Intel FABs

Couple of days back Intel announced that it would build its next FAB (Fabrication factory where our silicon chips are made) in China. India lost out.

For many years there has been a tussle between Intel and the Indian government over this FAB. It is a $2.5 billion investment and there was no doubt that the Indian government wanted to get this FAB but at the same time the IT ministers were not ready to make enough concessions to convince Intel to get them to build the FAB in India. Apart from the tax exemptions and such, Intel was also worried about things like the bribes you have to pay at transportation check points plus the red tape at our ports and customs. In the 2007 budget some new incentives were introduced to attract the semiconductor manufacturing industry but looks like those weren't enough…

Semiconductor manufacturing given the scale of these FABs and the size of the industry itself can hugely impact an economy. It has the ability to bring in huge amounts of foreign investment and generate employment. These FABs run round the clock and bring in good technology because they are extremely high tech, all good benefits for any economy. If India had bagged Intel's FAB then given that Intel is the leader in semiconductor manufacturing it would have been a huge green signal to the rest of the players to view India as a viable destination...

Oh well I am sure there are other fish left to fry...
Intel Makes $2.5 Billion Bet On China

Taxman!
If you drive a car...I’ll tax the street
If you try to sit...I’ll tax your seat
If you get too cold...I’ll tax the heat
If you take a walk...I'll tax your feet
-- Beatles

Lyrics of that Goan song in the Nike ad...

'Wait, partner, wait
First let me play
If you don't play, I'll keep chasing you all day

Our game is like this only
Where we have no time to think
It is the game of cat and mouse
That I have begun to love
And in the falling running breaking
My destiny is entwined'

I could make out bits and pieces beforehand, stuff like 'khelche amche osle' which means our game is like this only, then the last word is 'phasle' which is entwined and some more words here and there like that.
This ad is awesome therapy if you are having a slow day and want things to pick up or need a jump start :)

Here are some pictures from a recent drive...

The Indian FM and the 2007 Budget...

In the 2007 budget, again in my limited knowledge, nothing has been done to address the first issue and very little towards the second. Nothing incites me to continue to pay my taxes and no encouragement is there for more people to start paying taxes starting this year. In terms of allocation, he has increased spending towards education and farming but from what I've read looks like there are many other obvious areas in which a growing country like ours should have increased spending but have been ignored.

And coming to inflation, this just bums me out. The FM has been caught napping. Despite a drop in oil prices inflation continues to increase in the country. And our eccentric FM is refusing to move and is just sitting and waiting for a good monsoon to solve the problem for him. Well a good monsoon solves almost all problems in our country. Any kid knows that but my expectation as a citizen of this country is that you get off your fat ass and do something about this rising inflation starting now!

Here is my cousin's post:
In a post last April, real estate bubble, had indicated actual inflation is not what the government is reporting. The finance minister and his boss, the PM, are doing whatever it takes to hold on to their chair. It seems, they need another mandate from the IMF and world bank to continue reforms. As a citizen we would love to pay our taxes, if we are convinced the money is put to the right use. When you visit any of our government offices, can you ever believe they spend our money right. They do no work, accept bribes which adds to our overall tax bill, bad role models for our next generation. Whom will they emulate when they pay bribes to get their temporary driver’s license and one more to make it permanent.
One of the real drivers of inflation is the cost of real estate, however this did not get mention anywhere. Real Estate prices will get tamed only if there is more legal straight forward supply and tightening of interest rates. It will make Indian services and manufacturing more efficient. In education, 2 lakh more teachers will be appointed, who will never come to work, however they will press the button alongside the Hand symbol, many times, during the next general elections. Chidambaram has proven to be slimy and a pervert one more time. Its time we get these fossils out and replace with new blood.

Vishal

Here is a picture of my friend Vishal (bee-sh-aal). His dad is a guard in my building. We started to get to know each other one day when I had popped into my apartment for a couple of minutes to quickly pick up something. I had left the door open and suddenly as I turn back I see him standing right behind me. He asks me 'kya kar raha hai?', 'darwaja kyon khula hai?' He knew me so I told him that I was about to leave again to which he replied 'bahar ja raha hai!'.

These days we have become good friends. He likes to chew 'Happy Dent' :) and helps me almost on a daily basis to take my stuff out from the car when I get back from work. Over multiple visits he now knows how to operate my TV. Couple of days back we both sat and watched about 15 minutes of 'Takeshi's Castle' a comic game show on Pogo (the kids TV channel).
Slowly I have gotten to know more about him. I know that to get to his school I have to "pehle aaise jana, fir aaise, fir seedhe, fir aaise, fir seedhe." Now I only have to remember the accompanying hand gestures to figure out which turns were left and which were right! :D

A bad sketch of the posters hanging on the wall of my cube...I can't draw straight lines for nuts! :)

More plays...

Been watching a lot of plays these days. Have watched 4 in the past two weeks and all of them have been at Rangashankara. Going for one today also, anyway here are the quick reviews of the ones till now...

Love Letters: This was performed by the troupe Evam and was a touching story about relationship between a man and woman told through letters, spanning about 40 years. The story starts when these two people are just kids and in school. Then it meanders through their lives in which somehow circumstances always keeps them apart. Through letters their whole life is told right until the end...which I won't tell here how it is. The acting was really good. People were saying that this play is the same as 'Tumhari Amrita' but I haven't seen 'Tumhari Amrita' so don't know for sure.

The Odd Couple: Again staged by the Evam troupe, this was a hilarious play about friends. The story is about a really weak and uptight just divorced man who comes to live with his friend who is also divorced. The other guy is very carefree and 'bindas' whereas the just divorced guy kind of the opposite. Surrounding them are another 3 friends. This play was a real laugh riot that I thoroughly enjoyed. Especially the part where they think the divorced guy is going to the bathroom and the rest think he will commit suicide in there which prompts one of them to callously say "What do you think he'll brush himself to death in there!" :D

Yayati: This play was based on the Girish Karnad's adapted screenplay about king Yayati. A good play with decent acting but definitely had flaws. It felt really stretched at various points but was still good. The story is about a king who is drunk on his youth and power and makes all the wrong choices. When only his son Puru who is considered to be a weakling comes through to take off Yayati's curse does he realize how wrong his choices have been and then he starts off to set things right.

The Anklet: The adaptation of a popular mythical story called 'Silappadigaram'. I didn't enjoy the play much at all because it was very stretched. There were parts where I felt like screaming 'get on with it!' Good acting though and good setup but overall the screenplay was just too slow and long. The climax was especially slow and painful. Definitely a flawed play that can improve quite a bit.

Nike Cricket Ad

Nike is showing this awesome cricket ad these days. World cup fever I guess. Anyway it's quite brilliant and captivating...The pause near the end when the guy is just about to bowl the last ball is just perfect...

Holi Hai!!!

That's the state of my hands after playing around with all that green colour and that too this is after about 27 scrubs! I have a upcoming geo summit at work in two days with about twenty five people from all round the world coming over for presentations. Well my team will have to do all the pointing and explaining during the demo while I will stand with my hands firmly planted in my pockets!!!

Happy Holi Everyone!!!