Mobile rigs were the beginning of mobile phones for use in vehicles such as taxicab radios, two way radios in police cruisers, and the like. Originally, mobile phones were permanently installed in vehicles, but later versions such as the so-called transportables or "bag phones" could also be carried, and thus could be used as either mobile or as portable phones.
In Europe, radio telephony was first used on the first-class passenger trains between Berlin and Hamburg since 1926. At the same time, radio telephony was introduced on passenger airplanes for air traffic security. Later radio telephony was introduced on a large scale in German tanks during the Second world war. After the war German police in the British zone of occupation first used disused tank telephony equipment to run the first radio patrol cars.
The first fully automatic mobile phone system, called MTA (Mobile Telephone system A), was developed by Ericsson and commercially released in Sweden in 1956. This was the first system that didn't require any kind of manual control, but had the disadvantage of a phone weight of 40 kg (88 lbs). MTB, an upgraded version with transistors (weighing "only" 9 kg), was introduced in 1965 and used dual-tone multifrequency signaling. It had 150 customers in the beginning and 600 when it shut down in 1983.
First Gen Mobile Phones (1G)
The first handheld 1G mobile phone to become commercially available was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which received approval in 1983.
In 1984, Motorola lead the way with its Motorola DynaTAC 8000X "Brick Phone", which weighed 2 pounds, offered only one half hour of talktime and sold for $3,995. Developed by Rudy Krolopp, later dubbed the father of the wireless phone by Motorola's Chief Executive Officer, the phone was the first of its kind. The design took nearly 10 years and a total of $100 million in development costs before its official unveiling.
In 1984 there were 25,000 cell phones sold in the U.S. In 1990 that number had grown to 18,88,000 units sold, and in the year 2000. 52,600,00 units were sold – a million phones a week!
Second Gen (2G)
In the 1990s, second generation (2G) mobile phone systems such as GSM, IS-136 ("TDMA"), iDEN and IS-95 ("CDMA") began to be introduced. The first digital cellular phone call was made in the United States in 1990, in 1991 the first GSM network opened in Europe. 2G phone systems were characterized by digital circuit switched transmission and the introduction of advanced and fast phone to network signaling. In general the frequencies used by 2G systems in Europe were higher though with some overlap, for example the 900 MHz frequency range was used for both 1G and 2G systems in Europe and so such 1G systems were rapidly closed down to make space for 2G systems. In America the IS-54 standard was deployed in the same band as AMPS and displaced some of the existing analog channels.
Companies like Nokia, Sony Erricson, Panasonic, Samsung came up with games like Poker on their handsets. Other features like camera, Color LCD, Polyphonic ringtones, MMS were also introduced in 2G mobiles.
Third Gen (3G)
Not long after the introduction of 2G networks, projects began to develop third generation (3G) systems. Inevitably there were many different standards with different contenders pushing their own technologies. Quite differently from 2G systems, however, the meaning of 3G has been standardized in the IMT-2000 standardization processing. This process did not standardize on a technology, but rather on a set of requirements (2 Mbit/s maximum data rate indoors, 384 kbit/s outdoors, for example). At that point, the vision of a single unified worldwide standard broke down and several different standards have been introduced.
World Mobile Market
RNCOS’ “World Mobile Market (2006)”, report provides extensive research and objective analysis on the growing marketplace for the global mobile handset industry-
-Key Technologies Analyzed
Key Handset technologies including the most recent one as GSM, CDMA, 1xEV-DO, WiFi VoIP, TDMA, 3G, 4G and Blue Tooth are also analyzed supported by the facts like revenues and the market share.
-Key Players Analyzed
This section provides the overview, key facts and numbers and key competitors of several players like Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Intel Corporation, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericssion, Motorola, Siemens, Samsung, Sun Microsystems, NTT Docomo, RF Micro Devices, Zarlink Semiconductor Infineon Technologies, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Sprint, Nextel, AT & T Wireless, Vodafone, China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited, Deutsche Telekom AG, China Unicom, Telefónica Móviles, América Móvil, France Telecom /Orange, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Cingular
-Key Findings
The mobile handset sales continue to grow worldwide, going up from 482.5 million in 2003 to 816.5 million in 2005. This growth rate is expected to gradually slow down over a period of five years. The estimated growth figures for these five years are—10% in 2005, 7.7% in 2006, 6.4% in 2007, 4.8% in 2008 and 2.6% in 2009. Notwithstanding the gradual decline in the growth figures, the annual handset sales are predicted to reach more than US $ 3 Billion by 2009.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Friday, 6 July 2007
‘Organised retail boom won’t affect street corner shops’
“The boom in organised retailing in India would not affect the traditional street corner shops in the country” said real estate guru David Fischel. Elaborating further he said organised retailing would make its own way increasing size of the market and create new jobs in the country.
Fischel, who is CEO of UK based $18 billion realty major Liberty International, said organised retailing would help improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. He said organised retailing helps develop efficient supply chains, which in turn improves the efficiency of an economy.
Fischel said, In country like India, where 64% of consumption drives GDP, growth of new city centres and malls would spur consumer spending, which , in turn, would drive growth in GDP. This would lead to improvement in government revenues further fuelling infrastructure development.”
He said, New city centres and upgraded existing town centres would emerge as destinations where consumers would spend time with their families. This would have a multiplier effect on job creation and revenues. He said retail is an occupation available to the relatively unskilled. Therefore for a country like India it will be a great employer.
“In countries like India, where distribution of wealth is uneven,” he said, propensity to spend will improve only with the equitable benefits of these developments. Large retail infrastructure would be followed by establishments of cold chains and packaged food industry. With 40% of farm produce in India getting wasted, creation of new age infrastructure will reduce farm wastage and create prosperity for farmers. Social developments are best when its benefits touch farming, technology and services,” He said organised retailing entails industries which touch all these sectors.
Fischel said in organised retailing, developers of malls and city centres should only lease out shops to retailers instead of outright sale .He said in case of outright sale of shops, there would be a multiple ownership in a mall, which would create problem in implementing a planned zoning system. He said a planned scheme of retail outlet is important for the success of a mall as it provides better experiences to shoppers. He said mall owners have not only to keep the retailers happy but also have to address the requirements of shoppers.
MY PERSPECTIVE
First things first. The rise of organised retail does not mean the end of traditional retail. According to "Retail in India: getting organised to drive growth", a joint report by global management consultancy A T Kearney and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Indian retail sector is valued at $320 billion (Rs 14,40,000 crore), of which organised retail accounts for a minuscule 6 per cent (Rs 86,400 crore or Rs 864 billion).
Of course, the latter's 35 per cent growth is multiple times the 7-8 per cent forecast for the sector as a whole: which is why Kearney forecasts organised retail will cross $100 billion by 2012. Even at that level, though, it will be far behind traditional retail. Most manufacturers understand that.
"For a very long time to come, the biggest chunk of business will be from general trade. The corner shop will not disappear," says V S Sitaram, executive director, consumer care division, Dabur India. Even modern format retailers agree.
"Micro enterprise is the most adaptable retail entity in India. It will always remain relevant," points out Damodar Mall, president and CEO, foods business, Future Group.
CONCLUSION
Still, with the rise of modern retail outlets, the nature of shopping will change. While stock-up purchases (buying the month's groceries, for instance) are likely to move to the supermarkets and hypermarkets, top-ups (when you run out of, say, shampoo, in the middle of the month) will continue at local stores. That shift in buying habits has far-reaching consequences for consumer product companies.
Fischel, who is CEO of UK based $18 billion realty major Liberty International, said organised retailing would help improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. He said organised retailing helps develop efficient supply chains, which in turn improves the efficiency of an economy.
Fischel said, In country like India, where 64% of consumption drives GDP, growth of new city centres and malls would spur consumer spending, which , in turn, would drive growth in GDP. This would lead to improvement in government revenues further fuelling infrastructure development.”
He said, New city centres and upgraded existing town centres would emerge as destinations where consumers would spend time with their families. This would have a multiplier effect on job creation and revenues. He said retail is an occupation available to the relatively unskilled. Therefore for a country like India it will be a great employer.
“In countries like India, where distribution of wealth is uneven,” he said, propensity to spend will improve only with the equitable benefits of these developments. Large retail infrastructure would be followed by establishments of cold chains and packaged food industry. With 40% of farm produce in India getting wasted, creation of new age infrastructure will reduce farm wastage and create prosperity for farmers. Social developments are best when its benefits touch farming, technology and services,” He said organised retailing entails industries which touch all these sectors.
Fischel said in organised retailing, developers of malls and city centres should only lease out shops to retailers instead of outright sale .He said in case of outright sale of shops, there would be a multiple ownership in a mall, which would create problem in implementing a planned zoning system. He said a planned scheme of retail outlet is important for the success of a mall as it provides better experiences to shoppers. He said mall owners have not only to keep the retailers happy but also have to address the requirements of shoppers.
MY PERSPECTIVE
First things first. The rise of organised retail does not mean the end of traditional retail. According to "Retail in India: getting organised to drive growth", a joint report by global management consultancy A T Kearney and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Indian retail sector is valued at $320 billion (Rs 14,40,000 crore), of which organised retail accounts for a minuscule 6 per cent (Rs 86,400 crore or Rs 864 billion).
Of course, the latter's 35 per cent growth is multiple times the 7-8 per cent forecast for the sector as a whole: which is why Kearney forecasts organised retail will cross $100 billion by 2012. Even at that level, though, it will be far behind traditional retail. Most manufacturers understand that.
"For a very long time to come, the biggest chunk of business will be from general trade. The corner shop will not disappear," says V S Sitaram, executive director, consumer care division, Dabur India. Even modern format retailers agree.
"Micro enterprise is the most adaptable retail entity in India. It will always remain relevant," points out Damodar Mall, president and CEO, foods business, Future Group.
CONCLUSION
Still, with the rise of modern retail outlets, the nature of shopping will change. While stock-up purchases (buying the month's groceries, for instance) are likely to move to the supermarkets and hypermarkets, top-ups (when you run out of, say, shampoo, in the middle of the month) will continue at local stores. That shift in buying habits has far-reaching consequences for consumer product companies.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Special Economic Zone
Special Economic Zone or Real Estate Zone?
Nightmare for Farmers
The recent move of the Commerce Ministry with its noble idea of creating foreign territories (under SEZ Act, 2005) within India is meeting with a great resistance at least in Maharashtra, if not anywhere else as of now. The protest of Paddy farmers from Kokan and Potato farmers from Rajgurunagar in Pune District speaks the same language of strong discontentment with any discussion of giving away their only means of livelihood, the Land.
“Maru pan amhi amchi jameen denar naahi! Paise wagairah kahi nakot amaala, Lakh kay koti dile tari amhi eak inch pan jameen denar nahi”
- Farmers of
More than 140 SEZ’s have been planned in country. In Santa Cruz (Maharashtra), Cochin (Kerala), Kandla and Surat (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Falta (West Bengal) and Nodia (Uttar Pradesh), at Indore ( Madhya Pradesh ) Positra (Gujarat), Navi Mumbai and Kopata (Maharashtra), Nanguneri (Tamil Nadu), Kulpi and Salt Lake (West Bengal), Paradeep and Gopalpur (Orissa), Bhadohi, Kanpur, Moradabad and Greater Noida (U.P.), Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Vallarpadam/Puthuvypeen (Kerala) Hassan ( Karnataka), Jaipur and Jodhpur ( Rajasthan) on the basis of proposals received from the State Governments.
FARMERS STRIFE AGAINST LAND ACQUISITION UNDER RELIANCE SEZ FOR GREATER MUMBAI
On June 22, a few Mumbai-based Marathi newspapers carried the news of the demonstrations of hundreds of farmers against the land acquisition by the state government for the Reliance Company for a 10,120 hectare Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The farmers in the obscure Pen tehsil in Raigad district Maharashtra took a strong protest rally of almost 4000 farmers against Reliance SEZ on 21st, that curbed by police lathi charge on the rally which was a response of stone throwing by some miscreants and damaging the property. Later it was found that, that was not done by the protesting farmers.
“The Reliance Company managed to create disturbance in the peaceful meeting of hundereds of farmers and our process of presenting objections to the Land Acquisition notices to the officials. The company is nervous about the growing resistance by the farmers for usurping their productive land and therefore trying to use the police to crush the movement" told Arun Shivkar, of Pen Panchkroshi Sheti Bachao Samiti (Pen area Committee for save the farmland).
The villagers now know fully well they are pitted against the formidable adversary – the giant Reliance, which has just obtained 25,000 hectares land for its own SEZ in Haryana, already took the governments in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and even the so called the Left wing government of W. Bengal. It is spreading its wings in textiles, power, contract farming, medicinal herbs, sugar industries and retail stores. They realize that the Company has enormous sway over the political, bureaucratic establishment and the media. This company has been given the largest SEZ in the 45 villages in Pen-Panvel-Uran area, in the name of the activities like manufacturing, trading, services, processing, logistics, repackaging, warehousing etc.
"There is no question of increased compensation for the land – we just do not want to give our land to the Reliance," that was the spirit of the meeting held on June 24-25, hosted by the Samiti and the NCAS, at Bardawadi near Pen. The meeting, attended by various organizations in Konkan region along with the representatives of NAPM, People's Political Front (PPF), and Shoshit Jan Andolan resolved to intensify and widen the struggle against the SEZ, by involving the affected people in other parts of
1. A week long Padyatra to show resistance to the proposed foreign autonomous territory in farmers land
2. A daylong hunger protest and rally with meeting with various officials
3. Lobbying with state and national groups and with political party representatives
The people's movements from various parts of the country under the aegis of the NAPM, in the recently held
This is one of the 27 approved SEZs in the state out of 53 proposed, both by the private parties (13) and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC, 11). There are other 17 SEZs that are to be given approval (11 private and 7 MIDC). These SEZs are part of the more than 140 SEZs that are earmarked in almost all the parts of the country. With this one stroke of SEZ Act, the corporate powers have cornered exemptions from almost every tax, while getting the services of water supply, electricity, usurping the natural resources, distorting the constitutional sovereignty of the people.
FARMERS PROTEST IN RAJGURUNAGAR AGAINST MIDC SUPPORTED BHARAT FORGE
In only Pune district more than seven SEZ has been approved out of 27 in
One of this is Bharat Forge limited, for which the land would be acquired from 16 villages like Gulani, Wafgaon, Wakalwadi, Warude, Gadakwadi, Chaudharwadi, Chinchbaigaon, Jaulake Budruk, Jarewadi, Kanesar, Pur, Gosasi, Nimgaon, Retwadi, Jaulake Khurd, Dhore Bhamburwadi and Pabal.
The 7,500 hectares agriculture and non-agriculture land has been identified by MIDC. On which most of the land is under cultivation by Maratha, other backward and Adivasi communities. Their major crops are potato, onion, sorghum, jowar, rice, flowers and pulses. Village youths are engaged into agriculture and allied industries by running their own businesses like poultry, milk collection, pig raring and Shahamrug farm. Nevertheless, people’s livelihood is dependent on farming activities dependent on monsoon rain and irrigation by well. Their demand for water, drinking and irrigation, from the Chas-Kaman Scheme, is pending for a decade unheard by the same government which has proposed land acquisition today for Bharat Forge. Electricity for irrigation is a far distant dream for people of Gulani, the largest village among all proposed for land acquisition.
There has been a drinking water scheme which is about 35 crore’s investment but due to the lack of maintenance it is not in use. Even though this area comes under the
On this background to oppose SEZ project farmers and local people’s representatives have constituted a Khed Taluka Purva Vibhag MIDC Virodhi Kruti Samiti (Anti Land Acquisition Committee from East Khed-Wafgaon and
Their previous experience of earlier projects has made them wise enough to oppose this SEZ project because ‘once one looses the land, it looses the bargaining power’, as this had happened incase of previous projects e.g.
1. Water for drinking and irrigation, support to the agriculture-allied activities and support to small business.
2. Complete the work of drinking water scheme and Gulani percolation tank at the earliest.
3. Save the agriculture land from the MIDC and SEZ project.
The farmers have warned to government officers that they will fight against SEZ unless and until it gets stopped the survey and entire project, the Gram Sabha’s have passed resolutions to this effect. They would rather increase the agriculture production qualitative and quantitative for exports if government provides only waters to them.
Can INDIA be a BRAND
“Brand India” is an idea. Can India be a brand? A brand is a symbol representing all the information of a product or a service. It could be a name, a slogan, a logo or a graphic design. When the brand is mentioned, it accompanies all the experiences of the public mind and the expectations of how it perform. The band can be built by advertising but ultimately what maters is the actual performance of the product or service it stand for. If the brand delivers what it promises then the brand name is going to be a great asset in itself. Properly managed the brand can increase the value of the product on the other extreme, can undermine the product itself.
So coming back to our question, Can India be a brand? India is not a soft drink or Cosmetic, but the very name itself can bring certain memories in the mind of people. That is why our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, insisted on the retaining the name “India”, rather than “Bharat” for the newly independent country. To the world, “India” was a fabled and exotic land, the dream land for travellers and traders for centuries. It seems that, Nehru want to hold on to the brand to proclaim to the world that the India he was leading was heir to that precious heritage.
This brand image worked for some time, India retained its exoticism, royalness, and majestic beauty along with the carrier of moral force for peace and justice. But it could not last long. As poverty and famine attacked the land, the global media replaced the exotic image with the picture of suffering and despair. The brand became dirtied. It was no longer a brand that could attract the world.
Today, the branding is changing again. India is transferring itself economically and it needs a fresh brand image to keep up with the times. Even the government too understood the need and joined hands with the Confederation of Indian Industry to make one. Thus born the India Brand Equity Foundation who came up with the brand
“India: Fastest growing free market democracy” which was heard loud in World Economic Forum 2006 session in Davos.
To our ears, its sounds good “India fastest growing free market democracy”, but is that enough. It is not doubt that our economy is at rapid growth and our’s is a free market and a democracy. Also it’s much better to replace the old picture of suffering and despair. It may be easier for small countries like Singapore to come up
with “surprisingly Singapore” and Bahamas to come up with “It’s better in the Bahamas” as they are concerned with one-issue branding. That’s not the case with “India” which is blessed with abundant potential.
What the world must think when they hear the name “India”. Certainly ,it’s more than fastest growing free market democracy. Many things like natural beauty of our country, as branded as “Incredible India” by Tourism department, Indian fashion and jewellery, advancement in Information Technology headed by infosys and wipro , glamour of Bollywood with India being noticed at International Film Festivals and Oscar Awards , our high potential human resource as marketed as IIT ians a IIM ians, unparalleled diversity of our plural society, with people of different religion speaking different languages live side by side in harmony. Moving further, India as the contributor to the world in Space Technology and peaceful use of Nuclear Technology. Above all, richness of our cultural heritage. It is impossible to put all these attributes to into a poster, or a commercial.
So the challenge of building Brand India is before us, the budding Marketing Managers. However the essential fact remains; what really matters is not the image but the reality. We must join hands to make India a healthy and prosperous place for all people. Then only we can say “INDIA SHINING….”
So coming back to our question, Can India be a brand? India is not a soft drink or Cosmetic, but the very name itself can bring certain memories in the mind of people. That is why our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, insisted on the retaining the name “India”, rather than “Bharat” for the newly independent country. To the world, “India” was a fabled and exotic land, the dream land for travellers and traders for centuries. It seems that, Nehru want to hold on to the brand to proclaim to the world that the India he was leading was heir to that precious heritage.
This brand image worked for some time, India retained its exoticism, royalness, and majestic beauty along with the carrier of moral force for peace and justice. But it could not last long. As poverty and famine attacked the land, the global media replaced the exotic image with the picture of suffering and despair. The brand became dirtied. It was no longer a brand that could attract the world.
Today, the branding is changing again. India is transferring itself economically and it needs a fresh brand image to keep up with the times. Even the government too understood the need and joined hands with the Confederation of Indian Industry to make one. Thus born the India Brand Equity Foundation who came up with the brand
“India: Fastest growing free market democracy” which was heard loud in World Economic Forum 2006 session in Davos.
To our ears, its sounds good “India fastest growing free market democracy”, but is that enough. It is not doubt that our economy is at rapid growth and our’s is a free market and a democracy. Also it’s much better to replace the old picture of suffering and despair. It may be easier for small countries like Singapore to come up
with “surprisingly Singapore” and Bahamas to come up with “It’s better in the Bahamas” as they are concerned with one-issue branding. That’s not the case with “India” which is blessed with abundant potential.
What the world must think when they hear the name “India”. Certainly ,it’s more than fastest growing free market democracy. Many things like natural beauty of our country, as branded as “Incredible India” by Tourism department, Indian fashion and jewellery, advancement in Information Technology headed by infosys and wipro , glamour of Bollywood with India being noticed at International Film Festivals and Oscar Awards , our high potential human resource as marketed as IIT ians a IIM ians, unparalleled diversity of our plural society, with people of different religion speaking different languages live side by side in harmony. Moving further, India as the contributor to the world in Space Technology and peaceful use of Nuclear Technology. Above all, richness of our cultural heritage. It is impossible to put all these attributes to into a poster, or a commercial.
So the challenge of building Brand India is before us, the budding Marketing Managers. However the essential fact remains; what really matters is not the image but the reality. We must join hands to make India a healthy and prosperous place for all people. Then only we can say “INDIA SHINING….”
women flying high
WOMEN FLYING HIGH
The last time you boarded a plane did u hear a women voice telling you to sit back and enjoy the flight. More and more woman are making the leap from the cabin to corporate. They are flying, they are flying as captains and they are flying with all women crew. The flight from Prem Mathur the first Indian women to become the commercial pilot more than 50 years ago to the youngest commercial pilot (18 year old Japji Kaur Cheema) has been a long one but women are finally chasing their lofty dreams.
Driving this increase in number of women pilots is a growing aviation market. Little wonder that Chandigarh girl 18 years old Japji, had more than 3 offers before she opted for Spice Jet. It is also becoming an exciting and lubricating career choice for youngsters looking to spread their wings.
Its a far cry from the days when Indira Mitra started flying in the eighties. “Those days they use to be just a handful of women pilots and i often fly with all women crews” says Air Deccan Mitra, who is one of the rare women to have made it to the rank of Captain, handling both her managerial and operational task with ease.
So does she informed passengers when they are flying with all women crew? “Always but only after we have landed” she says, with a smile. She even recalls an incident two years ago while landing an Airbus 320 at Chennai Airport “My crew comprised only women, the Air traffic controller who gave us permission to land was a women and a flight that took off just after we landed had a women pilot. When we brought this to the notice of the passengers through the PA, all of the passengers stood up and applauded us”.
Caption Mamta, who runs Fly Tech Aviation in Hyderabad, says the intake of women trainees has increased by 10-12% in the last two years. Recalling her own days as a student, she says,” from 1 or 2 women in a batch of 100 students, its now around 10 or 12.” The ratio could improve further, she feels. However there are still hurdles that women have to face.” The training is expensive and there are still parents who don’t want to fork out that much money for a daughter”. Says mamta.
Indian has 76 women pilots, and the number is rising with every new batch. 40 of Air Deccans 496 pilots are women, Kingfisher who 26 women pilots out of 390, got its first women caption recently. “flying has now become a much sought-after career for women. With each new batch, we are adding more and more women pilots.” Says Rubi Arya vice president of Kingfisher Airlines.
“ Choppers have attracted few women as compared to fixed wing aircrafts because they are riskier and the pay isn’t that lucrative.” Explain D A Yadav, public relation manager of Pawan Hans. But the wind of change is flowing here as well. After a gap of many years, the company is now getting ready to welcome women pilot for those who are keen to travel beyond the stars, plant earth offers more than enough career opportunities.
The last time you boarded a plane did u hear a women voice telling you to sit back and enjoy the flight. More and more woman are making the leap from the cabin to corporate. They are flying, they are flying as captains and they are flying with all women crew. The flight from Prem Mathur the first Indian women to become the commercial pilot more than 50 years ago to the youngest commercial pilot (18 year old Japji Kaur Cheema) has been a long one but women are finally chasing their lofty dreams.
Driving this increase in number of women pilots is a growing aviation market. Little wonder that Chandigarh girl 18 years old Japji, had more than 3 offers before she opted for Spice Jet. It is also becoming an exciting and lubricating career choice for youngsters looking to spread their wings.
Its a far cry from the days when Indira Mitra started flying in the eighties. “Those days they use to be just a handful of women pilots and i often fly with all women crews” says Air Deccan Mitra, who is one of the rare women to have made it to the rank of Captain, handling both her managerial and operational task with ease.
So does she informed passengers when they are flying with all women crew? “Always but only after we have landed” she says, with a smile. She even recalls an incident two years ago while landing an Airbus 320 at Chennai Airport “My crew comprised only women, the Air traffic controller who gave us permission to land was a women and a flight that took off just after we landed had a women pilot. When we brought this to the notice of the passengers through the PA, all of the passengers stood up and applauded us”.
Caption Mamta, who runs Fly Tech Aviation in Hyderabad, says the intake of women trainees has increased by 10-12% in the last two years. Recalling her own days as a student, she says,” from 1 or 2 women in a batch of 100 students, its now around 10 or 12.” The ratio could improve further, she feels. However there are still hurdles that women have to face.” The training is expensive and there are still parents who don’t want to fork out that much money for a daughter”. Says mamta.
Indian has 76 women pilots, and the number is rising with every new batch. 40 of Air Deccans 496 pilots are women, Kingfisher who 26 women pilots out of 390, got its first women caption recently. “flying has now become a much sought-after career for women. With each new batch, we are adding more and more women pilots.” Says Rubi Arya vice president of Kingfisher Airlines.
“ Choppers have attracted few women as compared to fixed wing aircrafts because they are riskier and the pay isn’t that lucrative.” Explain D A Yadav, public relation manager of Pawan Hans. But the wind of change is flowing here as well. After a gap of many years, the company is now getting ready to welcome women pilot for those who are keen to travel beyond the stars, plant earth offers more than enough career opportunities.
Biotechnology in India- Present Market Economics and Trends
The Indian Biotechnology sector, although nascent at the present time and accounting for a mere 2% of the global Biotechnology market, is poised for exponential growth over the next 5 years with an expected global market share of 10%. Indigenous Biotech products and services presently accounted for the year 2006-2007 for approximately US$ 1 billion. (4800 crores). With the sector finally crossing the 1 Billion US Dollars mark industry analysts are saying that the Biotechnology industry has finally arrived in India. The industry recorded a robust 36.55 % growth compared to the previous year’s revised figure of Rs 3,475 crore ($788 million). In 2003-04, there were just four companies with revenues in excess of Rs 100 crore. Now two more companies crossed this landmark. More importantly these are not the companies from the health care pharma biotech sector, which so far occupied the top five positions. Venkateshwara Hatcheries is an animal health care company and Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech is an agribiotech company.
The top five home grown Biotech Companies are (1) Biocon, (2) Serum Institute of India, (3) Paneac Biotech, (4) Venkiteshara Hatcheries (5) Mahyco Monsanto
The high growth sector has resulted in a 30% increase in investment which is expected to reach 50% in the next two years.
Venture capital funding of about Rs. 3000 million has been estimated as needed for the biotech sector Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Indian Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) have committed about 35% each .
Banks still remain the major financing source for biotechnology with venture capital accounting for less than 20% of funding in various survey.
Health care products will dominate the scene and may account for about 40% of the market by 2010. Contribution of biotechnology in agriculture may also rise to nearly 33.7% from its share of 29.8% in 1999
Bangalore as a BT HUB
Today most of the biotech companies want to harness the prowess of IT to develop products and Bangalore, a global IT hub, makes it a natural choice. Bangalore has also demonstrated several successful collaborative partnerships. And entrepreneurial culture is highly prevalent here. That is the reason for seeing several start-ups. Strand Genomics, Metahelix, Molecular Connections and Gangagen are a few examples. A proactive and supportive state government is an attraction for investors. This is the reason why Bangalore has attracted several companies in past few years. ReaMetrix, MWG Biotech, Cancer Genetics, ClinWorld, ClinTec and Jubilant Biosys are just a few examples. Bangalore is a known global brand; It has a strong international technology culture; it has several R&D establishments like NCBS and IISc. and Astra Zeneca to leverage upon.
The top five home grown Biotech Companies are (1) Biocon, (2) Serum Institute of India, (3) Paneac Biotech, (4) Venkiteshara Hatcheries (5) Mahyco Monsanto
The high growth sector has resulted in a 30% increase in investment which is expected to reach 50% in the next two years.
Venture capital funding of about Rs. 3000 million has been estimated as needed for the biotech sector Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Indian Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) have committed about 35% each .
Banks still remain the major financing source for biotechnology with venture capital accounting for less than 20% of funding in various survey.
Health care products will dominate the scene and may account for about 40% of the market by 2010. Contribution of biotechnology in agriculture may also rise to nearly 33.7% from its share of 29.8% in 1999
Bangalore as a BT HUB
Today most of the biotech companies want to harness the prowess of IT to develop products and Bangalore, a global IT hub, makes it a natural choice. Bangalore has also demonstrated several successful collaborative partnerships. And entrepreneurial culture is highly prevalent here. That is the reason for seeing several start-ups. Strand Genomics, Metahelix, Molecular Connections and Gangagen are a few examples. A proactive and supportive state government is an attraction for investors. This is the reason why Bangalore has attracted several companies in past few years. ReaMetrix, MWG Biotech, Cancer Genetics, ClinWorld, ClinTec and Jubilant Biosys are just a few examples. Bangalore is a known global brand; It has a strong international technology culture; it has several R&D establishments like NCBS and IISc. and Astra Zeneca to leverage upon.
Iris Scanning
Iris Scanning
Iris is the colored portion of the eye consists of over 400 distinguishing characteristics that can be used to identify an individual. However only 260 of these characteristics, like contraction furrows, filaments, striations, crypts, freckles, etc. captured in iris identification process can be used.
The propertie
s of iris that enhance its suitability for use in identification system are:
* Its inherent isolation and protection from external environment.
* Impossibility of surgical modification.
* Response to light (Providing natural test against artifice).
Iris scanning is the less intrusive of the eye related biometrics. It utilizes a conventional camera element and requires no intimate contact between user and reader.
Fig: 1 Iris: Anatomy and Properties
Iris scan's strengths:
* It also has the potential for higher than average template matching performance.
* It has been demonstrated to work with spectacles in place and with a variety of ethnic groups and is one of the few devices that can work well in identification mode.
* It has potential for exceptionally high levels of accuracy.
* It maintains stability of characteristics over a lifetime.
* Individual's right and left eyes are different and that patterns are easy to capture making iris scan resistant to false matching and fraud
Iris Scan's Weaknesses:
* Acquisition of the image requires moderate training and attentiveness.
* It has propensity for false rejection.
* Proprietary acquisition device is necessary for deployment
* There is some user discomfort with eye based technology
Iris Scan: Working
The iris eye processing proceeds with taking a photograph from a specialized camera. The camera is placed at a distance of approximately 3ft. and uses infrared imager to illuminate the eye and capture a very high-resolution photograph.
Eyeglasses and contact lenses present no problems to the quality of the image and the iris scan systems and the live eye by checking for the normal continuous fluctuations in the people's eye.
In identifying one's iris, there are 2 types of methods that are used: passive and active. The active iris requires the user to move back and forth so that the camera can adjust and focus in on the user's iris.
The passive iris system is different in that it incorporates a series of cameras that locate and focus on the iris. This method provides a much more user-friendly experience.
After the iris system has one's iris in focus, it overlays a circular grid on the image of the iris and identifies where areas of light and dark fall. The purpose of overlaying the grid is so that the iris systems can recognize a pattern within the iris and to generate 'points' within the pattern into an 'eye print'. Finally, the captured image is checked against a previously stored reference template in the database.
Image Processing
The inner edge of the iris is located by the iris scan algorithm, which maps the iris' distinct patterns and characteristics. once the parameter of the iris have been defined, a black and white image of the iris is used for feature extraction. The area used for feature extraction is a horizontal band extending from the far left to the far right of the iris.
Distinctive features
The patterns that constitute the visual component of the iris are surprisingly distinctive. A primary visible characteristic is known as the trabecular meshwork, a tissue that gives the appearance of dividing the iris in a radial fashion.
Iris scan algorithms map segments of the iris into hundreds of independent vectors. The characteristics from iris features are the orientation and the spatial frequency of distinctive areas along with the position of these areas
Template Creation
The vectors located by the iris scan algorithm are used to form enrollment and match templates, which are generated in hexadecimal format.
Template Matching
Iris scan solutions generally perform identification as opposed to verification, meaning that the match template is compared against all system enrollments to find the best match
References
· Biometrics By:-
Samir Nanavati, Michael Thieme, Raj Nanavati
Thursday, 21 June 2007
One Look Is All That Is Required To Fall In Love..
First impressions are more important than ever and research has proven that it only takes a few minutes to predict whether a relationship is in the cards with those we meet for the first time, a recent study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships showed that the first few minutes of meeting someone has a huge influence on the course the relationship will ultimately take!!
So for all those who believe in “love at first sight” read on….
Love at first sight is an emotional condition whereby a person feels a romantic attraction for a stranger on the first encounter with the stranger. The stranger may or may not be aware that the other person has any such notion, and may not even be aware of the other person's presence (such as in a crowded place). Sometimes two people experience this phenomenon towards each other at the same time, usually when their eyes meet.
Psychologists say that love at first sight depends on our psychological state at the moment. In some case we won’t even notice those charming eyes in another they can make a lasting impression on as.
Also they say that it takes about 30 seconds to fall in love or precisely speaking to estimate whether the person is worth to fall in love with.
By the way psychologists claim that men fall in love first. Very many factors act in the situation of falling in love from the first sight. These are our ideals, intuition or “fast logic”, imagination etc.
When you fall in love at the first sight you are usually ready and willing to fall in love. Less possibility that it will happen if you are tired, stressed, solving problems in you mind. But if you suddenly fall in love with quiet unknown person and see that it’s mutual that may mean even that mother-nature has chosen a partner that genetically suits you a lot.
There are a few must-dos if you really want to make that lasting impression,
Ditch the chat up linesIt can take between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if we fancy someone. But this has little to do with your smooth-talking. As far as attraction goes, here's how we get the message:
55% is through body language
38% is the tone and speed of our voice
only 7% is through what we say
Stare into each others' eyes
In an experiment conducted it has been shown that the simple act of staring into each other's eyes has a powerful impact. Two complete strangers were asked to reveal to each other intimate details about their lives. This carried on for an hour and a half. The two strangers were then made to stare into each others eyes without talking for four minutes. Afterwards many of the couples confessed to feeling deeply attracted to their opposite number and two of his subjects even married afterwards.
Match their moves
When people are attracted to each other, they tend to sit or stand in the same way and copy each other's physical gestures. This is known as 'mirroring'.
Be dangerous
Another experiment showed that if people experience fear on a date they often misinterpret that feeling as love. So dates at a theme park are likely to be successful. A bungee jump might seal your relationship for life!
In fact, people who both like the same level of thrills and excitement are more likely to be compatible.
And what does it take to make the heart skip a beat??
For women who want to create an on-the-spot thrill, wearing red is the way to go. According to colour experts, red is the most stimulating colour you can wear. In fact, wearing or seeing red actually increases blood flow, and mimics attraction. If you're a guy, your best bet is to go true blue, women are attracted to men wearing the colour blue, guys who frequently wear blue are "stable, faithful and always there." The blue guy is perfect for a serious relationship: he's reliable, faithful and can match his own clothes.
Smile.
Psychology and body language experts agree that smiling is one of the fastest and best ways to make you more attractive and approachable.
Instant Chemistry.
A study at the University of Chicago has shown that men associate the scents of cinnamon and vanilla with love. To kick-start your allure, women can wear a cinnamon-vanilla scented lotion or perfume. The food-love connection continues: Women, according to the study, are drawn to a black liquorice scent. So, keep some liquorice in your shirt pocket if you don’t want to miss out on a chance
But some of the key questions still remain….
Why do we fall in love? Can humans really experience love at first sight? Why do we prefer one person over another?
And the answer is: “it all lies in the brain”
Woman of all species like testosterone. Strong jaws in men. On one side we have dopamine which acts as “cupid’s arrow” and on the other we have serotonin which acts the other way around. Dopamine level goes up in romantic love. Serotonin suppresses dopamine circuit which jeopardizes the ability to fall in love.
Men have more brain activity in regions associated with integration of visual stimuli. Men care about visuals. Women have more brain activity in brain areas associated with memory recall. Thought is a woman has to remember if a man is good mate, she can't just look at a man and know. She has to remember if he did what he promised as a way to size men up.
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may occur with more of the human senses than vision, but visual illusions, optical illusions, are the most well known and understood. The emphasis on visual illusions occurs because vision often dominates the other senses. For example, individuals watching a ventriloquist will perceive the voice is coming from the dummy since they are able to see the dummy mouth the words. Some illusions are based on general assumptions the brain makes during perception. These assumptions are made using organizational principles, like Gestalt, an individual's ability of depth perception and motion perception, and perceptual constancy. Other illusions occur because of biological sensory structures within the human body or conditions outside of the body within one’s physical environment.
Perceptual constancies
Perceptual constancies are sources of many illusions. Color constancy and brightness constancy are responsible for the fact that a familiar object will appear the same color regardless of the amount of light reflecting from it. An illusion of color difference can be created, however, when the luminosity of the area surrounding an unfamiliar object is changed. The color of the object will appear darker against a black field which reflects less light compared to a white field even though the object itself did not change in color. Like color, the brain has the ability to understand familiar objects as having a consistent shape or size. For example a door is perceived as rectangle regardless as to how the image may change on the retina as the door is opened and closed. Unfamiliar objects, however, do not always follow the rules of shape constancy and may change when the perspective is changed. The Shepard illusion of the changing table is an example of an illusion based on distortions in shape constancy.
Perceptual constancies
Perceptual constancies are sources of many illusions. Color constancy and brightness constancy are responsible for the fact that a familiar object will appear the same color regardless of the amount of light reflecting from it. An illusion of color difference can be created, however, when the luminosity of the area surrounding an unfamiliar object is changed. The color of the object will appear darker against a black field which reflects less light compared to a white field even though the object itself did not change in color. Like color, the brain has the ability to understand familiar objects as having a consistent shape or size. For example a door is perceived as rectangle regardless as to how the image may change on the retina as the door is opened and closed. Unfamiliar objects, however, do not always follow the rules of shape constancy and may change when the perspective is changed. The Shepard illusion of the changing table is an example of an illusion based on distortions in shape constancy.
Biological approach
Vision
The Hermann grid illusion and Mach bands are two illusions that are best explained using a biological approach. Lateral inhibition, where in the receptive field of the retina light and dark receptors compete with one another to become active, has been used to explain why we see bands of increased brightness at the edge of a color difference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor is active it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition creates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid illusion the grey spots appear at the intersection because of the inhibitory response which occurs as a result of the increased dark surround.
Other senses
Illusions can occur with the other senses including that of taste, smell and touch. It was discovered that even if some portion of the taste receptor on the tongue became damaged that illusory taste could be produced by tactile stimulation.
Examples of Touch illusions include Phantom limb, the Thermal grill illusion, and the tactile illusion which occurs when the middle finger is crossed over the pointer finger and the fingers are ran along the bridge of the nose to the tip with one finger on each side of the nose . In this illusion two “noses” are felt at the tip. Interestingly, with Touch illusions similar brain sights are activated during illusory stimulation as actual stimulation.
Disorders
Some illusions occur as result of an illness or a disorder. While these types of illusions are not shared with everyone they are typical of each condition. For example migraine suffers often report Fortification illusions….
Physical approach
Mirages are optical distortions through the atmosphere that may be photographed. While the perceived reality (such as water in the desert) is illusory, the visual image (of a reflective surface) is real.
Rainbows
Antisolar rays
Reflection
Refraction
Illusion in art and magic
Stage magic is a popular form of entertainment based on illusion. Magicians use tricks to give their audiences the impression that seemingly impossible events have occurred. See magic (illusion).
In fantasy works, actual magic may work by affecting the senses or producing an image, rather than producing a real change; this magic is frequently called illusion to distinguish it from more substantive forms of magic.
Mimes are known for a repertoire of illusions that are created by physical means. The mime artist creates an illusion of acting upon or being acted upon an unseen object. These illusions exploit the audience's assumptions about the physical world. Well known examples include "walls", "climbing stairs", "leaning", "descending ladders", "pulling and pushing". Amongst mimes, these illusions are sometimes referred to as pantomime
In psychiatry and philosophy the term illusion refers to a specific form of sensory distortion. Unlike a hallucination, which is a sensory experience in the absence of a stimulus, an illusion describes a misinterpretation of a true sensation so it is perceived in a distorted manner. For example, hearing voices regardless of the environment would be a hallucination, whereas hearing voices in the sound of running water (or other auditory source) would be an illusion.
Some well-known illusion
Gravity Hill
A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill (and sometimes a mystery hill or a gravity road), is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces the optical illusion that a very slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill. There are hundreds of known gravity hill locations around the world.
Vision
The Hermann grid illusion and Mach bands are two illusions that are best explained using a biological approach. Lateral inhibition, where in the receptive field of the retina light and dark receptors compete with one another to become active, has been used to explain why we see bands of increased brightness at the edge of a color difference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor is active it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition creates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid illusion the grey spots appear at the intersection because of the inhibitory response which occurs as a result of the increased dark surround.
Other senses
Illusions can occur with the other senses including that of taste, smell and touch. It was discovered that even if some portion of the taste receptor on the tongue became damaged that illusory taste could be produced by tactile stimulation.
Examples of Touch illusions include Phantom limb, the Thermal grill illusion, and the tactile illusion which occurs when the middle finger is crossed over the pointer finger and the fingers are ran along the bridge of the nose to the tip with one finger on each side of the nose . In this illusion two “noses” are felt at the tip. Interestingly, with Touch illusions similar brain sights are activated during illusory stimulation as actual stimulation.
Disorders
Some illusions occur as result of an illness or a disorder. While these types of illusions are not shared with everyone they are typical of each condition. For example migraine suffers often report Fortification illusions….
Physical approach
Mirages are optical distortions through the atmosphere that may be photographed. While the perceived reality (such as water in the desert) is illusory, the visual image (of a reflective surface) is real.
Rainbows
Antisolar rays
Reflection
Refraction
Illusion in art and magic
Stage magic is a popular form of entertainment based on illusion. Magicians use tricks to give their audiences the impression that seemingly impossible events have occurred. See magic (illusion).
In fantasy works, actual magic may work by affecting the senses or producing an image, rather than producing a real change; this magic is frequently called illusion to distinguish it from more substantive forms of magic.
Mimes are known for a repertoire of illusions that are created by physical means. The mime artist creates an illusion of acting upon or being acted upon an unseen object. These illusions exploit the audience's assumptions about the physical world. Well known examples include "walls", "climbing stairs", "leaning", "descending ladders", "pulling and pushing". Amongst mimes, these illusions are sometimes referred to as pantomime
In psychiatry and philosophy the term illusion refers to a specific form of sensory distortion. Unlike a hallucination, which is a sensory experience in the absence of a stimulus, an illusion describes a misinterpretation of a true sensation so it is perceived in a distorted manner. For example, hearing voices regardless of the environment would be a hallucination, whereas hearing voices in the sound of running water (or other auditory source) would be an illusion.
Some well-known illusion
Gravity Hill
A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill (and sometimes a mystery hill or a gravity road), is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces the optical illusion that a very slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill. There are hundreds of known gravity hill locations around the world.
Café wall illusion
The café wall illusion
The café wall illusion is an optical illusion, first described by Doctor Richard Gregory. He observed this curious effect in the tiles of the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael's Hill, Bristol.
This optical illusion makes the parallel straight horizontal lines appear to be bent.
To construct the illusion, alternating light and dark "bricks" are laid in staggered rows. It is essential for the illusion that each "brick" is surrounded by a layer of "mortar" (the grey in the image). This should ideally be of a colour in between the dark and light colour of the "bricks"
The café wall illusion is an optical illusion, first described by Doctor Richard Gregory. He observed this curious effect in the tiles of the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael's Hill, Bristol.
This optical illusion makes the parallel straight horizontal lines appear to be bent.
To construct the illusion, alternating light and dark "bricks" are laid in staggered rows. It is essential for the illusion that each "brick" is surrounded by a layer of "mortar" (the grey in the image). This should ideally be of a colour in between the dark and light colour of the "bricks"
Some Exercises
#Concentrate on center point and move your head forward and backward!!!!! What do you observe?????
#The gray strip in the center is the same color throughout!!!!!
Friday, 15 June 2007
Welcome All
Hello!! Everybody here's a common forum for all of us to post the articles you have prepared.
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