualifications are minimal.

"I am not a doctor or even a trained nurse. I have some training to cut the cord with a blade. A doctor can always save many mothers," she says.

Maternal deaths are avoidable with the help of skilled health personnel, adequate nutrition, better medical facilities and family planning, medical groups say.

But poor women, especially in rural India where fertility rates are higher and teenage marriages are common, face an uphill battle to overcome lack of access to medical care.

Indian women get married at a median age of just 17 years. Among women aged 15-19, 16 percent have already begun childbearing, according to the 2005-2006 National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

"The younger a girl is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the health risk for herself and baby," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF's executive director.

UNICEF said nearly half the women who die during pregnancy and childbirth in Purulia, in West Bengal, have no formal schooling.

"Women get pregnant very early with no preparedness to cope with childbirth, at times failing to recognise the signs when they should go to a hospital," said Alpana Mahato, a local nurse.

Women are often sent home prematurely from health facilities, or do not visit them because of a view that the woman was not sick enough to justify the trip, said UNICEF. When they do go, women in labour sometimes face extortion.

"We have found health centre staff in Uttar Pradesh demanding money from poor women for delivery. Many were turned away from the centres and were forced to give birth on the road or the hospital compound," said Jashodhara Dasgupta of Health Watch, a network of activists.

Women's food intake across South Asia must improve if the region's high maternal mortality rate is to drop. More than half of Indian women have anaemia, another potential killer during childbirth, compared to 24 percent of men, the NFHS study said.

"Nutrition and anaemia are huge factors in the MMR (maternal mortality rate)," UNICEF's Kumar said. "Inside the homes, women are the last to get food. They are much more vulnerable and that is why they are dying."

(Additional reporting by Matthias Williams)

Five newborns killed in incubator fire in Patiala

An accidental fire in an incubator killed five newborns and injured another at a state-run hospital in Punjab on Saturday, officials said.

The accident occurred at Rajendra hospital in Patiala where the babies were being treated for jaundice in a special phototherapy machine using special lights.

Police and hospital authorities said a short-circuit could have sparked the fire.

"Five infants were killed before help could arrive," Surinder Kumar, the hospital's superintendent, said.

The babies were all less than a week old and had been fed by their mothers barely 20 minutes before the accident.

The local government has ordered an investigation. The families are being given about $2,050 each as compensation.

Mumbai attack not planned in Pakistan – diplomat

A Pakistani investigation into the Mumbai attacks has shown they were not planned in Pakistan, the country's high commissioner to Britain told an Indian television news channel on Friday.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have exchanged heated rhetoric since the Mumbai attacks that killed 179 people in November.

India says they were carried out by Pakistani militants who must have had support from Pakistani state agencies. Pakistan denies that and says it will cooperate with Indian authorities.

"Pakistani territory was not used so far as the investigators have made their conclusions," Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistan's high commissioner in Britain, told India's NDTV channel in an interview on Friday.

It was the first time a top Pakistani official had commented in any detail about a dossier of evidence that India handed to Pakistan early this month. Pakistan said the dossier contained information, not evidence.

The smoking gun India says it has is Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving member of the 10-man group which attacked several Mumbai landmarks. India says the men were all from Pakistan.

But in what could be an argument Pakistan might make in its report, Hassan said Kasab's nationality did not necessarily prove the hand of Pakistan in the attacks.

"He does come from Pakistan, that doesn't mean that Pakistan has sponsored whatever he carried out in Bombay that day," Hassan told Indian TV channel CNN-IBN.

"We are waiting for the report to be finalised and once the report comes it will make everything crystal clear. We do not think that evidence is credible."

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is in Davos, Switzerland, said the investigation was still going on and its findings would be released "very soon".

"Whatever the dossier, whatever the information ... we are probing into it," he said in comments to an Indian television channel aired by a Pakistan television network.

Asked about Hassan's remarks, Gilani said only the Ministry of Interior was authorised to comment on the investigation.

Gilani repeated a Pakistani pledge that it would not allow terrorists to operate from its territory and anyone found guilty of involvement in the Mumbai attack would be brought to justice.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman in New Delhi said India had had no word from Pakistan about the investigation and he had no idea when it would come.

"NO WHITEWASHING"

Indian analysts said Pakistan was still in a "state of denial", and said India would have to take stronger action.

"India will retaliate, but what will be the form of retaliation will be decided by the government," Naresh Chandra, a former Indian envoy to the United States, told Reuters.

"We will have to show the world that we have exhausted remedies and options. India must confront both the U.S. and the United Kingdom on what Pakistan is saying," Chandra added.

Both the United States and Britain have backed India's assertion that the Mumbai attacks originated from Pakistani territory, but they did not accuse the government of involvement.

Hassan said Pakistan hoped other countries would accept the findings.

"We are not doing any whitewashing business. We believe in going about facts. Our findings will be acceptable," he said.

"They categorically informed me that (the) UK was not involved. Pak (Pakistan) was not involved. Its territories were not used for planning this operation," Hassan said.

India has said the dossier sent to Pakistan contains the confession of a surviving attacker, satellite phone intercepts between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan, and a list of Pakistani-made weapons used by the militants.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad)

Daiichi Sankyo posts $3.7 bln Q3 loss on Ranbaxy

Daiichi Sankyo, Japan's third-largest drugmaker, posted a $3.7 billion quarterly loss and forecast its first ever annual loss, hit by a slide in the value of its stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories.

Shares of Daiichi Sankyo were down about 1 percent after the announcement, outperforming a 3.7 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average.

Japanese drugmakers, under growing price pressure and hurt by the yen's strength, are also seeing their earnings battered by one-off costs and losses stemming from recent acquisitions.

Like their global rivals, they are using acquisitions to head off large drops in revenue after patent expirations on key drugs.

Daiichi Sankyo bought a controlling 63.9 percent stake in Ranbaxy, a major generic drugmaker, last year for nearly 500 billion yen to diversify its revenue base

Earlier this month Daiichi Sankyo said it would book an appraisal loss of 354 billion yen on the stake after Ranbaxy shares lost more than half their value amid the stock market turmoil and after the U.S. blocked dozens of Ranbaxy drugs due to procedural violations at the drugmaker's plants in India.

Daiichi Sankyo, created through a merger in 2005, incurred a net loss of 331.8 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in the three months to December, compared with a 36.18 billion yen profit a year ago, while revenues shrank 12 percent on a stronger yen and government-mandated price cuts.

For the full year to March, the company now forecasts a net loss of 316 billion yen ($3.5 billion), compared with the previous estimate of a 65 billion yen profit and the average forecast for a 280.4 billion yen loss from seven analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

The company, however, kept unchanged its plan to pay a dividend of 80 yen per share for the full year, up from 70 yen last year.

Shares of Daiichi Sankyo lost 22 percent in October-December, roughly in line with the Nikkei average.

As war nears end, India's power blunted in Sri Lanka

After decades of strong-arming tiny neighbour Sri Lanka, India finds itself jostling for influence as the civil war nears an end, its power blunted by the island nation's growing ties with Pakistan and China.

While domestic political sensitivities over the fate of Sri Lanka's Tamils forced India to ease its leverage, rivals China and Pakistan stepped into the breach, offering Colombo military assistance in its war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

China has sold Jian-7 fighters, anti-aircraft guns and JY-11 3D air surveillance radars to the resurgent Sri Lankan army as it seeks to finish one of Asia's longest-running wars by squeezing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighters in a shrinking patch of jungle in the north.

Pakistan also supplied the army small arms, multi-barrel rocket launchers and trained Sri Lankan air force in precision guided attacks against the rebels, strategic analysts said.

"There have been several shipments of weapons from Pakistan. What has made a real difference to the outcome of the war is the Sri Lankan air force which has been rigorously trained by Pakistan in precision-guided attacks.," retired Indian army major general Ashok Mehta said.

India, by contrast, has limited its military assistance to the Sri Lankan army to "defensive weapons".

India has been limited by its insistence on protection of Sri lanka's Tamils, who are closely linked to 60 million Tamils in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, across a narrow strait from Sri Lanka.

"The shine has somewhat gone off from the leverage India has over Sri Lanka, partly because India has allowed it to happen," said Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternative.

China's and Pakistan's help against Tamil Tiger rebels may have been crucial, a former Sri Lankan official said.

"If not for China and Pakistan, we would not have been able to finish off the insurgency," K. Godage, a former deputy head of Sri Lanka's foreign office, told Reuters.

India trained and armed Tamil Tiger rebels in the early 1980s and followed it up a disastrous 1987-1990 peacekeeping foray into Sri Lanka, which has cast a long shadow over the war and made Sri Lanka wary of its giant neighbour.

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan asked Sri Lanka to stop seeking arms from China or Pakistan last year, saying India as the regional power would still meet its defence requirements.

Narayanan made an unscheduled visit to Colombo last year to ensure Sri Lanka did not become a cockpit of regional rivalry, as with Afghanistan where Islamabad fears the influence of India.

This week, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the two discussed safety measures for Tamils trapped in fighting between the army and Tamil Tigers separatists, and post-war reconstruction.

The visit was also to cool tensions with Tamil Nadu politicians in India's ruling coalition who are sympathetic to the Tigers and demand India broker a ceasefire.

WIDER POWER STRUGGLE

The strategic battle in Sri Lanka is seen as part of a wider power struggle in South Asia, involving not only India and Pakistan but also China, which seeks to gain influence in the important economic region.

China has made strides developing strategic assets, like the Gwadar port in Pakistan, the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota and assets in Yangon, part of a strategy to protect shipping lanes.

Sri Lanka sits next to shipping lanes that feed 80 percent of China's and 65 percent of India's oil needs.

"There is a convergence of strategic interest in Sri Lanaka among regional powers," said security analyst C. Uday Bhaskar.

But ignoring India may be hard for Sri Lanka. As the war appears to draws to a close, the focus is turning to the state of Sri Lanka's $32 billion economy.

Sri Lanka is suffering from costly short-term foreign debt. The war is expected to cost nearly $2 billion this year.

Indian investments in Sri Lanka have grown. Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's top mobile operator, launched operations in Sri Lanka with a $200 million investment this month. Sri Lanka is also dependent on India for much of its fuel.

"Strategic relationship is also governed by trade, and India has a lot of room to manoeuvre in Sri Lanka," Saravanamuttu said.

LPG cheaper by Rs25, petrol down Rs5, diesel Rs2

New Delhi: The UPA government on Wednesday night slashed fuel prices, making cooking gas cheaper by Rs25 per cylinder in a major relief to consumers just three months ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.

The prices of petrol were slashed by Rs5 per litre and diesel by Rs2 a litre in line with the fall in global crude rates. The revised prices are effective from Wednesday midnight. There is, however, no change in the prices of kerosene.

The announcement to slash the fuel prices came just a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi had indicated it at a political rally in Uttar Pradesh.

Retail petrol will now cost Rs 44.80 per litre in Mumbai, while diesel will be sold at Rs 34.69 per litre in the city. An LPG cylinder will now cost Rs25 less per 14.2-kg cylinder in Mumbai.

After a marathon Cabinet meeting late on Wednesday, RS Pandey, secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gases, told reporters, "Under-recoveries for the oil market companies will be calculated on trade parity basis as a special dispensation for this financial year. Rs 32,000 crore of that will come from upstream companies (like ONGC and Oil India Ltd) and the rest from the government as oil bonds."

Last December, the government reduced prices of petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 2 per litre as an interim measure after international crude oil prices dropped almost $100 -- over 71% -- in less than seven months to about $42 a barrel from an all-time high of $147.27 a barrel on July 11 last year.

India demolish Lanka by 6 wickets, take 1-0 lead in series

An unflappable Mahendra Singh Dhoni led by example as India relied on a clinical all-round display to thrash Sri Lanka by six wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match cricket ODI series here today. Chasing 247, India rode on substantial contributions from Gautam Gambhir (62) and Suresh Raina (54) before losing both the set batsmen but Dhoni (61 not out) was his composed self as he guided the team to victory with 11 balls to spare.

The ageing Sanath Jayasuriya's 28th ODI century went in vain as the Indians never allowed the islanders to break loose on a slow track. Kumar Sangakkara contributed 44 as Sri Lanka posted 246 for seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs.

Both the teams now move to Colombo for the second match on Saturday. This was India's sixth ODI win in a row, coming after their 5-0 whitewash of England at home.

With a hip injury keeping Virender Sehwag out of action and Sachin Tendulkar (5) back in the hut in the fourth over, the chase on a sluggish track was far from easy. But with Gambhir and Raina on song, India hardly had a reason to worry.

The left-handed duo went on to stitch together a 113-run stand for the second wicket which laid the perfect foundation for a successful chase, besides offsetting the setback of losing Tendulkar early in the innings. Thilana Thushara's ball had pitched bit outside the leg stump before rapping Tendulkar's pad and Kumar Dharmasena, making his ODI debut as umpire, took his time before upholding the vociferous appeal.

RBI holds rates, asks banks to pass on easing

MUMBAI - The Reserve Bank of India left its key interest rates steady on Tuesday, saying banks still had to pass on the benefits of previous cuts, but analysts expect another reduction in coming months to shore up the slowing economy.

Asia's third-largest economy is poised to grow at 7 percent or less in 2008/09, its slowest in six years, the central bank said in its quarterly review, as a global downturn following the financial crisis hurt the economy much more than expected.

"To arrest the moderation in economic growth, it is critical that banks expand the flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy and do so at viable rates," the central bank said.

It also warned that fiscal measures to rev up growth combined with slowing tax receipts and a raft of spending increases would sharply widen the federal government's fiscal deficit, which economist said could blunt the impact of monetary easing.

"We need more cuts, we need more fiscal stimulus. But yes, additional fiscal stimulus would mean more government borrowing and will therefore offset the rate cuts somewhat," said Sonal Varma, analyst at Nomura in Mumbai. "It will crowd out the private investments and may lead to some hardening in yields."

Since the global financial crisis really hit India hard last September, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its short-term lending rate by 350 basis points and slashed reserve requirements to keep credit flowing, while the government has taken a slew of fiscal steps to stimulate the economy.

"The unchanged interest rates are not a surprise. However, the tone of the statement and the factors the RBI highlighted are on the mark," said Atsi Sheth, chief economist at Reliance Equities.

"It recognises that the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy via the banking system is the key priority over the next six months," she said, adding she expected rates and cash reserve requirements to be cut by 100 basis points by June.

The central bank said there was now clear evidence of further slowdown as a consequence of global downturn and urged banks to do more in response to its rate cuts.

"In the Reserve Bank's view, the policy easing done by it in the last few months allows for considerable room for banks to respond more actively to the policy cues," it said.

STEADY RATES

The central bank left its lending rate steady at 5.5 percent and its reverse repo rate , at which it absorbs surplus cash from the system, unchanged at 4.0 percent.

It had been narrowly tipped to hold interest rates steady in a Reuters poll last week.

It also kept the cash reserve ratio , the amount of funds banks have to keep on deposit with it, at 5.0 percent.

The 10-year bond yield spiked to 5.95 percent after the policy announcement from the previous close of 5.72 percent, but has slipped to 5.84 percent in afternoon trade. The rupee rose to 48.81/82 from the previous close of 49.27/29.

The central bank's cut in its growth forecast from October's 7.5-8.0 percent, brought it broadly in line with recent government and market predictions of a marked slowdown from growth of 9 percent or more over the last three fiscal years.

Wholesale price inflation was projected to fall below 3 percent by the end of the fiscal year in March from peaks near 13 percent scaled in August, but the central bank noted consumer price inflation was yet to moderate.

WIDENING DEFICIT

The RBI said the federal government's fiscal deficit for 2008/09 was set to balloon to at least 5.9 percent of gross domestic product from earlier estimated 2.5 percent, possibly bringing the total federal and state shortfall to 8.5 percent.

The estimates highlighted the limited scope for more stimulus even though cuts in factory gate taxes and import duties and $4 billion extra spending announced in past months paled in comparison with China's nearly $600 billion package.

The central bank said while circumstances warranted some reversal of the fiscal consolidation of the last several years, it was critically important to resume the process once the immediacy of the crisis had passed.

We were molested in the name of God

MANGALOORU: “The entire scene has been playing out in my mind over and over again,” said a woman who was in ‘Amnesia,’ the pub that was attacked by a mob of Sri Ram Sene members on Saturday. She was sitting at the reception counter when the mob entered the compound and was witness to the incident from beginning to end.

She said that before barging into the pub, the mob went into a huddle and prayed silently. They then began raising slogans ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai,’ ‘Jai Sri Ram,’ ‘Bajrang Dal ki Jai’ and ‘Sri Ram Sene ki Jai.’

“We have been molested and humiliated in the name of God and country by people who obviously have no regard for either of the two,” she told The Hindu on Monday.

Around 4 p.m. on January 24, a group of over 40 people, wearing saffron headbands and scarves, came in through the main gate and approached the bouncer of the pub. “They asked to be let in so that they could get everybody out of the joint,” she said. Even as the bouncers negotiated with them at the entrance, the pub’s staff quickly closed the doors, and locked the woman and the bouncers outside.

Hearing the noise, a curious kitchen staffer opened the rear door to see what was happening. The mob seized this opportunity and barged in through the kitchen. The victim too followed the mob indoors through the back door. “Once inside, they went straight for the women guests. They rounded them up at the centre of the dance floor and then started beating them mercilessly,” she said. After the initial beating, some of the assailants began to single out some of them and molested them.

“One of them stripped a girl and groped her. She was also badly beaten up. We are still trying to trace her,” she said. According to her, several girls were targeted similarly. “They were laughing when they were doing all this. It was just fun for them,” she said. The attackers then targeted the men who dared come to the rescue of the girls. The narrator herself was slapped a few times.

What tormented her was the reaction of certain sections of the media. “They arrived on the scene even before the attackers did,” she said, and added, “there was no nude dancing or prostitution going on there as reported.”

She and a few other victims are now trying to form a support group of those who were attacked in the incident. “Some of the women are in shock because of the humiliation they had to face on television,” she said. “We are trying to get professional counsellors for the victims and for their families.”

Asserting her right to frequent the pub, she said, “We will also soon launch a protest on the streets to voice our opposition. We want to tell the world that we will not tolerate the growth of a Taliban-style group in this city.”

Column : Ten truths from Satyam

Against Enron's backdrop, one need not really be embarrassed about something like Satyam happening in India. Globalisation means that everything is possible everywhere, and the fact that Satyam was listed overseas supports this point.

That no one knew about this scam until the protagonist himself revealed all speaks volumes about institutional failure. In fact, if he had not been honest about his dishonesty, this story would not have come out. If we look deeper, there are at least ten institutional shibboleths that have been shattered.

The first is that all individual CEOs who become celebrities need to be looked at with suspicion, especially those who are aggressively hyped. Second, organisations that are flashy and dynamic are more prone to mischief than the staid ones, and this holds more for new generation companies. Third, when mischief is done, the entire management needs to be investigated. After all, the mischief in professionally run organisations is a joint effort as all work towards the same goal of self-enrichment.

Fourth, auditors are no longer a credible lot, or rather are credible only until such time that the truth on untruth is out. The entire fraternity gets a bad name, as it will now be generalised that they have also colluded with the company to get their fees. Either they did not ask the hard questions or they did not attend to the distasteful things around them, before submitting the certifications on which they stake their reputation. Fifth, investment banks and so-called advisors to public issues are not above board as they too work for a fee and their own profits; and on grounds of confidentiality may tread the road of apparent ignorance. This cannot be escaped in a capitalist society.

The sixth institution that has taken a beating is the concept of a Board of Directors, which it now appears can be kept in the dark most of the time. In this case, they spent not more than 15 hours in a year with the company and could not have had a hold on what was happening. What then should be their stance and as a corollary, what is its relevance? The seventh hit has been taken by the credit rating agencies that give ratings based on audited information, which is subject to manipulation. In fact, in Satyam's case, the accounts were there to be seen even at the SEC. Therefore, there was no reason to suspect the numbers. But, does this really help the investor?

The eighth blow is to the usual punching bag, the regulator, who is always found napping when such things happen. We can all ask what the regulator was doing. The regulator in such instances always appears to be swift to spot the small miscreant, but cannot see big mischief. But, to be fair to the regulators all across the world, they take a lot of flak for scams, when it is impossible to really stop crime from taking place. Stringent regulation only reduces the incidence. Besides, this is nothing compared to the so called collapse of Citi Bank, where no one saw the accounts disappear for a whole year despite all the talk of Basel II and stern regulation.

Ninth, corporate governance has been exposed as a sham. From now on, no one will pay much attention to what the annual report says, as eloquent words and lofty thoughts are rarely followed in actual practice. Lastly, there is going to be even more cynicism concerning the entire business of corporate awards. Satyam had, after all, bagged many such awards.

Amidst all this ado, how do we stand as individuals? Employees will continue to feel jittery but then the law of markets dictates that risk goes along with their pay packets. Shareholders should not really be our concern because when the prices of these stocks increased to dizzy heights, no one asked why they were rewarded. This is part of the game. And for the common man, this is just another subject for discussion after the financial crisis and terrorist attacks. Umbrage and incessant banter, which is typical of the middle class, will continue till the next big episode comes on air.

—The author is chief economist of NCDEX Ltd. These are his personal views
Madan Sabnavis

Obama honors rival McCain on eve of inauguration

President-elect Barack Obama honored his vanquished Republican rival John McCain on Monday, describing the Arizona senator as an "American hero" while the Democrat prepared to assume the office that both men fought bitterly to attain.

Obama and McCain clashed repeatedly on the campaign trail over foreign and domestic policy in sometimes heated exchanges that occasionally veered into the personal.

But Obama made clear that period had passed even as he predicted the two would not always get along in the future.

"John is not known to bite his tongue and if I'm screwing up, he's going to let me know. And that's how it should be," Obama said, adding -- to applause -- that the presidency was just one branch of the U.S. government.

Obama will be sworn in as the nation's 44th president on Tuesday.

He spent the evening before his inauguration at dinners honoring McCain, former Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who broke with the Republican Party to endorse Obama -- and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Obama opened his remarks at McCain's dinner by calling the former Vietnam prisoner of war a hero who understood better than most what really matters in politics and calling for a new spirit of cooperation in Washington.

"There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain," he said.

With a nod to their high-profile television debates before the Nov. 4 election, Obama joked that McCain would have a chance to contradict the things being said about him.

"I'm here tonight to say a few words about an American hero who I have come to know very well and admire very much -- Sen. John McCain," Obama began. "And then, according to the rules agreed to by both parties, John will have approximately thirty seconds to make a rebuttal."

The two men embraced when Obama called McCain to the front of the glittering ballroom and exited the stage together, with Obama placing his hand on McCain's back.

Later, after Obama had gone, the Arizona senator said he was grateful to be honored and "to play a small role in the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, even if it isn't the one I had in mind a few months ago."

He echoed Obama's comment that the two would not always agree but promised to support the new White House in addressing the nation's challenges.

"I give my pledge to my former opponent, my new president, I will do the best I can to help you in the hard work ahead," he said, according to a copy of the remarks.

Satyam may have inflated employee count - report

Satyam Computer Services Ltd may have up to a fifth fewer staff than the Indian outsourcing company has said it has, the Economic Times said on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with a fraud probe.

The newspaper said the Serious Frauds Investigation Office believes Satyam's headcount could have been inflated by 15-20 percent to siphon off money as salary payments to non-existent employees.

"Since a major chunk of the costs were actually salaries, a minor distortion in the number of employees could change the personnel expenses significantly," the paper quoted the source as saying.

Asked to comment on the report, a Satyam spokeswoman told Reuters: "We believe the numbers are accurate at this point of time."

The Economic Times also said engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro had appointed Japan's Nomura to advise it on a possible deal with Satyam, in which it already has a stake of about 4 percent.

A spokesman for Larsen said the company does not comment on market speculation.

The newspaper also said unlisted Aegis, part of India's Essar Group, was interested in buying Satyam's business process outsourcing (BPO) business.

"As a group, we constantly look at opportunities in sectors where we are. We would not like to comment on specific proposals," an Essar spokesman said.

Manpower expenses constitute more than 60 percent of total costs at Satyam, and investigators say the ratio of manpower cost to revenue has remained constant over the past three years despite an increase in the number of employees, the Economic Times said.

The company's website says it had close to 53,000 staff, including those in subsidiaries and joint ventures as at end-September, and it has since said that around 2,000 staff have left.

Satyam, India's No.4 software services exporter, was plunged into crisis after founder Ramalinga Raju resigned as chairman earlier this month, revealing profits had been falsified for years and $1 billion of cash on the books did not exist.

India says Pakistan attitude unchanged on militants

India's defence minister said on Friday Pakistan was still failing to crack down on militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks, and that New Delhi had not deployed troops despite tension with its neighbour.

India has been mobilising support across the world to press Pakistan to crack down on militant networks there which have been blamed for November attacks in Mumbai that left 179 people dead.

New Delhi says it has repeatedly provided Islamabad with evidence of use of Pakistani soil by militants, but Pakistani authorities have rejected those claims, saying the proof was not credible.

"I don't think (there is) any noticeable change in the attitude of Pakistan," Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters in New Delhi.

"Statements are not important, actions are important. They have to prove by their action."

"When more than 30 terrorist outfits are still operating in Pakistan, how can I say there is a real improvement or real change in attitude?" Antony added.

Pakistan launched raids on militants on its soil after the Mumbai attacks and detained several Islamist leaders wanted by India. But India said it was not satisfied and Pakistan needed to do more to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism.

Pakistan, which has in the past used militants to further foreign policy objectives, said it was taking all requisite steps to counter terrorism and was awaiting a response to its offer to work with India in the investigation.

"There is no terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Terrorism is a global issue. Terrorist elements are found in every society," the Foreign Ministry said in a release.

Asked about Indian accusations that Pakistan was in a state of denial over its links to the attack, the ministry said it did not want to indulge in a "blame-game".

"The two countries need to demonstrate restraint and responsibility," it said.

"JUST A RUMOUR"

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a leader of the banned Pakistani militant group that India has blamed for the Mumbai attack, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), had confessed to Pakistani interrogators that he was a main planner.

The government has rejected the report saying its investigation was not finished.

"It's just rumour. Our investigation hasn't been finalised so how could its finding be shared?" said Interior Ministry official Kamal Shah.

The LeT was set up by Pakistani security agencies in the late 1980s to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region but officially banned in 2002, after Pakistan signed up to the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.

Tension between the nuclear-armed rivals has mounted with near-daily exchanges of tough words and flexing of military muscles.

Pakistan has cancelled army leave and moved a "limited number" of soldiers off the Afghan border "for defensive measures", urging India to stand down its troops and deactivate forward air bases.

But India has said it was not making any war-time deployment.

Asked if India had given any deadline by which Pakistan has to act, Antony said: "There is no time limit ... Only thing is they must act. Action is important."

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and came to the brink of a fourth after gunmen attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001.

Is it the turn of Dravid this year?

If looking back at the year that's just behind us is a nostalgic trip down memory lane then looking ahead at what 2009 could hold for Indian cricket is a fascinating experience. Events as they unfolded last year have provided enough evidence to be upbeat about the team’s chances in Tests and limited overs cricket in the year that has just started.

Last year two all time greats in Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired. Is it the turn of Rahul Dravid this year? If one more of the Fab Five has to call it a day the odds must be on him. Dravid's form has deserted him over an extended period – enough for his career average to slide from 58 to 51 - and even though he battled his way to a hundred against England at Mohali he will have to do much more to justify his place in the team. With so many gifted youngsters ready to step in as they have proved over the last couple of years, it will be interesting to see how the vastly experienced Dravid, who turns 36 in a few days time, responds to the challenge.

It can safely be predicted that Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman will still be around playing a major role in Test matches. They will also be on the verge of retirement but one cannot see either of them calling it a day in 2009. However, whether Tendulkar is able to retain his place in the ODI side is open to debate even if he has indicated that he would like to be a member of the World Cup team in 2011. After all a triumph in the mega event is the one lacuna in the great man's CV. But the challenge from the younger brigade is getting to be more and more competitive and even someone like Tendulkar will have to be near his very best to ward it off.

One cannot see much change in the Test and ODI personnel now that Yuvraj Singh has probably clinched a place in the longer version of the game and Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are enjoying a purple patch. One, however, must ask as to what more Cheteshwar Pujara must do to force his way into the national team. He has got tons of runs and big scores aplenty and during the year he could well force his way into the side.

There is, however, not much of a major change in the bowling attack. Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan form a formidable pair and should be able to beat back the challenge from several other contenders while Harbhajan Singh is already relishing his role as the side’s senior spinner. About the only change could be the second spinner with Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla battling it out for one slot.

The most certain prediction can be made about the captaincy. The charismatic and highly successful Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be adding more feathers to his cap once he gets through the tour of New Zealand unscathed.

The need to build a team strong enough to win the 2011 World Cup – to be held in the sub continent it must not be forgotten – started in real earnest in 2008 with the Dilip Vengsarkar-led selection committee keeping a sharp eye and scouting for fresh talent. Youngsters were given the break even as the phasing out process involving the seniors commenced and this far-sighted policy was given further impetus by the new selection committee headed by Kris Srikkanth. The new chairman has made it clear that he would like India to be the No 1 team in both Tests and ODIs in the near future and 2009 should see the focus shift more and more on youth with just about two years to go for the World Cup.

Gary Kirsten, who had a most successful first year with the Indian team, looks all set to have another good year. He certainly brought about a more amiable atmosphere in the dressing room after the tempestuous tenure of Greg Chappell something publicly acknowledged by many of the players. But perhaps the eyes of most cricket fans in 2009 will be on the second edition of the Indian Premier League. After its whopping success last year they can't wait for it to get started such is the impact the IPL created in its inaugural edition.