Wooden supercar is faster than a Porsche

The world's first wooden supercar has been unveiled - and it's faster than a Porsche or a Lamborghini.

The Splinter can produce 700bhp from its twin supercharged, 4.6 litre V8 engine - almost 300bhp more than a Porsche 911 GT3. And with a top speed of 240mph, it will leave the Porsche and the new Lamborghini Revanton in its wake.

The two seater, which is made from a combination of maple, plywood and MDF, weighs 1,134kg - 240kg less than the lightweight Porsche.

The Splinter, which has a roll cage to protect the driver and stiffen the chassis, has a laminated wood veneer chassis and wooden wheel rims. Suspension is provided through laminated wooden arms and springs made from osage orange wood. It is not made from solid chunks of wood, but rather moulded laminates.

The creators of this amazing new car a hinting at making an F1 car out of wood, the practicality of which is a doubt and moreover getting permission to create such a car i hard to get. The risks of driving such a car at such high speeds are very high so ratifications is difficult.

This adds a new dimension to cars in the world. Recently Tata unveiled a 1 lakh car, not the wooden car comes up which can be a lot cheaper considering the fact that not much has to be spent on the metal used for the body.

Technology seems to be pushing the limits. First came the worlds cheapest car, then the wooden car(yet to be produced though), what's next?

Indo-US nuclear deal

Off late India has been making all the right moves, and is well on its way to be a force to reckon with. As a matter of fact, everything seems to be falling in place for India’s own good. One of the biggest issue was the nuclear deal which India was supposed to sign with the US. Much has been said about the 123 agreement, a part of the nuclear deal, which lays down policies and restrictions which will go against India.

The biggest clause in the 123 agreement is that the Indian nuclear plants will be under constant surveillance by the US and that India will also not be allowed to reuse the nuclear waste produced as a by-product of nuclear energy generation. It also says that India will have to surrender all its nuclear reactors in case India chooses to test a nuclear weapon sometime in the future. This didn’t augur well with the left and there never was a total majority in the parliament to go ahead with the deal. The delay could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

The US has been very adamant as far as the negotiations were concerned and the UPA government has been putting in its best efforts to make amends to the agreement so that the left’s demands could be met and that it would be accepted unanimously in the parliament. But if seen from a broader perspective, the nuclear energy that our honorable PM Mr. Manmohan Singh has been stressing about adds up to a very less percentage of the total energy generation requirement.

Mr. Prakash Karat has been wise in deciding to postpone the negotiations till the US presidential elections are over. The present policies adopted by the US are very dubious.

They have such subtle clauses in their policies that, they often go unnoticed, and as a matter of fact, put the other country at a disadvantage. This has to be kept in the minds of any country which plans to strike any kind of deal with the US.

After the US elections come to an end, the next president could hold better prospects for India. It is just a hope, but even if the negotiation have to be made all over again, it will be good for India because it can now try and plug the loop holes in the first negotiation when Bush was at the helm. The whole deal could as well turn in India’s favour and nuclear energy will not be a distant dream anymore. US is now forcing India to finish off the deal and has given a dead line to it. India in my opinion should not fall for it and even if it calls for fresh negotiations with a fresh government, it should not budge. It might turn out to be a costly mistake. India should not give into pressure. Nothing can be said now. Lets hope everything goes on well.

Indians on par with the Americans

Indians seem to be on par with the Americans in every aspect. We are competing with the US and are beating them fair and square on the technology front, in fact, we are doing much better than the Americans. We seem to be outdoing the Americans in their lifestyles as well. It is sad to see the things that are happening around and further disheartening to see what we are doing to ourselves. Where have all the values and traditions which we so proudly boast of gone? People are getting married just for the heck of it, having kids and then remarrying. On the other side there are people staging protests on the most flimsiest of issues, like celebrating valentine’s day. They don’t consider it to be Indian culture. What do you call being in multiple relations? Is this Indian culture? Why aren’t there protests when people are not respecting something as sacred as marriage? This is hypocrisy. Yes, there have been kings in the past who had hundreds of wives, but that’s not to be taken as an inspiration. We are partially better compared to the old kings, they had all the hundred of them together, we have one at a time. Yeah right!!

I do not mind being called old fashioned or anything. Its just NOT RIGHT, the things that people are doing today.

The marriage of Sanjay Dutt with Manyata, man that’s horrible. It got huge media attention. Its considered hot news. In what way?!! There are more pressing issues being starved of the limelight they deserve.

Did you know that Sanjay was married thrice before, and that he was still married to Rhea Pillai but not living with her while he was going around with manyata? He even has a daughter named Trishala from Rhea. Whats gonna happen to her? What if tomorrow somebody asks her, who her father is, what would she say? Sad to even imagine being in her position. This also happens to be manyata’s fourth marriage(Awesome! Made for each other ;)). The irony is that everybody seems to be happy for Sanjay. Well, I would have been happy as well if this was his first marriage. In an interview he said he wants everybody’s best wishes. What kind of best wishes? Wishes that he can go on with manyata for “as LONG” as possible? TRY and do ONE better than BEFORE? HOW IDIOTIC!!

I don’t have anything personal against Sanjay. He’s a great person and an amazing actor. It’s just the things he’s doing that are not going down well. Nobody can claim to be better.

Even Saif’s doing the same thing. He was married to Amrita who is older to him, he divorced her, then he was after Rosa and now he’s after Kareena. How long will this ‘changing partners’ go on? People who watch their movies draw inspiration from their onscreen hero’s, and this is the example they set in real life? They show these “HERO’S” working their ass out, getting kicked and all trying to woo ONE girl in the movies, and they get married and well… that’s shown as a happy ending. Why cant they do the same in real life? What a contrast between ‘Reel life and Real life’. Having girl friends and the having the highest no. of Ex’s was considered fashion or in a more contemporary way, its considered IN. It just got better. Having “Ex Wife’s” seems to be IN now. I pity these people.

If there is one person who can rightfully take the position of a real inspiration, it would be Shah Rukh Khan. Call me gay or whatever, I admire this guy. He was nothing, fame and success came knocking on his door, he embraced it with wide open arms. He got married had kids and even after years and crores of money earned, he still remains FAITHFUL (that’s the word to concentrate on) to his wife Gouri. He is never in news for his flings. That’s what a real star should be like. “King Khan”, very apt. He has that charisma and aura around him. His sense of humor, his way with words, his wit…man, its just amazing. Makes you wanna be able to speak like him. Do any of the other actors evoke such feeling? Everyone has their dark side which takes away all the glory from them.

Sanjay, Saif, Salman, Amir, nobody has done anything so worthwhile to deserve all the praise and admiration that they receive. Its just their movies that do the talking. It would be great if they lived such lives. Lot more can be said but nothing seems worth spending time on.

Kudos to the guys who believe in monogamy.

Apple's MacBook Air

Apple has officially announced that in two weeks time, its MacBook Air along with accompaniments, and its Time Capsule will be available in India.

The MacBook Air has been talked and written about recurrently ever since it was announced at the MacWorld 2008. The slimmest notebook in the world, measures just 0.76-inches at its thickest, and a mere 0.16-inches at its thinnest. The Silver Matte colored MacBook Air features a 13.3-inches LED back-lit wide-screen display.

The MacBook Air features Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel 965GMS chipset with integrated Gfx using a new miniaturized package technology. It also features a 4,200rpm 1.8-inches hard disk drive with 80GB standard storage capacity, and 2GB RAM. Not bad at all.

The MacBook Air has a built-in iSight Web cam, and a track-pad instead of the conventional touch-pad that works on a platform similar to that of the iPhone or iPod Touch.Though it is the thinnest notebook, it has major shortcomings, this is primarily due to the fact that it gives the conventional optical drive a miss, the Firewire, Ethernet, media card reader, and expansion card slot are also absent from the notebook. Besides, there's only one USB port included in the MacBook Air. This could prove to be very inconvenient as most people now tend to connect their cell phones and other external peripherals like an external mouse to their laptops while on the move.

For the missing optical drive, Apple has reassuringly provided consumers with an option to use the MacBook Air SuperDrive, which would be available at an additional cost of Rs 5,500. This is the similar kind of marketing strategy that Sony adopts. It introduces amazing cameras or MP3 players and other cool stuff and makes them slightly complicated and incompatible with others that, they literally force the customer to shell out extra amount to purchase the software or attachments just like the SuperDrive.

For those who do not want to purchase the SuperDrive for their MacBook Air; they can use Apple's software feature on the notebook called Remote Disk. The feature enables you to "borrow" the optical drive of another Mac or PC on the same network as the MacBook Air.

Apple's MacBook Air is priced at Rs 96,100. It comes with a limited one-year warranty, on completion of which, additional support-warranty can be purchased from the company. This is too much of a price taking into consideration the various other models available in the market with similar or better features from companies like Sony, Dell, HP etc. At 96000, each member family can have their own personal laptops. Only an apple fanatic will think of purchasing it. The MAC OS is amazing to work on.

The Time Capsule I feel is the most practical launch by Apple. It is an automatic data back-up solution that works over a wireless network. It can work as a wireless hard drive for both, the Mac and the PC.

A better pricing strategy by Apple could just boost its presence in the Indian market. The iPod has become a necessity for everyone and its popularity can be attributed to the various models available in terms of the memory capacity, screen size etc. If Apple can do something like this with the MacBook as well, nothing will ever be able to compete with it.

Violence in Mumbai

Is this what our freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for? So that we can fight amongst ourselves? It is pathetic and disturbing to see and hear of the things that are happening in Mumbai. The concept of “Mumbai for the Mumbaikar’s” coined by the Shiv Sena and the MNS is unfathomable. For nearly 200 years great men fought selflessly and many lives were sacrificed to kick the Britisher’s out, so that we can have Our India for Ourselves. Now the same thing is happening again, but this time its for Mumbai (A similar thing is happening down south in AP for Telangana), the difference being the fact that the people are not fighting selflessly for a common cause, but are fighting with a selfish motive and worse, they are fighting with people of the same country. If only people like Gandhiji or any freedom fighter who were in the thick of the freedom struggle were alive today, they would beat their chests and wail unconsolably looking at the current status of the country they loved and deemed worthy enough to lay their lives for.

Poor people mostly from the north had migrated to Mumbai looking for greener pastures. They have taken the risk and have settled down there. Now they are fleeing to their own states fearing loss of life. This is deeply regrettable. According to the Indian constitution, any Indian citizen has the right to move to any part of the country and set up business and earn a livelihood (This is what we learn in Civics at our schools). This is the basic human right which all these migrants are practicing. One of the many issues that people of Mumbai are raising is the fact that when it concerns jobs, the north Indians are given priority over the people of Mumbai. This is so idiotic. If the north Indians are given priority, its just because they are more hardworking and they have earned it.

The news of the death of a person from Nashik and the visuals shown on TV of the people of Mumbai pulling taxi drivers out of their cars and hitting them and destroying their taxi’s and the recent incident of a woman giving birth in the bathroom of the train she boarded to head back home are heart wrenching and inhuman to say the least.

These are the days of “India Shining” and India is all set to become the next world power. Indian economy is growing at an amazing pace and the entire world is looking east towards India as the country of opportunities. Many foreign companies are setting up their plants here and are planning to tap the Indian market. India has the greatest potential and resources in terms of man power. Even Mr. Barak Obama, the democrat contender for the US presidential elections said in a recent speech that he would want to improve the education system in the US so that they can produce students who can be on par with students from India and the China. This is something we should be extremely proud of.

It is said that “United we stand and divided we fall”. People need to get the real meaning of this maxim into their heads. What do people wish to accomplish by wanting separate states and kicking away people from other states? What political mileage do they wish to gain? What good is it going to do for people, and to India as a whole? If India prospers as a united country, who are the ones who will benefit from it? These are the questions which all these rabble rousers like Raj Thackeray, KCR and other miscreants who are against unity, that they need to ask themselves before doing anything . The only solution to this seems to be putting all these trouble makers behind bars, but whats the point, they come out on bail within a few hours giving as surety amounts which are paltry compared to what they make.

For all you know these so called rulers have numerous cases,sometimes even criminal cases filled against them, and these people are the ones who are ruling us and running the country. A very sad prospect, but nothing can be done.

A voice cries out in the distance, nobody pays it any heed.

Valentine's Day virus on the prowl

Anti-virus authorities in China have warned computer users to beware of Valentine's Day computer viruses.

Valentine's Day computer viruses, especially “Vbs_Valentin.A,” spread chiefly through emails or online chat systems; Xinhua quoted China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center experts, as saying.

According to experts, other viruses like “Worm-blebla.B” and “VBS-ILoveyou” are also likely to attack computers if users open emails or attachments disguised with Valentine blessings for February 14.

Experts have warned users to be wary of unidentified emails, especially those attached with Spanish characters.

They have also alerted Internet shoppers to heed clicks on bogus discount messages from online stores, which may be used to spread viruses.

Suggesting computer users to update their anti-virus software, experts said users must use the real-time computer virus monitoring function while surfing Internet.

Ishanth Sharma – India’s Answer

It was in 1979 that, India produced its first world class fast bowler in the form of the legendary Kapil Dev. He had the capacity to humble the greatest of the players and bring India some of the most memorable victories including the 1983 world cup. Ever since then, India was on the look out for another such talented young pace man who could rummage through the batting line-up of the best cricket playing nations in the world and yet give away very few runs. India seems to have finally found the answer in Ishanth Sharma.

He has all the makings of another legend. The way he handles the new ball is remarkable. He manages to get the right amount of bounce and swing and at such high speeds. He consistently reached bowling speeds of 148, 149kmph, which is exactly what India needs. Ricky Ponting, according to the ICC cricket ratings, is the best batsman in the world, and Ishanth Sharma has managed to consistently get him out and that too, in his own backyard. This feat of his is commendable and he deserves all the praise for being able to put a batsman like Ricky in a corner.

It's now official.... India have arrived as a worthy contender to be the next No 1 team in the world. The main reason for this is mainly due to the wonderful presence and development of its younger players in Gambhir, Sreesanth, Pathan, Uthappa and both Ishant and Rohit Sharma.

India were just fantastic at the MCG on Sunday. Sreesanth started it all by knocking over the dangerous Gilchrist for a duck. What a wonderful start and then came along Ishant Sharma. Sharma found the edge of Hayden's bat... amazing considering I thought Hayden's bat had no edges of late.

Ishant Sharma is the next superstar in world cricket. Sharma has this great ability to get the ball to seam away and bounce from an impeccable length.

The inspirational Ishant Sharma bowled with pace and with some real venom and finished with the well-deserved figures of 4-38. When the lad puts some more weight on and get some strength, then adds some experience at this level, we will see Sharma bowl consistently in the 150s kph when he reaches the ripe old age of 25!

The whole reason for me is why this team is bowling well is because of their captain's leadership in Dhoni. He set strong attacking fields all day. He took the Aussies on. That is the way Dhoni plays his cricket and that's why India will win a lot of trophies in the future.

India are doing especially well in their "New Ball" plays. What I mean by that is that whether India are bowling with the new ball or batting against the new ball they are winning most of the contests. That's how you beat the No 1 team in the World.... take the Aussies on! Any team with positive leadership combined with youth who have no fear can do can do anything!

All that is needed now is to keep these amazing finds in great form and fitness and to train them in such a way that they can keep giving match winning performances always. If India manages to do this successfully and the young brigade manage to have a common goal and stay grounded, they will be world champions in no time and might as well lift the next world cup.

Here's wishing India all the very best.

Separate Telangana : Not a good idea

This issue has been doing the rounds ever since Congress came into power 5 years ago and it haunted them all through their tenure. In fact TRS joined the Congress party with a hope that they will accede to their wish of separate statehood. But what’s the point in wanting a separate state?

A lot has to be changed if a new state is to be established and a lot of challenges will come up. A few major and seemingly impossible things that have to be taken care of are as below:

1. A new cabinet has to be elected -A new set of MP’s, a new Chief Minister, a new set of MLA’s.

2. A whole new police department has to be put in place in order to take care of the law and order problems in the telangana region.

3. Most importantly a new Capital city will have to be chosen for the state of Telanga.

4. Huge amounts of funds that AP has borrowed from the World Bank and other sources for the various development projects, these will have to be divided or worse Telanga as a new state will have to borrow again because AP will definitely not want to share. Paying up these debts will be a herculean task for the new Telangana state as there will be no huge revenue generation in the formative stages and by the time they actually start making formidable revenues, the interest will have accumulated so much that, they will be in eternal debt.

5. A new capital will have to be chosen again for AP and there are rumors that the new capital will not be Hyderabad.

6. A lot of natural resources are also shared between the two, AP and Telangana, these will also have to be shared which on a large scale or for that matter on any scale is not feasible.

7. There is no clear or distinct demarcation between the two regions either. Non-existant boundaries will have to be erected.

8. Jobs will have to be created for the people of Telangana and also a whole new education system will also need to be setup.

I don’t see anything good coming out of this. The Telangana movement itself is divided with two different people wanting the same thing - A.Narendra and KCR. Even if a separate telangana comes into existence, these two fronts led by once good friends , will again fight amongst themselves vying for ownership of the state. While that issue is being resolved “Infant Telangana” will goto dogs.

Andhra Pradesh as a state consists of three segregations – Andhra, Rayalseema and Telangana. If Congress accedes to TRS’s plea or rather demand for a separate state because of the immense pressure being created, Rayalaseema will also come forward and want separate statehood. What’s the end result? A wonderful and peaceful Andhra Pradesh, the 5^th largest state in India by area, known for its rich culture and wonderful personalities it put on the world front, will be split into three. Nothing will hold the capability of being identified distinctly from another as everything will be related somehow or the other to all the three regions.

Y.S.Rajashekhar Reddy had been very smart in procrastinating this issue till the end. The chances of a second tenure of congress in AP seem bleak.Now everything will be left to the next government. My humble plea to who ever is going to handle this issue next, is to please to take into consideration the repercussions the division will bring and instead aim for a united and peaceful Andhra Pradesh.

Rohit sharma finded

Rohit Sharma was fined 10 per cent of his match fee at the Gabba after he "expressed disappointment" at being given out caught behind off Muttiah Muralitharan.

Replays proved beyond doubt that umpire Rudi Koertzen had done Rohit in with a poor decision. There was daylight between Rohit's bat and Muralitharan's delivery.

But the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe, displaying ineptness that match referees have come to be known for, decided to go with the letter of the rule, not its spirit, and turned his back to the grave umpiring error.

Sharma was guilty under ICC Code of Conduct section 1.3 for excessive, obvious disappointment at an umpire's decision and an obvious delay in leaving the wicket.

Sure Jeff. When a young batsman fighting to keep his place in the side gets done in on zero, we expect him to smile back with all 32 and send the umpire a bottle of wine to show his gratitude.

Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds escaped punishment for similar acts earlier this season. Is it one's imagination, or is ICC really not doing enough to shed its anti-Asia image?

Here's a proposal to the ICC: next time, field robots, not human beings. Then, match referees wouldn't have problems controlling their emotions.

Like Ian Chappell said, animosity and anger on the cricket field is predominately caused by poor officiating. Either poor laws and playing conditions, or bad decision making.

TCS: 500 resign on poor performance

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's largest software services exporter said that "Those who cannot meet the performance requirements of our company are asked to look for another job commensurate with their abilities," and a spokesperson also said that "It's not an exceptional thing, it happens every year and it's a part of our annual performance exercise. Last year also similar number of people left the company".

TCS has an annual evaluation where they test the employees on their subject knowledge with regards to their job and also basic aptitude. Scores are given on a scale of 5 and the 500 who were removed were supposed to have scored 2 or below. Now thats like, 40%, just pass. Its a dog eat dog world out there, you cannot afford to be just average and expect favours and job security. There are millions of people who are just waiting for an opportunity to grab whatever little is for offer and make the best of it, the competition is stiff.

This came as a shock to many young professionals who are placed in various top companies and are yet to start working. This is not to be taken as a threat though. Yes, the US recession has affected a lot of the Indian companies in terms of profits and to compensate for that some companies cut salaries and some others took to giving pink slips to some of their employees. India's export-driven software services companies have been winning large outsourcing contracts from western clients, but recession fears in the United States, a strong rupee, soaring wages and a skills shortage are major worries But if the basis on which these companies have removed some employees is considered, its purely on performance. It is but natural, where ever you are its your performance that matters, if your caught slacking you are bound to be kicked out. TCS, I feel has been gracious enough to have arranged for alternative jobs for these unlucky few and i feel they should make the best of it.

As for the young professionals who are yet to start working, they should take this as a wake up call and prepare to work very hard and to always be a step ahead.You never know what tomorrow has in store. So being prepared is the best option. The best thing to do would be to never put oneself in a make or break situation. Always strive to be the best and never give anyone a chance to raise a finger against you.

Govt fixes price of rescue operation

Thousands of passengers are stranded in Jammu, waiting to go Srinagar. The government has plans to airlift them to Srinagar or to Jammu by air force planes.

But as a shock, each passenger will have to pay Rs 250 to be rescued, which will have to be deposited to the local administration.

The air force is not charging for the relief operation but the state government is.

''Air force planes will be used for ferrying the stranded people to Kashmir, but they will have to pay 250 rupees per head,'' said Mangat Ram Sharma, Health and Medical Education Minister.

These are people stranded without food or shelter for many days now in the cold. Most of them have run out of the little money they had. Their families have no news of them.

''They haven't done anything for us, giving free food won't solve anything, we want to go home and be with our families, we would prefer to be with our families rather than eating anything,'' this is what was said by one of the person who was stranded and awaiting help.

The decision of the state govt to do something like this is shocking and inhuman to say the least.What do they wish to gain by fixing a price for their rescue. People actually look toward the government because they have the capability and their decision do fix a price could have come as a shock to the people. The only good thing about this is the fact that its not the military that is asking for the money but the government. It is not supposed to do something like that.

The rescue operation, if it can be called so, is to begin on Saturday. How many people can afford to be airlifted is the question.

Aishwarya Rai - bad luck for the Bachchan’s?

This is something I never intended to say but the entry of Aishwarya Rai into the Bachchan’s family seems to have brought severe bad luck on them. Most of his movies in 2007 were a no show at the box office, barring a few which did just, ok ok. If we look back, say 2 years into the past, Amitabh was always in news but never for the wrong reason. But come Ash, everything started going wrong, right from the marriage to their temple visits across India which created quite an uproar, to his rolls royce which was later said that, it was presented to him for his movie Ekalavya(for tax exemption) , to his land in UP which he had brought posing as a farmer, to his getting sick and getting admitted, to Jaya Bachchan and problems in her party and now, this attack by the MNS on his home and the also the protests that he and his family are facing in Rajasthan with regards the movie Jodha-Akbar and the list goes on.

This could be a mere coincidence but everything is very subtly evident on close observation. I think that Mr.Bachchan made a lot of erroneous decisions off late (though its unclear if they were made on purpose or out of ignorance and wrong advice) . It is seriously dumb on the part of the MNS to say “Mumbai for the Mumbaiker’s”, but it was also seriously very wrong of Mr.Bachchan to go to UP and float a party and perform acts of charity instead of him trying to do something in the place he lives in. UP is ofcoarse his home town but he is indebted to mumbai also which brought him to so much fame and money. I don’t understand whats Amar Singh doing amidst all this, instead of doing what he was appointed to do. He considers himself a "brother" of Mr.Bachchan and well, all I understand is that he seems to be enjoying all the limelight that surrounds the Bachchan's. Recently even when UP was in trouble he was seen attending the music release of one of their films. I think he needs to get his priorities right and do what he should be doing.

Now big B is said to be ill and in hospital again. I hope its nothing serious and wish he gets well soon but i think that Mr.Bachchan should take this time out and go into retrospection and do something that will not tarnish his image any furthur. He is the Shehansha of bollywood and that is what I wish he remains and not get into silly and very avoidable troubles like this and go down in history as one of the greatest artist and not as someone shrowded with controversies.

DC’s Amberoid – A tribute to the Ambassador

Amidst all the furore being raised over the unveiling of the 1 lakh car - Tata’s Nano, and all the new releases and the revamped models sat the amazing and revolutionary Amberoid, designed by Dilip Chabria. The limelight was however stolen by the Nano and a whole slew of new cars and this car never got the attention it deserved.

The BMW unveiled the awesome M3, touted to be the fasted sedan in the world, the 6-series convertible, the X3 and X5, and the 3, 5, and 7 series super luxury cars. From the Merc stable, came the new C-class. Volvo unveiled their cars like the XC70 and also the SUV , the GM group unveiled the Captiva, Audi unveiled it’s A – 4,6,8 series and well the list of cars go on. The Amberoid was however the most awesome concept car and the fact that it was designed by an Indian is something to be really proud of.

The Ambassador is one of the first cars to have hit the Indian roads. It was and still is manufactured by the Hindustan Motors. It has a body so hard that if it is involved in a collision the car which hits the Amby (as it is lovingly called) takes more damage and the amby escapes with just a scratch and the passengers also remain safe(a little exaggeration though). It is not a very stable car and neither is it a fun car to drive. It has been in existence for almost eternity and though there are hundreds of modern designs with amazing performances in the present market, Amby still survived. There are still people who are loyal to it (it is secondary that getting rid of it is a big problem because there are no buyers). A lot of changes have been made to it, mostly to the interiors and to the engine.It has been made more drivable but the body still remains the same. It is still in production as most of the politicians use them because it is a ‘Made in India’ car. The current politicians though are now shifting their loyalties to more contemporary cars like the Safari’s and Scorpio’s but most of the older politicians still use the ambassador. It is also currently being used as a taxi throughout India.

Come 2008 and Dilip Chabria (DC) came up with this awesome new design for the Ambassador and renamed it the Amberoid(very apt) and showcased it at the Auto Expo 2008. He still stuck to the basic design but made a lot of cosmetic changes. The amberoid is ravishing in all aspects. It defies all laws and boasts of a Rolls Royce V-12 engine. Inspired by the hotrod racers of the past, with a short body housing a massive engine, the Amberoid has gullwing doors and cocoons the occupants in luxurious space age interiors within a blue – lit cabin. The amberoid priced at Rs. 4 crore is a stunning study in contemporary design, drawing on elements of the past recreating a futuristic wholly drivable car. DC hopes to sell 10 such units this year - a very ambitious proposal(but will there be buyers?).

Sania Mirza - Out of Bangalore Open

Sania Mirza the darling of Indian tennis is in troubled waters yet again. Her decision to not participate in the upcoming Bangalore Open is debatable. It is good for two reasons. Firstly a new talent, once again from Hyderabad , Prerna Maitreyi will get the much needed exposure who might as well turn out to be Sania’s successor or the second representation from India (like the many Russian women players in the present circuit). Secondly because it seems very evident that all these controversies seem to be taking toll on her performance (which is very bad), though her performance in the recently concluded Australian was, to say the least, formidable. She can now sit back and concentrate on other world tournaments where she has a lot to prove and also recuperate from her injuries. My advice to her would be that during this time out she stay home and carefully analyze the William sister’s games as they are currently the best and the most powerful players , and learn a lot out of their technique and also their fitness and playing strategies.

It was a bad decision because it appears as if she hasn’t got the guts to face the hardships of being a sports person or a celebrity and another point of view would be that she is intimidated by the William Sister’s. It is a very remote possibility but such deductions are bound to come up. I hope Globosport the company which manages Sania has taken the right decision in advising her not to play this tournament.

India being a country where sometimes even the most trivial of issues tend to be bloated beyond proportions, Globosport and Mahesh who owns it must also advice Sania in terms of her behavior off court and of the various subtleties. The recent incident where a big hue and cry was raised when a picture was taken showing Sania’s bare feet facing the Indian flag is one such example. What’s appalling is the fact that people tend to be so merciless and lack pragmatism when it comes to issues such as these. It is quite evident that she didn’t do it on purpose, and for that matter no Indian who has even a little respect towards his country would do something like that.The dress issue which she faces being a muslim is something that she will have to deal with as long as she plays tennis.

I hope that people take a more rational approach and look at the wider perspective and not escalate everything. She is the only Indian woman to represent India in world tennis and she is also the only Indian player to reach to a world ranking of 29. Now isn’t that something to be proud of? So keep all these trivial things aside and encourage our pearl from Hyderabad and wish and pray that someday in the near future she would be in the top ten and eventually become the First Indian woman to rank #1 in Tennis.