Thought Beans Blog

Putin sworn in as new PM of Russia a day after Dmitry Medvedev took over as its president. He has vowed to put a check on inflation & bring back the good ol’ glory days of Russia. Putin wants to bring down the inflation to single digit. The west has criticized the power transfer in Russia with Putin still able to call the shots. The new president doesnt have backgrounds of Kremlin & will have to walk a tight rope. There is also speculation that Putin may return to power after a gap of 4 years. During Putin’s rule, Russian economic conditions improved a lot with the Petro dollars. The Russia has made a wonderful comeback in the global political & economic landscape. It has also emerged as a top destination for Luxury markets.

Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated by the snipers after she addressed a rally. She was declared dead at Rawalpindi hospital. Benazir Bhutto had barely survived an attack a few weeks back. She was shot in the head & neck. Violence has erupted across several cities in Pak. 2 sucide bombers have also attcked the venue, with one hitting the vehicle of Benazir Bhutto’s van. Several others are also killed in the attack. World leaders have condemned the attack. With elections round the corner in Pak, this is a  very bad time for Pak. No group has claimed the attack. It is heart rendering to see this attack. Snipers have been used to kill Benazir Bhutto. She is survived by Husband & daughters.

Putin’s United Russia has won by a landslide victory in the Russian Election. This will allow Putin to rule the country by proxy for years. The Western media has criticized the elections saying large amount of irregularities & rigging. United Russia has won almost 64% votes. Key defence, aerospace, oil & other industries are already under the control of Putin’s Men. Putin also recently quashed the arms treaties. This will allow Russia to develop the more arms Technology. Russians even today yearn for the Super power status of yesteryears. Putin has sturck a right chord with the Russian voters at the right time. Russia has progressed by leaps & bounds under Putin. So what direction will Russia head to under the new leadership is a wait & watch game.

Google’s bid for 700 mhz spectrum, plans for optic cables & itsmuch rumoured Gphone is all indication of Google’s march for the wireless/mobile industry. Google powered phones would help people to use variety of Google powered applications on mobile. Google has already contacted companies like Taiwan’s HTC, LG & others for possible coordination. One of the prominent features of the G powered phone would be open access for the software. This would help developers to build applications for a variety of purposes.

Albert Fert & Peter Grünberg will share the 2007 Nobel Physics prize for their work on how to manipulate magnetic & electric properties of atoms to store more data. Their combined work called as giant magnetoresistance.  Their work is the basis on which modern day gadgets like ipod, MP3 are working.  Member of the Royal Sweedish Academy said, ipod, Mp3 would not have existed without this technology. This is one of the earlier applications of Nanotech in mp3 devices. The first devices using giant magnetoresistance came in early 1997. Their work also led to the advent of new & dense smaller types of memory devices. Dr. Grünberg got his Ph.D in Germany in 1969 & Dr. Fert in 1970 from France. They will share $1.5 million awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Michael Dell has donated the 1985 PC limited, Dell’s Original brand of PC, his employee badge & Dell’s newest PC to the Smithsonian Museum. Dell’S PC will be displayed along with others first generation PC’s like IBM’s & Apple’s mac. Michael Dell, who dropped off the college at 23 to start the PC business also donated graphics, videos & other materials which would show off how he transformed the company into a household name in computers. Dell had to face stiff competition from HP, IBM, Compaq & others in the last few years. Now Michael Dell is back at the helm of Dell & has plans to make Dell again the top brand for PC’s. After 2000, the lead time for the introduction of new products has reduced & in a few months new products are obsolete. However, the first product is always the greatest one however advanced the technology may be.

Blair has announced that he will step down as PM on June 27. Blair will long be remebered for his War on terror with the US. His decade long at the office was not without controversy. Gordon Brown, Blair’s closest friend, if all goes well will shift to 10 Downing Street. Blair has crafted a new relationship with the US during his stay as PM. After Harold Wilson in 1976, Blair is the First PM to leave on his own will rather than losing an election. Being the nearest ally of the US, the world will be watching closely how the new PM will work on War on Terror. Though his first two terms in office was marked by significant work, his third term was not without the problems. India has developed good relations with Britain under Blair & has resulted in increased trade between the two.

India has lost out in the race to get Nasdaq country specific index to China. India has only 7 companies listed in the index, while China has more than 30 companies in the index. The India specific index would have helped India get a global recognition, increase the investor confidence & also would help improve the FDI to the country. Every other day, we see Indian companies mulling for nasdaq listing. But only a few have made it to the mecca of tech stock exchange. Only Cognizant & Infosys have had virtual bell opening in Nasdaq for Indian companies from India. Indian govt should help companies to list in Nasdaq. After the loss of Intel’ fab plant, this is another big blow. This is once again, time for introspection.

With the release of British sailors, a major diplomatic standoff between Britain & Iran has been avoided. For Iranian Prez, it was a victory over the west. But how far this would help Iranian prez, is difficult to gauge. Pressure has been mounting on the UN for more sanction on Iran, With Iran going ahead on Uranium enrichment. The arrest of the sailors will also give a good reason for the EU, US & UK to come toghether for more sanctions on Iran. There is also another school of thought, which says US is secretly planning attack of Iran. The recent movie 300 is an attempt at hurting the psyche of Iran. The sailor capture incident is just a tip of the iceberg. The ball is now in the court of Iranian president to act.

The problems faced by the Jetblue during valentine’s snowing is much to be blamed in the way Jetblue handled the issue. Many people had to sit in the planes for long hours without proper food & air. This is not the first time such a problem has happened. During every snowfall travellors have to endure the long wait. Why not the companies cancel the flights & issue early warning. Now Jetblue is coming out with Customers bill of rights. Why was such a thing not done by the companies before. What did happen to all talk about customer satisfaction? Does customer satisfaction mean making customers sit in the planes for hours? The customers are made the scapegoat. Atleast the Jetblue should have made the customers to go back. This clearly shows lack of communication in the higher echelons of power.Hope the Congress comes out with some measures before airlines face a revolt.