Coffee Trends: IPL - What a success!!

Posted by sundarrajan.g.s as IPL, coffee trends, indian premier league

Indian Premier League (IPL) was undoubtedly quite a success.. It was more successful than what I had expected.. Although, I didnt support for Bangalore Royal Challengers.. I watched IPL reasonably closely.. Supporting Mumbai Indians.. And in the finals, I supported Rajasthan Royals.. On the whole, it was a quite a fun series.

There are few take aways from IPL..

* There is one thing to have an idea.. And completely different thing to execute it.. Just look at the difference between ICL and IPL.. IPL is an example of ‘Execution to Perfection’

* But we just cant take away credit from ICL here.. ICL brought in the competition.. BCCI was a monopoly till then.. It could have done much more to improve the Ranji Trophies and the Duleep Trophies. But BCCI was only looking at the money.. But ICL came in.. It revolutionized cricket.. And made the mammoth elephant - BCCI to run for its bucks..

* There are a few things which made IPL a grand success.. And ICL as just its shadow.. Trust me.. One of the biggest factor was undoubtedly Media.. The amount of coverage news paper, TV channels, FM Radios etc.. has been giving to IPL has be just unbelievable.. If BCCI had not relaxed its criteria with the press, before the start of the tournament.. I must say, BCCI would have just screwed up things.. Media was the biggest factor for IPLs success…

Pen is mightier than sword!! - No doubt about it..

* IPL also brought in Corporate Honchos and Bollywood big guys.. And very big money along with them.. They had so much at stake… that they took sufficient effort to market their team.. And in the process, IPL had distributed the role of marketing itself.. The corporate culture also got professional touch, which is generally missing with the sports administrations across the country.

* IPL brought out amazing leadership skills of Shane Warne.. Oh man.. What did he do to the Rajasthan Royals.. I thought they were clearly out of the tournament.. when I looked at the team on paper.. This is one of the best examples of what a leader can do.. A great leader can bring in so much energy.. He can make anything possible..

* Dhoni ofcourse deserved his due credit.. I always like the way Dhoni looks at things.. His ‘Go out and enjoy!’ attitude is great! We should also appreciated the way ‘The Team’ accepted defeat.. He didnt pin point fingers @ anyone..

* IPL is yet another huge success, which was completely ‘MADE IN INDIA’.. One more reason for India Inc to be proud!! People are already thinking of replicating this model elsewhere.

* IPL is over now.. People are going do some searching.. to spend time in the evening.. Every one got what they wanted.. atleast to some extent.. The people, BCCI, players, franchise.. I cant help but make this comment.. Even Sreesanth got.. What he really really deserved.. :-)

Anyways, Hope you had a nice time watching IPL..

Popularity: 2%



June 2, 2008 | Filed Under IPL, coffee trends, indian premier league | Comments Off 

Podcast: Peak Oil Crisis with Chandramouli Mahadevan

Posted by sundarrajan.g.s as chandramouli, chandramouli mahadevan, coffee trends, coffee with experts, mahadevan, peak oil, podcast

Hi All,

Its my pleasure to invite Chandramouli Mahadevan a.k.a Mouli for the first “live” interview on CWS. Mouli is a TLM (Tech Lead and Manager) at Google. He is voracious reader and is kind enough to share some of his learnings about Peak Oil Crisis with CWS Readers. Thank you Mouli for sparing your time.

The interview is here.

Download audio file (Voice040101005.mp3)
You can also download the interview here.

http://coffeewithsundar.com/PeakOilDiscussionsWithMouli.mp3

The following can be used as a reference to skim through the interview.

  1. What is this Peak Oil Crisis all about? (0:09)
  2. Why did the whole issue start? Why is it that the people are suddenly aware of it? (1:26)
  3. How is today’s oil crisis different from 1970’s oil crisis (6:25)
  4. What are the alternate sources of energy available to us? (8:31)
  5. There are these small steps like minimizing driving, work from home etc.. Can economies of scale help us mitigate the crisis with these small steps? (10:16)
  6. Recently, there was a report that US found oil reserves which is approximately equal to one third of the earth’s reserves. Will this help? (13:51)
  7. Well there is shortage of resources on earth!! Should we go beyond earth.. Should we look at moon or mars etc? for resources? (17:45)
  8. We all agree that there is a problem. What can we do to solve or postpone this crisis? (19:51)
  9. Do you think we should get back to small community, work near by, the old way of life? (20:42)
  10. What do you think are the short term impacts of Peak Oil Crisis? (22:06)
  11. Can you talk about the food crisis. (24:06)
  12. What is going to be the biggest problem that earth is going to face? Global Warming vs Peak Oil Crisis vs Combination of both? (25:45)
  13. How long have you been tracking this issue? Can you share some references for further reading? (27:00)

Here are some references for further reading on Peak Oil Crisis.

theoildrum.com

energybulletin.net

lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

Peak Oil - Is the world running out of Oil?

Originally Posted at http://coffeewithsundar.com

For previous episodes of Coffee With Experts - Click here.

For previous episodes of Coffee Trends - Click here.

Popularity: 6%



April 20, 2008 | Filed Under chandramouli, chandramouli mahadevan, coffee trends, coffee with experts, mahadevan, peak oil, podcast | Comments Off 

Coffee Trends: Fundamental Rights and Duties

Posted by sundarrajan.g.s as Indian Constitution, coffee trends, fundamental duties, fundamental rights

Hi All,

Its time for another episode on Coffee Trends. Last time, we discussed railway budget. Today, we will discuss about Fundamental Rights and Duties of Indian citizen.

I fully understand that there is no “trend” in knowing our rights and duties. But I think, if I take a poll today, greater than 90% of the people wont even know their rights. Duties come much much later.. :D Lets take a quick glance at our rights and duties. I am sure this is very simple to remember now.. Unlike the first time when we were forced to mug up these things in high school social studies class.

Fundamental Rights:

  1. Right to equality
  2. Right to freedom
  3. Right against exploitation
  4. Right to freedom of religion
  5. Cultural and educational rights
  6. Right to constitutional remedies (This enables the citizens to remove a law in case there is any denial of rights)

Isnt it so simple.. I remember, how I used to hate mugging up these things.

Fundamental Duties:

We the responsible citizens of India (Are we :-D??), have more responsibilities than rights. :-( How sad!! Well, its not that bad.. Its again quite simple to remember.. Check out these..

  1. To abide by the constitution and respect the National Flag and National Anthem.
  2. To follow the ideals which inspired our freedom struggle
  3. To protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity
  4. To defend the country and render national service if required
  5. To promote harmony among the people.
  6. To value and preserve our rich culture.
  7. To protect and improve the natural environment
  8. To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
  9. To safegaurd the public property and renounce violence
  10. To strive towards excellence in all spheres of activities so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels.

If 10 points are too much for you to remember, just think about it this way.

Well thats it! :-)

I am sure your civics teacher would be proud today! :-)

At Coffee Trends, I intend to pick up a topic and give a conceptual/high level summary of the topic.

If you want a particular topic to be discussed, please drop a comment! I want to make one thing clear, I dont present my views here. All I do is that, I read up the topic and present the story as it is. So, suggest topics which you want to knw. Hope you enjoyed this edition of coffee trends. For the previous episodes of coffee trends, check out here.

Originally posted at: http://coffeewithsundar.com

Please subscribe to CWS! The content will be delivered at your inbox.

Popularity: 8%



March 31, 2008 | Filed Under Indian Constitution, coffee trends, fundamental duties, fundamental rights | Comments Off 

Coffee Trends: Railway Budget 2008 - 09

Posted by sundarrajan.g.s as Railway Budget 2008 - 09, coffee trends

What happened in Railway Budget which was presented a couple of weeks back?

Well, the answer is lots. He is an attempt to do a “Railway Budget Made Simple” :-)First of all, let us congratulate the railway ministry for making a profit of 25000 crores. This is the first time Indian Railways has made profit. Now, lets see whats in store for us in the following year.

What do you do when you want to travel by train? You reserve ticket, go to railway station, wait there for the train and finally travel. Now lets categorize the measures.

1. Ticket Reservation:

- There is a minor reduction in prices in all categories like I AC, II AC, Sleeper etc, not much to breathe easy :-)

- New trains to be introduced, well! you will get tickets now (hopefully :-))

- Steps taken to abolish the queue for tickets in 2 years. Ticket booking should be possible from anywhere.

- Ticket booking to be facilitated by mobile phones.

- Smart cards to be introduced in railway station. They are also planning to introduce call centre support!

2. Go to Railway Station:

- Stations to get lifts and elevators.

- Multilevel parking at stations are going to be introduced.

3. Wait for train:

- Touch screens, Colour TVs are likely to be introduced in station.

- Platforms to be extended to accommodate more people.

4. Travel in train:

- Better toilets to be introduced! (Oh God! Finally)

- Trains will display the next station. (You dont have to get down in the middle of the night to find out where you are)

Hmm.. Lot of schemes.. Lets analyze this next year to see how much is being done..

At Coffee Trends, I intend to pick up a recent topic, analyze it fully and present a conceptual or logical level information behind the topic.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee Trends!

You will find these in my blog: Coffee, Fun, Carnatic Music, Mridangam, Google, Random thoughts, Business ideas, Start ups, Videos, Blogposts, Cricket, India, Philosophy, Real life Experience.. The list goes on…..

Popularity: 5%



March 13, 2008 | Filed Under Railway Budget 2008 - 09, coffee trends | Comments Off 

Coffee Trends: Railway Budget 2008 - 09

Posted by Sundar Rajan G S as Railway Budget 2008 - 09, coffee trends

What happened in Railway Budget which was presented a couple of weeks back?


Well, the answer is lots. He is an attempt to do a “Railway Budget Made Simple” :-)



First of all, let us congratulate the railway ministry for making a profit of 25000 crores. This is the first time Indian Railways has made profit. Now, lets see whats in store for us in the following year.



What do you do when you want to travel by train? You reserve ticket, go to railway station, wait there for the train and finally travel. Now lets categorize the measures.



1. Ticket Reservation:

- There is a minor reduction in prices in all categories like I AC, II AC, Sleeper etc, not much to breathe easy :-)

- New trains to be introduced, well! you will get tickets now (hopefully :-))

- Steps taken to abolish the queue for tickets in 2 years. Ticket booking should be possible from anywhere.

- Ticket booking to be facilitated by mobile phones.

- Smart cards to be introduced in railway station. They are also planning to introduce call centre support!



2. Go to Railway Station:

- Stations to get lifts and elevators.

- Multilevel parking at stations are going to be introduced.



3. Wait for train:

- Touch screens, Colour TVs are likely to be introduced in station.

- Platforms to be extended to accommodate more people.



4. Travel in train:

- Better toilets to be introduced! (Oh God! Finally)

- Trains will display the next station. (You dont have to get down in the middle of the night to find out where you are)



Hmm.. Lot of schemes.. Lets analyze this next year to see how much is being done..



At Coffee Trends, I intend to pick up a recent topic, analyze it fully and present a conceptual or logical level information behind the topic.

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee Trends!


You will find these in my blog: Coffee, Fun, Carnatic Music, Mridangam, Google, Random thoughts, Business ideas, Start ups, Videos, Blogposts, Cricket, India, Philosophy, Real life Experience.. The list goes on…..

Popularity: 8%



March 13, 2008 | Filed Under Railway Budget 2008 - 09, coffee trends | Comments Off