ONE TWO THREE - 28 March, 2008
March 27, 2008 at 6:38 am | In Films | 1 Comment
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The stunning new Beijing airport
March 27, 2008 at 6:32 am | In News | No Comments
March 10, 2008
This is the Beijing Capital International Airport. It is the world’s largest airport building and the centerpiece of China’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure boom and provides a glimpse into China’s vision of 21st-century air travel.The futuristic airport has been built in preparation for the millions who are likely to visit China for the Olympic Games and to meet the country’s booming air traffic.
The roof of the swanky new terminal looks like a dragon from the air with its wing spread running 3.25 km. The giant dragon-shaped terminal is 100 hectares in size: that is as big as 170 soccer fields.
This makes the airport larger than the Pentagon and almost 20 per cent bigger than all five terminals of London’s Heathrow put together.
The terminal has walls of glass. The skylights of the terminal building are designed to look like scales on a dragon’s back and to let natural light into the building. The dragon is considered a sign of strength and luck in China.
Almost 50,000 workers toiled round the clock in 8-hour shifts and built the colossal $3.75-billion terminal in only four years. China wanted the airport to be ready before August 8, when the Beijing Olympic Games begin.
However, the construction of the airport involved the demolition of thousands of houses that rendered more than 10,000 Chinese peasants homeless. China’s autocratic Communist regime could thus manage to do something that democratic governments — like India’s — can hardly ever match.
The airport was designed by British architect Norman Foster, who has also designed Hong Kong’s famous Chep Lap Kok airport.
British firm Arup, which has provided engineering and architectural design services for the Hyderabad International Airport, built the airport.
The new terminal will have a capacity of 75 million passengers a year. It features an extremely high-tech passenger baggage system — on 50 km of conveyor belts — that can handle 19,800 bags per hour.
The size of the new Beijing airport can be gauged from the fact that it boasts of 64 restaurants, 80 retail stores, 175 escalators, 173 lifts, 437 travelators or moving footpaths, and 300 check-in counters.
The terminal has a 3-km long concourse, divided into three sections and connected by a shuttle train. The airport’s shuttle train service can ferry passengers around the mammoth airport.
According to Norman Foster, the airport’s architect, the airport is ’so big that under a certain amount of light you can’t see one end of the building from the other.’
Apart from the shuttle, a high-speed commuter train (subway as also elevated) service will carry passengers between the airport and Beijing in 15 minutes. Two Airport Lines, scheduled to open before July, on elevated lines connect the airport with the transport hub of Dongzhimen. The Olympic branch line has four stations, each with a theme.
The airport’s runway is capable of handling the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
The airport building has integrated environmental control systems to minimise energy consumption and carbon emissions, report say.
The airlines that will use airport initially include Air China, Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Hong Kong’s Dragonair, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Qatar Airways, Qantas Airways, El Al Israel Airlines, Emirates and other Star Alliance members.
sQuba, world’s first swimming car!
March 27, 2008 at 6:19 am | In News | No Comments
sQuba, world’s first swimming car!
March 12, 2008
Three decades ago James Bond (then enacted by British star Roger Moore) wowed the world with a car that could ‘fly’ under water in the movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Only, it was animation and not an actual scene.But Frank M Rinderknecht, the 52-year-old automobile visionary and boss of Swiss automaker Rinspeed, has turned a dream into reality with his ’sQuba.’
Rinspeed sQuba is the most exciting thing at this year’s Geneva Motor Show and is creating many a ripple.
sQuba is the world’s first real submersible car that can ‘move like a fish underwater’.
It can dive up to 32.8 feet (10 mt) below the surface of the water and can move at a sedate 1.8 miles per hour.
The sQuba has an open cockpit for ’safety reasons’ (so that people can get out easily anytime in case of an emergency). The occupants of the car have to breathe compressed air through built-in scuba masks.
sQuba is an electric car that uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and 3 electric motors for propulsion. It is a zero-emission car as documented by the rotating license plate in the rear. It produces no exhaust emissions.
The ’sQuba’s’ filling station is the water reservoir.? It is no surprise that the vehicle features powerful yet energy-saving LED lighting technology.
The first car that could drive underwater was Quandt’s Amphibicar, built in 1968. Only 3,878 were produced but many are still being driven on roads.
Then Gibbs Technologies came up with Gibbs Aquada in 2004 which Virgin boss Richard Branson used to break the speed record for crossing the English Channel.
However, the sQuba seems to be the most exciting of them all.
To drive on the roads, the sQuba ‘relies on a stainless coil-over suspension from KW automotive and large Pirelli tires mounted on custom-made forged light-weight wheels from AEZ with 17- and 18-inch diameters.’
Technical data
Measurements
Length —– 3′785 mm
Width —– 1”940 mm
Height —– 1′117 mm
Wheelbase —– 2?300 mm
Track front —– 1?470 mm
Track rear —– 1?520 mm
Ground clearance —– 130 mm
Empty weight —– approx. 920kg
Performances
Top speed —– > 120 km/h
Acceleration 0-80 km/h —– 7.1 sec
Water speed —– > 6 km/h
Propulsion
Power train —– Rear wheel drive
Gearbox —– R - N - F
Suspension
Chassis —– Steel
Body panels —– Carbon Nano Tubes
Seating capacity —– 2
Front suspension —– Double wishbone
Rear suspension —– Double wishbone
Dampers/springs —– KW automotive
Steering —– Rack & pinion
Original choices for ‘Race’
March 27, 2008 at 6:06 am | In Bollywood | No CommentsBy Taran Adarsh, March 26, 2008 - 08:34 IST
Now it can be told! Everyone knows that Fardeen Khan was initially supposed to enact the role that has been portrayed brilliantly by Akshaye Khanna in RACE. Also, Mallika Sherawat was the first choice for the role of Mini [eventually portrayed by Sameera Reddy], the dumb associate of the investigating officer. Not many know that the casting underwent many changes before it finally went to the actors we see on screen today. Read on…
To start with, when Fardeen Khan opted out of the project [the dates were clashing with HEYY BABYY], the makers approached John Abraham for the part. John heard the script, but declined the offer because he didn’t want to portray a negative role [didn't he win accolades in DHOOM?]. The role went to Akshaye Khanna.
Before Bipasha Basu came into the picture, the role was initially offered to Priyanka Chopra. She too, like John, didn’t like the idea of playing a negative role interesting [although she won tremendous praise for her part in Abbas-Mustan's AITRAAZ]. Bipasha was the next choice and when she heard the script, it was a ‘Yes’ instantly.
Anil Kapoor too wasn’t the first choice for the part of the investigating officer. This role was first offered to Ajay Devgan, who loved the script, but felt that he wouldn’t like to do a strong, intense film then. Akshay Kumar was approached next. The actor shares a terrific rapport with Abbas-Mustan, but he declined the role because he didn’t want to play a secondary role.
India’s highest paid CEOs
March 27, 2008 at 6:05 am | In News | No CommentsIndia’s highest paid CEOs
March 26, 2008
Last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ruffled quite a few feathers when he commented on soaring executive salaries and said the rich must give back to the society and not show off wealth.Some in corporate India took umbrage to those remarks and justified their salaries. The jury is still out on whether huge CEO compensation leads to better company performance.
However, in private sector companies in India, CEO compensation is impressively high. By contrast, public sector bosses get a pittance: in some cases, not even one per cent of what the top private sector CEOs get.
So who are India’s highest paid CEOs? Here’s a list. . .
Mukesh Ambani
No prizes for guessing who the highest earning CEO in India is. When it comes to earning money, Mukesh Ambani is way ahead of not only his younger brother Anil, but the top brasses of entire India Inc.
With a package of Rs 24.51 crore (Rs 245.10 million), Mukesh takes home over ten times the annual remuneration of his brother Anil — with whom he parted ways over two years ago.
In the last fiscal ended March 2007, Mukesh Ambani took home a total Rs 24.51 crore as chairman and managing director of RIL — which is the highest among more than 10,000 top executives and directors at about 1,200 companies that have disclosed so far their annual remuneration figures for the year.
When the brothers were together, they got a package of Rs 21.9 crore (Rs 219 million) each at Reliance Industries in the financial year 2004-05, according to information available in the company’s annual report.
Kalanidhi Maran & Kavery Kalanidhi
Sun TV chairman and managing director Kalanidhi Maran and joint managing director Kavery Kalanidhi, whose annual remuneration stood at Rs 23.26 crore (Rs 232.6 million) each in 2006-07.
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Bharti Airtel’s chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal ranks fourth with an annual pay packet of close to Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million).
K Anji Reddy
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories executive chairman K Anji Reddy is the fifth highest paid executive in India with an annual compensation package of Rs 14.4 crore (Rs 144 million).
Brijmohan Lal Munjal & Pawan Munjal
Hero Honda’s chairman Brijmohan Lal Munjal and the company’s managing director and chief executive Pawan Munjal are ranked sixth and seventh with annual salaries of Rs 13.99 crore (Rs 139.9 million) and Rs 13.88 crore (Rs 138.8 million) each.
Naveen Jindal
Jindal Steel’s executive vice chairman and managing director Naveen Jindal is in the eighth spot with an annual salary of Rs 13.5 crore (Rs 135 million), followed by Hero Honda’s joint managing director Toshiaki Nakagawa (Rs 13.44 crore or Rs 134.4 million), and JSW Steel vice chairman Sajjan Jindal (Rs 13.24 crore or Rs 132.4 million) to complete the list of the top ten highest paid Indian CEOs.
A M Naik
A M Naik, MD & CEO, Larsen and Toubro, has an annual pay packet of Rs 5.85 crore (Rs 58.5 million).
Anil Ambani
Anil Ambani does not even figure in the top-100 list with a total remuneration of about Rs 2.42 crore (Rs 24.2 million) from three of his group companies — Reliance Energy, Reliance Communications and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd.
Anil’s package as REL chairman was Rs 2.34 crore (Rs 23.4 million), while as RComm and RNRL chairman he got Rs 4.8 lakh (Rs 480,000) and Rs 3.2 lakh (Rs 320,000), respectively.
Azim Premji
The remuneration of as many as 15 executives stood at more than Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). These included Cadila Health chairman and managing director Pankaj R Patel (Rs 12.43 crore or Rs 124.3 million); Dr Reddy’s managing director and chief operating officer Satish Reddy (Rs 10.87 crore or Rs 108.7 million); Dr Reddy’s chief executive officer G V Prasad (Rs 10.87 crore) ; Mercator Lines chairman and managing director Harish Kumar Mittal (Rs 10.07 crore or Rs 100.7 million); and Mercator Lines joint managing director Atul J Agarwal (Rs 10.07 crore).
Other CEOs who draw hefty sums include Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, gets Rs 2.08 crore (Rs 20.8 million); B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel has a compensation package of Rs 2.20 crore (Rs 22 million); K V Kamath, managing director and chief executive, ICICI Bank, gets Rs 2.48 crore (Rs 24.8 million); Aditya Puri, managing director, HDFC Bank, gets Rs 1.28 crore (Rs 12.8 million); Malvinder Singh, chief executive, Ranbaxy gets Rs 2.62 crore (Rs 26.2 million); and Azim Premji, chairman and managing director, Wipro, draws Rs 2.53 crore (Rs 25.3 million) as salary.
“It’s Priyan’s best film” - Akshaye Khanna
March 27, 2008 at 5:58 am | In Bollywood | No CommentsBy Taran Adarsh, March 26, 2008 - 08:41 IST
Akshaye Khanna is on Cloud Nine and rightly so! His work in RACE has come in for tremendous appreciation and most importantly, its success at the box-office has only added to the excitement. Shooting for SHORTKUT in Bangkok, the actor confides in me that no one expected RACE to work in such a big way. “Of course, all of us were confident that it would work big time, but the numbers have caught everyone unawares,” he sounds elated.
Akshaye, who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business, now looks forward to working with Akshay Kumar some day. “Imagine the two of us in one movie,” he states, “And only two people can achieve the impossible — Abbas-Mustan and Priyadarshan. In fact, they’ve been toying with the idea of casting us in a movie, but haven’t found the right script yet.”
Akshaye now looks forward to his next release MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP, which brings Akshaye and Priyadarshan together after a gap of few years. “It’s a fabulous film. In fact, I’d like to say that it’s Priyan’s best film so far,” he beams. Coming from someone whose name is synonymous with qualitative cinema, it only increases the expectations from this film.
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