KL, golf and one-day international

I just got back from 2 weeks in Asia and one of my destinations this time was Manila. I ended up going to Manila as a favour to a colleague on vacation, so I was firefighting for the most part but it was also a very engaging trip. I did get some time on the last day to check out the town a bit. My initial reaction to Manila was deja vu, I thought I was back in kaduna. Same concrete structures with large barred windows, peeling paint, wide paved roads, taxis held together by prayers and spit and lots of people. Lots uniformed men walking around with guns larger than their torso's, tons of american paranephilia and like in most Asian countries there seems to be a a strong mall culture. Manila is very cheap too, perhaps because of the abundance of labour and lack of opportunity for their youth. I was told that most people aspire to travel abroad to make money and would like to come back for retirement. People are very friendly, speak fairly good english but with a thick accent and they seem to love pork. Spent a little time at Intramuros, an old fort which is closely tied to their British, Spanish and American influenced history. Though the best of the trip was the sashimi for breakfast, the salmon melts in your mouth :) KL was not too busy this time, even got to play some golf over the weekend. I did not know that there was an international triangular cricket series scheduled for the week that I was there, found when I got an sms from Akshaya. A colleague from the office was able to organize tickets for the India vs. West Indies game, my first one day international ever. Even though we lost thanks to some mathematicians, watching Sachin stroke the ball for a 140 runs was priceless. I must say, that one day made up for all the difficult travelling that I have had with this job. I wish I could have stayed on a for a few days to watch the rest of the series but in retrospect it was good thing that I came back home.

Kerala vs Bengal: A tale of 2 Leftist chief ministers

Reprinted from rediff news without permission!! (I can imagine Roshen shrug her shoulders in disgust) One party, one ideology, but two diametrically opposed action plans. path taken by reformist West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and conservative Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has landed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) into a heated ideological debate. Foreign direct investment Bhattacharjee: "Ours is an open policy. We want private capital," is his oft-repeated policy statement. "We need foreign direct investment, although that does not mean we will allow Americans to sell vegetables here," the West Bengal chief minister recently said, opposing the Manmohan Singh government's plans to allow FDI in retail. Maybe FDI in retail is the only sector that Bhattacharjee has opposed without regard to foreign investment to his state. Bhattacharjee's cabinet ministers and other state government officials have visited several countries, including the United States and China, inviting FDI into the state in core sectors such as industry, infrastructure, IT and food-processing. Achuthanandan: Unlike Bhattacharjee, Achuthanandan does not see much benefit in FDI inflows into his state. In fact, last month he sent a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asking him to abandon the Union government's plans to allow FDI in agriculture and plantations. Moreover, Achuthanandan has been steadfastly supporting the Left trade unions in opposing foreign investment into most sectors. The result: Compared to other Indian states, Kerala lags behind pathetically in attracting FDI into the state. Ban on Coca-Cola and Pepsi Bhattacharjee: He is against banning Coke and Pepsi, in the wake of recent studies that allegedly found high levels of pesticides in colas. "The central government should take a stand and make it clear whether the products are safe or not. State governments should not impose the ban independently," Bhattacharjee said after seven states partially or fully banned the sale of Coke and Pepsi last month. The West Bengal chief minister added: "I don't drink either, but we are not going to ban it." Achuthanandan: He was the first chief minister in India to impose a total ban on the sale and manufacture of Pepsi and Coke in Kerala last month. In fact, in the last few years, Achuthanandan had led the anti-Coke campaign for shutting down the Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district. "We will not allow MNCs to produce colas that are injurious to people's health," Achuthanandan said. Smart City Achuthanandan: The Dubai Internet City wanted to set up a Smart City -- an exclusive global IT park -- on a 100-acre plot of land by investing nearly Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in Kochi in Kerala. But the man who has opposed it most is Achuthanandan. He dubbed DIC as 'a real estate company' and re-examined the agreement that his predecessor former Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy had entered into with the Dubai government. "There are clauses that go against Kerala's interests. So we do not want the Smart City," Achuthanandan said soon after becoming Kerala's chief minister. Now, he wants the DIC to enter into a new agreement with the Left government. Bhattacharjee: Kerala's loss may be West Bengal's gain. Soon after news broke that the Left-led Kerala government was not interested in setting up the Smart City, Bhattacharjee sent a high-level official team, led by the West Bengal chief secretary to Dubai. West Bengal offered 400 acres of land on the outskirts of Kolkata to DIC to set up the Smart City without the difficult conditionalities that the Kerala government had proposed. The Dubai Internet City is now evaluating Bhattacharjee's proposal. BPOs working on Independence Day Achuthanandan: The Kerala government shut down the offices of the business process outsourcing companies that are operating in the state on Independence Day (August 15). A number of BPOs operating at Technopark in Trivandrum and at Infopark in Kochi had asked a section of employees to work on August 15 as BPOs -- mainly working on foreign projects -- need 24-hours work schedules. Achuthanandan, however, ordered the Labour Department to issue an official order to ensure that all the BPOs are shut under the Kerala Industrial Establishments and National Holidays Act on the Independence Day. Bhattacharjee: The West Bengal government allowed all the BPO companies to work normally on Independence Day. In fact, Bhattacharjee defended the decision saying: "Asking BPO companies to shut down will be like shutting down a power plant on a holiday." Infrastructure Bhattacharjee: The West Bengal government is taking all possible steps to ensure that the state has the best infrastructure. Last year, it roped in Indonesian infrastructure company, the Salim Group, to set up investment projects: a 'health city,' a 'knowledge city,' a special economic zone, and an express highway in the state. Bhattacharjee is also actively wooing foreign investment from the US, Italy, Russia, China, Singapore and Indonesia for IT and infrastructure development across West Bengal. "Our position is very clear. We want private investment in West Bengal," the chief minister recently remarked. Achuthanandan: The Achuthanandan government has not taken any steps in the last three months to attract foreign investment in infrastructure development of Kerala. In fact, Achuthanandan, while in Opposition, was in the forefront, opposing the Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) Express Highway plan that the Congress government had announced. Due to opposition from the Left, the Congress regime had then shelved the project. Now the very expression 'Express Highway' is anathema to Achuthanandan. However, Kerala's industries minister says that the government is taking the rights steps for infrastructure development in the state. "We are setting up a new, public-private infrastructure development company for building roads, bridges and even airports in Kerala. Yes, foreign investment is welcome," Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem told rediff.com. Strikes Bhattacharjee: When the Manmohan Singh government hiked the prices of petroleum products two months ago, the Left-led trade unions called for a general strike across the country. Prime Minister Singh then called up Bhattacharjee asking him to help tone down the Left's opposition to the price hike. Soon, the chief minister declared that he was against a general strike on the petrol price issue although demonstrations could take place, as in any democracy. Once West Bengal used to be hit by frequent labour strikes. But these days, thanks to Bhattacharjee, the state rarely witnesses any strikes. Achuthanandan: Kerala is best known for industrial strikes and Achuthanandan has not done much to erase the image. In fact, Kerala was the only state that was fully paralysed during the Left-led national strike against petrol price hike two months ago. A trade union leader himself, Achuthanandan argues that citizens have the democratic right to protest against all the anti-people policies of the government. Written By George Iype rediff.com Click here for complete article

Ode to Steve

I wish I could run like the wind, dream like a King and live like Steve Irwin. You had a passion which I seldom see. You had a mission to make a difference, which you did in me. You were my Hero, I will miss you.

The final leg of the trip- Bergen and Oslo

Bergen, the erstwhile capital of the Norwegian kingdom, is the prettiest city yet. We did a bit of sightseeing enroute to Alesund so we knew what to expect. We switched gears a little bit at this stage in the trip and did more touristy stuff. We spent the first day tasting the fish market, gawking at the yachts in the harbour and mindless walking through the tourist-trap laden streets of Bergen. Built a little bit of an appetite and settled on an indian place recommend by LP. Not your typical desi joint, it was run by Ethiopians and the cook looked like he was from the middle east though the food did not disappoint (or were we really hungry?). Could not resist anymore inspite ridiculous prices, so by this time in our trip I had braved my wallet and whet my tongue a few times with local brew, Hansa, very refreshing!! We went to a few musuems in Bergen, the Hanseatic and the Art Musuem were nice. I am always a big fan of guided tours and we took one at the Hanseatic Museum. We had an interesting looking guide dressed in cape and he effortlessly explained to us in great detail how 900 years of history built this beautiful city of Bergen. Suprisingly a major part of this city is about how the German traders that took over this port town for 400 years. I had whale(picture shown) steak for dinner while Priya munched on Monk fish. Whale tastes like red meat but as you finish the meat it leaves a very fishy aftertaste in your mouth. We had some interesting discussion about whaling and its being banned. Apart from the usual conservation story, I heard it a few times from the Norwegians that its their tradition to hunt whale and they beleive that it should continue. We took a night train back to Oslo, the ride was as comfortable as staying in a hotel and the actual 'rooms' were well designed. The beds had starched sheets and soft comforters and the room even had a small washbasin, the space was designed for only two. We had plans to start early in Oslo since the train got in around 6:30 am, but we had to catch a few winks as the wife needed her beaty sleep. We able to get to Nobel Peace center, Edvard Munch Gallery and the Kontiki museum before the end of last day in Munich. The Peace center had a very well done photo expo on life in strife-torn muslim areas around the world. The permanent exhibitions are technologically advanced and very interactive. I learnt a little more about art from the guided tour at the Munch museum and reaffirmed my earlier conclusion that only deranged minds can create serious art, I built that hypothesis earlier this year at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. I did not know of Thor Heyerdahls exploits till we visited the Kontiki museum so I was quite impressed by the spirit the idea behind his travels, perhaps a modern day Columbus. Though what I found intriguing was the fact that even though he did not have a scientific background he was very keen on pursuing academic subjects which seemingly did not bring any immediate financial benefits but satified his curiousity. We had dinner with Are and Toubjorn, from the INSEAD days, and reminisced about life at school. It was great to catchup and both promised to visit us in Munich. Had to wake up early to make the trudge to the train station. With our minds rejuvenated, bodies tired and our heart lost to the fjord lanscape we bid our adieu to a country we hope to come back to someday.