Filling a gap for the poor

The housing board is taking up a project for the poor. K.A. MARTIN takes a look.

 

Showing the way: A file photo of the Kerala State Housing Board flats while they were under construction at Thrikkakara in Kochi. The board is building more flats nearby, this time for the low-income groups.

The Kerala State Housing Board is taking another step to meet the housing requirements of the poor.

The Innovative Housing Scheme at Thrikkakara in Ernakulam, the foundations of which will be laid on Monday, is one having much relevance today.

Though a small step, the venture is expected to show the way for the real estate business, now going through a downturn.

As the global recession catches up with the housing and infrastructure sectors in the State, industry observers predict that the builders will adopt a volume-driven business, meaning that they will look to provide houses at affordable rates to the economically weaker sections.

The Union government and the Reserve Bank of India have acted in tandem to provide incentives to those taking housing loans up to Rs.20 lakh, revving up the market a little.

The housing board’s plan is to build 36 housing units for urban workers, especially those displaced by development projects.

The units will be leased out at affordable rates, with reservation for women and the poorest of the poor, says a board official here.

The project cost is just over Rs.1 crore, indicating that each unit will cost no more than Rs.5 lakh.

The building complex will come up on about 8,000 sq ft (18 cents) of land owned by the board close to the housing units it had sold out several years ago.

Nine units will be there on a floor, with each unit having 270 sq ft of space.

There will be a bedroom, a kitchen and a hall, suited to a small family.

The 33 per cent reservation for women will act as an example for future interventions on behalf of the poor by the State government.

Housing policy

The new venture has imbibed the spirit of the government’s housing policy, which aims to “promote sustainable and inclusive development of habitat in the state, with a view to ensure equitable supply of land, shelter and services at affordable prices for all groups in the rural and urban areas, with special focus on the needs of the poor, marginalised and the disadvantaged.”

The situation in Kerala, though better than in other parts of the country, requires urgent attention considering the recent developments in the real estate market, especially with regard to the spiralling prices of land.

The 2001 Census figures say 51.8 per cent of the households live in permanent houses and 30 per cent in semi-permanent houses at the all-India level.

In Kerala, the figures are 68 per cent and 21.6 per cent, respectively.

From the historic One-lakh Housing Scheme taken up in 1971 to the present, the State has been witness to several initiatives in providing housing solution to the poorest of the poor. The urgency with which housing requirements are addressed is evident from the multiplicity of agencies involved in the field.

The Kerala State Housing Board, the Kerala State Cooperative Housing Federation, the Kerala State Development Corporation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department, the Rural Development Department and the local self-governments are involved in providing housing solutions to various sections of people.

The present government has promised to provide houses for all during its term and has specified that 10 lakh houses need to be urgently built, including seven lakh thatched ones.

Total housing

The ‘EMS Sampoorna Parppida Padhathi’ (total housing project), initiated by the government, will build on the lessons learnt from the One-lakh Housing Scheme.

The government has identified two lakh households that do not have land. The District Collectors have been instructed to identify land for such families.

The affordable housing sector in the country have brighter prospects, with the Union government announcing that efforts would be made to provide zero-cost land for the economically weaker sections after the Model Real Estate Regulation Bill is brought into effect.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a plan to provide five per cent interest subsidy on loans up to Rs.1 lakh.

Interest subsidy totalling Rs.1,100 crore will be provided over the next four years to help build over three lakh houses for the poor.

Minimalist design works here

A narrow plot, a tough client and grand ideas. These were what an architect faced when he started work on his own house. SANGEETHA UNNITHAN visits an award-winning work.

 

Play of light: Sunlight slowly floods the drawing room of this house of an architect in Thiruvananthapuram.

It was one of the most challenging projects that A. Dharma Keerthi, architect, worked on in his 14-year-long career. There was a narrow 3,050-sq-ft (seven-cent) plot, a tough client and grand ideas for a dream home. The toughest thing about the project, however, was that Mr. Keerthi not only had to design the house but also finance it. For, this time, it was his own home in the making.

Mr. Keerthi’s house on Easwaravilasom Road that he designed with inputs from his wife, Bhavana, also an architect, won the second prize in the residence category of the Indian Institute of Architects Kerala Chapter award for excellence in architecture. A simple, white box-like structure from outside, this house amalgamates all the features necessary to make a typical minimalist design look aesthetically rich.

“I have designed nearly 1,100 homes. And I have had some really challenging experiences trying to meet the ideas of my clients who come with recorded videos of television shows and design magazines. But after this project, I realised that there is nothing more difficult that realising your own dreams. It was like a surgeon doing a surgery on himself,” Mr. Keerthi says.

To begin with, the site layout posed challenges. With an apartment block at the rear and houses close by on either side, the layout of the site posed restrictions for proper lighting and ventilation. This was overcome with a skylight over the courtyard. Strips of glass placed on top and on either side of the blank stonewall in the drawing room offer an interesting play of light and shade on the wall.

“We have used toughened glass as the roof of the courtyard as well as for the strips on the blank wall of the drawing room. During dawn and dusk, the space is flooded with natural light. We also extended all the windows up to the roof for better lighting and ventilation,” Mr. Keerthi said.

To combine his wife’s requirements and his own obsessions was yet another challenge. “My wife insisted on four bedrooms, while I wanted a water body within the house with fishes and turtles. To aesthetically incorporate all this on a seven-cent land was quite a task,” he said.

Judicious planning

However, these demands were fulfilled with judicious planning. The water body at the centre of the courtyard formed the focal point of the house. It also gives a floating effect to the adjacent cantilever staircase. The staircase railing bordering the first- floor living room has been converted into a book shelf.

“Although it was my husband’s suggestion at first, now we are quite happy with the water body which gives a cooling effect to the whole of the ground floor,” Ms. Bhavana says.

What could not be materialised, however, was Mr. Keerthi’s craving for a lawn in front of the house.

With the car porch taking a sizeable portion of the frontage, there was little space left. A patch of pebbles, a small pond and a few plants at the end of the car porch and a small patch of greenery surrounding the well is only what could be managed in the form of a garden.

But the architecture couple had a remedy for this as well. They simply took the lawn upstairs, right on top of the car porch. This first-floor lawn extends from the balcony to the open terrace bordered with plain glass railings.

“Creating a lawn upstairs involves extra effort and expense. You need to use thick slabs and the base needs to be waterproofed,” Mr. Keerthi points out.

His dream home was also one of the simplest projects that Mr. Keerthi had worked on so far. “It is a typical minimalist design. The colour pattern is monochromatic, with pale white in the exteriors and shades of yellow in the interiors,” Mr. Keerthi said.

The 2,750-sq.ft house was completed in 13 months. However, even after seven months, the family has not yet reached a consensus on the name of the house.

“For now, it is just called house number 377,” Ms. Bhavana says.

On home ground

Saraswathy Nagarajanlistens as K. Nanda Kumar throws light on the rise of Sun Tec, the Kerala-based company that he built up from scratch

 

IN GOOD COMPANY K. Nanda Kumar prefers to stay on in his home State

It was the top billing won by his project that led to the rise of the $20 million Sun Tec Business Solutions that went on to put the city and Kerala on the IT global map when Technopark was still in its infancy.

“I had to develop a billing system for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Despite competing against some major players in the field we bagged the project as our product was cheaper and effective,” Sun Tec CEO and President K. Nanda Kumar reminisces in a mixture of fluent English and Malayalam that is free of any ‘phoren’ cadences.

Home-grown

Even today, BSNL’s computerised customer-friendly bills that you and I get every month are a result of that project that covers 80 per cent of the population. “It is used in 230 of 330 secondary switching areas,” says the home-grown entrepreneur with evident pride.

Although entrepreneurship runs in Nanda Kumar’s blood, it was not the done thing in the Kerala of the Nineties to throw up a white collar job in a public sector unit to try and start your own company from scratch without a cash-flush father or father-in-law in the background. But that is exactly what the Physics postgraduate from Kollam did.

“I was working in Keltron when the Government of Kerala (1989) came up with the idea of a five-year sabbatical for those who wanted to start their own ventures. If they wanted to come back at the end of the five-year period, they could still join the company. That was a safety net for me when I founded the company in 1990,” recalls Nanda Kumar.

Five years later, Nanda Kumar, by then married to Asha, an engineer herself, made the crucial decision to quit Keltron and captain his own venture. Were there any pressures from his family to continue working in Keltron?

“Not really,” he smiles. “I was keen to have a no-debt model without any long-term liabilities so that I could quit the business at any point of time without burning my fingers. So I began and proceeded in a cautious manner.”

Multinational company

In the meantime he also added a post-graduation in finance management to his academic credentials. What began as a one-man company that operated out of a computer today employs 400 people and has offices in South East Asia and West Asia, Europe and the United States. Among their clients are major banks and telecom players. And all this was achieved with the company still headquartered in Kerala.

“Some of my clients and well-wishers wanted me to shift to the metros. But if all us follow the herd, who will take the initiative to begin something in Kerala? I see it as a challenge and I have no regrets about my decision,” says Nanda Kumar looking around his tastefully done office in Kurvankonam that is filled with artefacts and paintings that showcase Kerala’s heritage and art. The self-confessed workaholic who says “work is relaxing” points out that he has no regrets even about turning down $35 million (in 2000) that was offered for his company or an opportunity to work in Silicon Valley.

The ardent golfer who gets up at five a.m. to practise his swing says the quality of life he values in Kerala would not be the same in another place. “All that we need is political will and the ability to retain our talent. That can give companies in Kerala an edifice to built upon,” he says.

His drive and vision moved the company into top gear and made it a global player by evolving and diversifying the company’s portfolio to suit the needs of the day.

While strengthening Sun Tec’s position as the leader in billing services and solutions for the telecom sector, Nandakumar pioneered the concept of relationship-based pricing for financial institutions and other entities in the service sector. Now Nanda Kumar counts Comcast, Cable One, HSBC, ING Bank, Lloyds TSB, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank among his clients.

His goal, he says, is to see that his company achieves a turnover of $ 100 million dollars by 2010-2012. The challenges are many, he agrees. But he has proved that the tough get going when the going gets tough.

Anchor here for delectable seafood

Anchor House, a waterfront restaurant in Fort Kochi, gets a thumbs up for great seafood

 

Catch of the day Relish fresh seafood and enjoy a magnificent sea view

Visualise this. You want to head to Fort Kochi for an evening out. Away from the maddening crowd, a beautiful view of the backwaters, good (read fresh) seafood and the best part of it all is that you don’t even have to drive. All this just a b oat ride away and at no extra cost (yes! call and a boat will pick you up).

Anchor House on Bazaar Street in Fort Kochi promised this…tall claims, we thought, and headed to check the claim. So we are off to Anchor House. Beating peak traffic, frazzled nerves et al we get to the jetty opposite Fine Arts Hall. The boat was awaiting us, and off we were in a boat on the backwaters. Lake Placid…a few seconds later, the calm just takes over. The 20 minutes (almost) just fly by, and we are there. Anchor House used to be a godown and before that a captain’s bungalow. A bamboo picket fence welcomes us. Tables are set out on the platform, perfect for days when the sun is gentler or for a sit out breakfast savouring the sunrise…that is where the restaurant opens for dinner, of course there is always the option of sitting inside on the first floor.

Since it is lunch time we head for the first floor, where the restaurant, partially open on the sides, looks over the backwaters. It is suffused with light and then there is the gentle wind. The view is soothing, and live, of the fishermen, in catamarans and boats, heading out into the waters for the precious catch. .

Anchor House specialises in seafood. There is no menu card, only a menu cart…full of fish. Fish, shellfish, crab, prawns…it is an extension of that Fort Kochi concept… “you buy we fry”.

Curry or fry

“The catch is fresh. No frozen fish or carry forward from the day before,” says Sharon Gafoor, GM. There are several kinds of fish such as Halibut, Indian salmon, Pearlspot, Silver pomfret, Black pomfret, Sea bass, prawns, shrimp, squid, crab…the list goes on. The fish will be done the way you want – grilled with or sans masala, tempura style, spicy or non-spicy, as curry or as fry or both or all the three…depending on the quantity of fish that you have selected. The live counter (on the ground floor) is where the cooking is done.

Now coming to the food, yum! The seafood we had on the chef’s recommendation was tiger prawns (grilled) and halibut (spicy-grilled) and as ‘naadan’ curry, mappas or moily. It took some time coming (but then it had to be cleaned and cooked) but when it came it was well worth the wait . Done nicely sans the fishy smell, which is a big plus, done very nicely – juicy and succulent. Served with boiled vegetables, the straightforward presentation combined to provide a filling platter. The prawns too were done nicely.

‘Desi’ touch

The grilled fish was a happy marriage of tangy lime and fiery masala – just the way we ‘desis’ would love it. The veggies nicely complemented the fish. For those who like their fish done the continental way there is that option too. Then came the fish curry and rice. Fancy is easy, cooking nadan is no mean task and that too Chef Justin accomplishes. That fish curry…good, highly recommended. The view and the ambience… too recommended. Those who are not into seafood, there are other options as well; same goes for the vegetarians. The quantity of fish and therefore the price of the fish (it isn’t the market price, mind you!) will decide how much your dinner will cost.

The boat ride to Anchor House and back to the jetty is complementary, so is the dessert. If you are looking for a fancy kind of place, as in over-priced, paying for the overheads and the fancy signboards then this is not for you. This place is different; it is aspiring to be a heritage hotel. So there are the tiny bits of history in a nook here and a corner there. Contact:: 2223115, 2223116

All poised for the game

At 17, squash player Dipika Pallikal handles victory and defeat with astounding maturity

 

Sporting spirit Dipika Pallikal

Even the way she did her shoelace minutes before the match seemed to say ‘Bring it on’. She moved (actually, darted) powerfully across the glass-walled court oozing poise, and hit the ball with unbridled ferocity. She lost the Asian junio r title to Low Wee Wern, but won many hearts that evening.

A week after the loss Dipika Rebecca Pallikal is limping because of a hamstring niggle and looks a trifle jaded. But I am struck by her grace, and the aggression, conspicuous by its absence. She reports she has pulled out of tournaments in England and Sweden, and says she fervently hopes to recover in time for her Nike ad shoot in Mumbai.

Intriguingly, Dipika says squash was not her first sport. She started out with tennis. But, after nearly a year, her mother pulled her out of the sport as it was too outdoorsy. And, squash happened, quite by chance.

Natural flair for the sport

At 10, Dipika first hit a squash ball at a summer camp. She discovered that she had a natural flair for it, hitting the ball better than everyone else — even the boys. Within a year of taking up the sport, she found herself winning her first National title. She has since won many more, in the country and abroad, including the British, German, Dutch, French, Australian and Scottish Junior Opens.

Was sports a natural choice, given the fact she hailed from a family of sportspersons (her mother captained the Indian cricket team; granddad was a basketball player; and grand mom, an athlete)? “My parents always stressed that sports was important, but never forced me into it,” she says.

Her strength

And, this liberty reflects in her game. “I think my greatest strength is that I can keep a cool head, as there is no pressure on me to perform.” With just two more years to go before she enters the senior circuit, the 17-year-old says the preparation has begun. Dipika has been in Egypt for the last three years, training under Amir Wagih. “My game has evolved. My shot selection has improved, and I am faster and more aggressive. I am also learning to be more defensive.”

Initially, of course, it was difficult staying away from family and friends, but once she accepted the change it was easy to move on. “It is worth it. And, now I am very comfortable in Egypt, particularly because I share a great rapport with my coach. He’s my best friend.”

Perhaps because she rubs shoulders with the best in her sport, she idolises none. “I am friends with all the players, so it’s funny to think of them as idols. But, I’d like to be the Roger Federer or the Tiger Woods of squash.”

With a calendar bursting with tournaments, training sessions and the occasional ad shoot, she hardly has time for interests or hobbies, says Dipika, who once trained under Bharatanatyam dancer Chitra Visweswaran.

She even turned down film offers from noted directors such as Gautam Vasudev Menon, and opportunities to act opposite Madhavan and Mohanlal. “If I have the time, and good scripts come along, I’ll definitely accept offers.”

Shopping and friends

Dipika says she spends a lot of her leisure shopping and hanging out with friends. Considering she’s still a teen, who pulls the purse strings? “My parents take care of my money, but they don’t question how I spend it.”

A Class XII student at the Lady Andal School, Dipika is now busy collecting her subject books. “I prepare just a few weeks before my exams. I can manage.” So, what’s next? “My parents suggest that I join my sister at the University of Leeds. Or continue in Egypt, it has a couple of good universities.”

Help from sponsors

Delighted at having a signature racquet, thanks to Tecnifibre, Dipika says the journey so far has been possible only with liberal support from such sponsors and the likes of Mittal Champions Trust, which took care of everything from her travel to coach. However, she’s disappointed that not much comes from the Government — neither support nor recognition. “I’d have been more popular, had I played tennis,” she reflects.

But, she says, at no point did she regret choosing squash. “It has taught me to handle victory and defeat with maturity. When you lose, what is important is how well you fought. You fall. And, get up.”

I could have continued for at least a year: Ganguly

Nearly four months after announcing his retirement from international cricket, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Monday said he could have continued in both forms of the game for at least one more year.

"I think I am still capable of playing top level cricket - both one-dayers and Tests. I am 200 percent certain. I was in my peak form during my last years. Had I continued playing, I could have continued for at least one year," Ganguly said during an interactive session at a book release here.

Ganguly said he was now looking forward to the second edition of the Indian Premier League to be played in April-May. "But turning out in the IPL can't be compared to playing for India," he admitted.

The left-hander rated West Indies master Brian Lara as the greatest left-hander he had seen and played against.

Ganguly said during his salad days he regarded Englishman David Gower as the best left-hander of all time.

"But among the left-handers I have seen and played against, I think Lara is the best," Ganguly said.

He described a six he hit off New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns in a Gwalior ODI as his best shot.

"Cairns bowled a yorker and I dispatched it for a six. Initially, I thought I had holed out, but then saw the ball soar over the ropes. I could not believe my eyes. I could never play that shot again in my career," he said.

Not Chappell, 'others' behind my sacking: Ganguly

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that Greg Chappell could have been "poisoned" against him and believes the former Australian coach played a very limited role in his ouster from the national team in 2005.

"It is a possibility that others poisoned him against me. There were others in the board and the selection committee who influenced him. I don't think Greg's role in that episode was more than 15 per cent," said Ganguly, whose spat with the Aussie cricketing legend made international headlines for long in 2005.

The left-hander conceded that he was very dejected for one and half months. "I was very upset. When one finds that he is wronged, obviously he gets more angry."

Asked why he never spoke out on the episode all these years, the cricketer said, "My bat and ball did all the talking."

"Greg lost his job as coach, while I staged a comeback under Rahul Dravid and fulfilled a personal goal - playing 100 Tests."

The curious case of Jaybharat Textiles

Jaybharat Textiles & Real Estate, a textile company that forayed into real estate three years back, today has a market capitalisation higher than Grasim Industries  or Tata Motors.

The company, promoted by the Mumbai-based Tayal group, has a market cap of Rs 13,108 crore {Rs 131.08 billion (market cap rank: 45)} with its share price moving up 2.58 times in the last three months - in a falling market. The scrip moved up from Rs 198.75 on October 30, 2008, to Rs 488 on February 2.

In fact, on January 23, Jaybharat had a market cap of Rs 15,960 crore (Rs 159.6 billion), more than the market cap of Tata Steel or Maruti Suzuki that day. What explains the stock's rise? The Tayals say there's a real estate story.

Jaybharat earns all its revenues and profits from textiles but has big plans in real estate. It wants to develop 1,125 acres of land across 31 cities, adding 4 to 5 million sq ft of space every year, said group patriarch Praveen Kumar Tayal.

The group has a history of controversies with PK Tayal at the centre of the Bank of Rajasthan scam five years ago, though his name was cleared.

"We have a low-cost land bank and our real estate projects are debt-free� some investors may feel positive about it. My average cost of land is Rs 6 per sq ft. We have been buying sick textile mills over the last 20 years," said Tayal.

In fact, the scrip started moving up from mid-November, when the Tayal family signed joint ventures with National Textile Corporation to develop 11 NTC mills. The group has signed joint ventures with NTC through three companies - Jaybharat, KSL & Industries and Eskay Knit (India).

But real estate analysts are not impressed; in fact, none of them had even heard of Jaybharat's real estate story. They say the land bank story is dead and nobody will buy it today. The sales head of a leading brokerage said the Tayals had tried to sell a similar story in KSL & Industries.

In fact, analysts say that neither real estate nor textile is doing well, and there's no reason Jaybharat should get a premium over other real estate stocks.

"The valuation defies logic. If you look at volumes (two-week average volume as on Friday was 12,272 shares), the stock appears to be manipulated," said analyst Arun Kejriwal of research firm Kejriwal Research & Investment Services.

Though the public owns 31.54 per cent of Jaybharat's shares, 28.24 per cent of this is held by 20 shareholders holding shares worth Rs 100,000 or more. Promoters hold 69.5 per cent. Neither FIIs nor mutual funds hold any stock.

Analysts suspect circular trading in the stock, where shares are typically traded among a few people. This is reflected in the percentage of shares being delivered against the number of shares being traded. In the last three months, only 16 per cent of Jaybharat shares traded were delivered.

Analysts say the lower the delivery of shares in a counter, the more is the speculation. If the delivery is 60-70 per cent, there's less manipulation. But if only 20-30 per cent of shares traded are being delivered, the trading is more likely to be speculation.

"I am also surprised. We have not bought a single share in the last six months nor pledged any shares," said PK Tayal. His son Saurabh Tayal is chairman of the Tayal Group.

The promoters, group firms or their associates have been pulled up by Sebi a few times. In September 2007, Sebi had banned five firms and one individual, all associates, from trading in KSL & Industries and Jaybharat Textiles.

But even if Tayal has the land, how does he plan to finance his projects? "We don't want to raise any debt. We will fund our projects from the rents that we will generate and will go for rent discounting, if necessary," said Tayal.

He plans to commission 4 to 5 million sq ft of projects in 2009 in places like Nagpur, Navi Mumbai, Dombivili and Vapi. This will provide him the rental income. His mantra in real estate: buy land cheap, don't leverage, and hold the real estate as long as you can. So, while he will sell residential buildings and small offices, he plans to retain all his commercial real estate, and rent it out.

Tayal claims his cost of construction is around Rs 1,000 per sq ft, which more or less matches his rental income of Rs 70 to Rs 80 per sq ft a month, or Rs 840-960 per sq ft a year.

So he says rentals of 4 million sq ft in the first year would generate Rs 400 crore, which will pay for the construction in subsequent years. Tayal says he has funded the construction through internal accruals. "Real estate is not a two-year business but a ten-year business," he said.

Jaybharat's first project, the 1.2 million sq ft Vapi City Centre will be completed by March 2009.

Nano likely to roll out by March end

The wait for the world's cheapest car could soon be over as Tata Motors [Get Quote] could commence limited commercial production of the Rs 100,000 Nano from alternate locations so that the first car could roll out towards the end of March 2009 from Pantnagar till the mother plant came up in Sanand near Ahmedabad.

Some of the leading vendors pointed out that it was not viable to have a dedicated plant for the Nano even for volumes like 250,000 cars per annum.

A dedicated line at the site with warehousing facilities was the best option to cut down logistics costs.

As of now, the vendors confirmed that they would supply the Pune plant for engine components and the Pantnagar plant from existing facilities across India.

Bosch India, which developed the engine management and fuel injection system for the Nano, had facilities in Bangalore, Pune and Nasik. Lumax Industries [Get Quote], another vendor, had two plants in Gurgaon and Dharuhera in Haryana, near New Delhi, three plants in Pune in Maharashtra and one plant near Chennai.

Production trials are over, and the company now plans to go into commercial production of the car, but with limited volumes initially. Volumes could be as low as 100 cars a day. While engines will be manufactured in the Pimpri facility in Pune, the body panels will be manufactured in Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand. Production for engines in the Pune plant will start this month.

When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said that the company is positive about a launch very soon, but it is yet to announce the official date of the launch.

While the initial volumes will be as low as 3,000-4,000 cars a month, the company recently indicated to vendors that it planned to produce around 70,000-80,000 cars in FY10. Some of the vendors, while refusing to be identified, said ramping up huge volumes in Pantnagar was not feasible.

Pantnagar could, however continue as a satellite plant for the Nano based on completely knocked down units from the mother plant.

The Sanand plant will produce 250,000 cars per year, and will capacity to go up to 350,000 cars.

Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant has recently indicated that it would take at least a year to start production at the site.

Batting Powerplays confuse captains

Ricky Ponting is still trying to work out how to use the new tactic most effectively © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting and Johan Botha are still coming to terms with when to employ the batting Powerplay in a critical decision that could turn a match. The new regulation allows the captain to choose the five-over block when the fielding team can have only three men outside the circle, with Australia using it in the 40th over in the second ODI in Hobart and South Africa calling for it late in their desperate chase.

The visitors eventually fell five runs short after taking 43 in the Powerplay. Australia managed only 23 and lost Michael Hussey and Cameron White in theirs and Ponting wished he had asked for it sooner. "I think probably in hindsight it would have been the right decision to take it earlier," Ponting said in the Age. "Statistics probably say the longer you hold it off in your innings, you're probably going to lose more wickets towards the end of your innings."

Botha expected more to happen when his team took the Powerplay, like it had when they won the opening match by three wickets in Melbourne. "Australia played really well in the first 30 overs and we probably should have looked a bit more at that and scored a bit quicker in the first 30," he said. "Because once the ball got quite a bit older and the wicket got a bit slower, it got more and more difficult."

A member of the crowd at Bellerive Oval was charged with racially vilifying a South African player, believed to be the 12th man Morne Morkel, when they fielded. "We have briefed the South African team management and they have confirmed that they were not aware of the incident and the player didn't hear any comment himself, but the police officer did,'' Cricket Australia's Peter Young said in theMercury.

"Our advice from South African team management is that they believe we have taken the appropriate steps and we have also apologised to Cricket South Africa in South Africa that this issue has occurred while they are being hosted in our country." On the team's previous tour to Australia there were a number of complaints about racist behaviour from spectators, which led to an ICC report finding the abuse was premeditated, co-ordinated and calculated.

Satyam clients have approached us: TCS

The country's largest software exporter, Tata Consultancy  Service, on Monday said some Satyam  Computer clients have turned to the Tata company on their own, adding it would not approach the clients of the scam-tainted firm.

"We are not approaching the clients of Satyam pro-actively ... but some of them have approached us on their own," TCS CFO S Mahalingam said here on the sidelines of the CII Partnership summit.

According to reports, a US client has terminated its contract with Satyam following the disclosures, citing uncertainty in the company.

It is widely believed that Satyam Computer's clients will migrate to competitors such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro, and according to a broking house report, TCS is likely to gain the most from it because it has the highest number of common clients.

Mahalingam said Satyam is a one-off incident but enough checks and balances should be there to prevent such occurrences.

Delhi 6: It's a 10/10 for Rahman!

'Dikhlade thenge in sabko jo udna na jaane,' a happy-go-lucky voice smugly states at some point during the thrilling course of Delhi  6'ssoundtrack. And man, what a thumbs down to all the seriously imagination-challenged musicians out there.

A R Rahman (who else, really?) makes waiting for his music such a worthwhile chore what with one fantastic soundtrack after another. Close on the heels of a deserving Golden Globes wins follows the anticipated score of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Delhi 6. Considering its impossible-to-define Chandni Chowk roots, Rahman injects the sounds of this 10-tracked album with an eclectic fusion of various genres. Bottom line: it's a 10 on 10.

Here's why:

Move over Aditi, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, his soaring imagination and Rahman at his affable best; collaborate to produce the mirthful, fluttering sensation,Masakali. Playing on the metaphor of a carefree pigeon of the same name whilst drawing parallels with Sonam Kapoor's  chirpy Bittu, Masakali is unanimously charming and contagiously blithe. The real winner of this enterprise is, of course, a crisp-sounding Mohit Chauhan. Best known for his slow-motioned renditions like Khoon chala(Rang De Basanti), Tum  se hi (Jab We Met ) and Is this love? (Kismat Konnection), the Silk Route front man customizes this ravishing track with a touch of ada and frills of masti, once associated with the inimitable Mohammed Rafi.

While it's impossible to proceed into the album without putting Masakali on the 'Repeat' mode, the show must go on. And so it does through the Sufism-imbued notes of Arziyan. Its poignancy is echoed in the simplicity of its heartfelt cry, 'Maramat muqaddar ki kardo, Maula (Mend my fate, Almighty).' A song of this genre calls for flawless chemistry between its core voices, a requirement that is seamlessly exhibited in the range of Javed Ali and emotions of Kailash Kher.

Spirituality is a frequent theme of the album. It makes its presence felt in the pious prayers of Aarti--Tumre bhavan mein as well as Amitabh Bachchan's commanding baritone in Noor, where he waxes eloquent about God's omnipresent ways.

A dash of nu metal, a few cubes of alternative rock and spray of rap/hip hop, Delhi 6 is a grungy cocktail of metal and attitude. The latter is thrown in truckloads via Blaaze, Benny, Viviane Pocha, Tanvi and Claire. Rahman understands genres skilfully and juggles them to perfection, unlike the wannabe eagerness of his colleagues to achieve the same. Almost high on the pandemonium, individuality, insolence and romance of India's capital city, Delhi 6 pays a funky tribute.

The recurrent rhythm and care-a-damn tone of Hey kaala Bandar spell boys-just-wanna-have-fun brand of camaraderie. There is a lot of erstwhile Rahman to be found in this medley of cheek and cheer, from Barso re(Guru), Shanno Shanno (Yuuvraaj) to Behka (Ghajini ) and Paathshala (RDB).

Up next, the much-awaited Rahman-behind-microphone moment arrives. This time the maestro's surrealism is an upgraded reminder of Sting  in the Eighties. Its fairy-tale-like sorcery with a hint of Arabic exotica lends Rehna tu an aura of precise enchantment and magical romance, wherein a smitten lover gushes in honour of his lady's cosmetic-free loveliness. Joshi's penmanship goes from strength to strength, besotted and inspired in turns.

The ingenious writer gets another opportunity to pour his crimson-hued similes some more in one of Delhi 6'sbest creations, Dil gira dafatan. The delicacy of Ash King's performance, supported by Chinmayee, resonates in the mellifluous imagery and exquisite minimalism of this glorious beauty. Spellbinding stuff from Rahman, this.

Lending a humorous, snazzy twist to Saraswati Chanra's Main toh bhool gayi babul ka ghar-line of sentiments enters the playful and catchy, Genda phool. Composer Rajat Dholakia and Rahman share the credit for this immensely entertaining shaadi ditty performed with delectable naughtiness by Rekha  Bharadwaj (the husky voice behind Namak, Omkara) accompanied by Shraddha Pandit and Sujata Majumdar.

Rahman's mastery is at work as he treats the Indian classical form Gujri todi in a mesmerising fashion to helm the stirring bandish, Bhor bhaye. Sparkling in the impeccable traditions of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan's rousing rendition and a confident Shreya Ghosal, Bhor bhaye is a three-minutes-and-18-seconds long overwhelming experience.

There's enough inspiration to be found in Delhi's most celebrated pin code. And as he's done for so many other landscapes, localities and lanes in the past, Rahman pays Delhi 6 a whopper ode in this swashbuckler of a soundtrack. The musketeers will be envious.*

Over 2 million supporters to attend Obama's D-Day

Barack Obama  will be sworn in as America's 44th and first black President on Tuesday, bringing a message of hope to a nation hungry for change after eight years of George W Bush regime.

The 47-year-old would be sworn in by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at noon today (2230 IST) at the Capitol Hill.

Braving severe cold, an estimated two million people from all over the country have thronged Washington to be a witness to the historic occasion.

The inaugural ceremony, to be attended by hundreds and thousands of people, is being held under an unprecedented security cover. Thousands of security personnel from more than a dozen security agencies and sharp shooters in plain clothes have been deployed in and around the Capitol.

The actual inaugural ceremony itself would begin at 11 am US time (2130 IST) on the West Front of the US Capitol with musical selections by the US States Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Body Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

The Democratic Senator from California Dianne Feinstein, in the capacity as the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, would deliver the welcome address and call the function to order. This would be followed by invocation by Dr Rick Warren.

Thereafter, Joe Biden would be administered oath of office to Vice President by Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Following musical selection by composer

John Williams, the US Supreme Court Chief Justice would administer the oath of office of US Presidency to Obama.

Earlier in the morning, the outgoing President George W Bush would welcome his successor Obama and his wife Michelle at the North Portico of the White House some two hours before the swearing in ceremony.

Bush, along with his wife, would have coffee with the incoming first family along with Vice President-elect Biden and members of the Joint Congressional Committee.

At 10.45 am (2115 IST), Bush would depart the White House en route to the Capitol to participate in the swearing in ceremony.

In television interviews over the weekend and at his last press conference, Bush said he is looking forward to Obama's tenure as the President.

Soon after the inaugural ceremony is over, Obama would host a departure ceremony for Bush, who would leave for his new home in Midland Texas from the Andrews Air Force Base.

Obama and his deputy Biden would proceed towards the historic Statuary Hall at US Capitol for a luncheon hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The inaugural parade would start at 2.30 pm (0100 IST Wednesday) from the US Capitol to the White House.

Later, several dozen inaugural balls are scheduled for Obama with the Presidential Inaugural Committee itself hosting as many as ten inaugural balls including the Commander-in- Chief's Ball, the Youth Ball and the President Obama Home State Ball.

Obama is expected to appear in the Commander-in-Chief's Ball at the National Building Museum.