Nooyi among Forbes most powerful women
img: via Forbes

Indra Nooyi, Chairman-CEO (Chairperson, perhaps?), PepsiCo weights in at #3.

Congress party head honcho, Sonia Gandhi, also features in the top 25.

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, debuts at #59.

Rounding off the top 100 is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and managing director, Biocon, at #99.

Other persons of interest:
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Finance Minister of Indonesia at #23. The name sounds desi.

Aung San Suu Kyi, political leader and Nobel peace laureate from Myanmar at #38.

Longtime readers of this blog would recognize some familiar faces from Über Desi’s list of Hottest Female Politicians, Cristina Fernandez, President of Argentina (#13) and Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine (#17). What can I say, we have this knack for discovering people before they make news.

Nooyi in top 3 of Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list - Über Desi

Pimping an iPhone 3G - desi ishtyle
img: via Reuters

Remember when Apple launched the iPhone 3G nationwide in the US? That launch garnered more negative publicity than all the positive hype that the pre-launch mass hysteria was going to generate. [Time]

People camped out all night only to receive iPhone sets that could not be activated for hours, or even days in certain instances. But at least there was some mass hysteria.

Not so in the midnight launch in India. Indian customers did what all good desis do, sleep.

A midnight launch in the Indian capital drew a scant crowd but didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the four buyers who showed up at a Vodafone store in the city’s Connaught Place commercial district.

Among those was a 14 year old high school student, Rudra Khurana, who bought the iPhone because “I can’t wait to show it off at school, it’s way better than having a PlayStation,”. The quintessential question: iPhone3G or PS3? This young tadpole is wise beyond his years.

In Mumbai, the launch was far more dinchak in nature.

There was more drama in Mumbai where the launch of the device, which combines a music and video player, cellphone and web browser, was accompanied by a shower of confetti and cheerleaders waving red pom-poms.

Just a guess, but maybe the reason they did a midnight launch was so the self-appointed moral guardians would be fast asleep.

Some customer bought multiple phones, to use as phones only.

Arya said he bought six iPhones — one for himself, the others as gifts for his friends — despite knowing they won’t perform to their potential as India is yet to support 3G services

Of course, all these festivities failed to impress the real cool dudes, the rickshaw drivers.

Observing the hubbub at the store, its entrance festooned with red balloons and a live band playing inside, an autorickshaw driver looking for passengers asked: “What’s the big deal?”

Apple, if it had not bungled its initial launch could almost be forgiven for this lackluster launch attributing it to culture shock. A tech-product launch in the US would attract the nerds and gadget bugs who would camp outside the store for 3 nights to pay, what would be 2-3 times the price of the product 6 months from now. India, on the other hand is a whole different animal. No way most desi people ruin their sweet night’s sleep to purchase an overpriced product, hype or not. On the other hand, if they offered free iPhone 3Gs for the first n customers or got Priyanka Chopra to do an item number, then we’re talking business.

Other Apple product on UD:
Indians choose between iPhones and cars
Indian boy kills girl over iPod

iPhone 3G makes midnight India debut - Über Desi

On the Bharti Airtel network, the device is going to cost between $730 and $830 dollars, depending on the device you buy. Furthermore, the device is locked to Bharti’s special network. So for a family of three (mom, dad and a kid), the 3G iPhones will cost around the same as Tata Nano, the $2,300 people’s car that launched earlier this year.
The high cost isn’t stopping people from wanting the device. About 200,000 phones have been pre-ordered

I did a quick price check which confirms a Sony Vaio laptop (approximately $2800-$3000) will financially set you back more than a Tata Nano. Plane tickets between India and the US for a family of 2 or more, easily surpass a Tata Nano’s cost.

What other consumer products can you think of in India that cost more than a Tata Nano car?

Indians choose between iPhones or family car - Über Desi

Desi Spotting - GE ad for olympics - Über Desi

For long, anti H1B propagandists like Lou Dobbs and Ron Hira (no link love for either) have complained about highly qualified tech workers from India accepting positions in the U.S., for perhaps, a marginally lower pay than their American counterparts.

WSJ talks about a new trend in corporate America where businesses and employees (not necessarily in technology) are having to adapt to a slower economy. Faced with cost cutting, companies are hiring employees who are either over-qualified for the post or those who will take responsibilities for more than one positions or both, all for a lower pay.

Perhaps the Indians were simply ahead of the pack on this trend?

American jobs being taken by lower paid workers …. - Über Desi

After the effort to build a $100 PC, which we featured here on Über Desi and Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop scheme comes a brand new scheme by the HRD Ministry of India to build a $10 laptop. Unlike other grandiose government schemes this one seems to be close to fruition than one would expect.

So far, the cost of one laptop, after factoring in labour charges, is coming to $47 but the ministry feels the price will come down dramatically considering the fact that the demand would be for one million laptops.

The final choices for design are between that of two engineering college student.

The two designs with the ministry are from a final year engineering student of Vellore Institute of Technology and a researcher from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Among other factors, the design is expected to stay simple and parts manufactured in India, which the interested parties feel will bring down costs and, of course, as with most government projects the earliest these may be available is 2 years or later.

My initial opinions are that of guarded optimism. While it’s great that the Indian government has taken the initiative to provide affordable $10 laptops, at this stage it’s unclear how the government arrived at this figure and what compromises have to made not only in the design of the machine but also in how much of the taxpayers money will be used/wasted in this risky project. It is also unclear on what the project’s fate will be if there is a change on governments, which seems likely considering the Congress party’s performance in recent elections and the omnipotent anti-incumbency factor in Indian politics.

While it is truly heartening to note that the Indian government has preferred to move away from the concept of antiquated desktops, another question arises, why laptops?

We’ve previously made arguments, not necessarily against computers, but in favor of the use of mobile phones as information devices. [UD link]

In days of yore, which translates to roughly 6 years in computer technology, people used to rely on computers to browse the internet and for running useful applications like MS Word and MS Excel. Besides the fact that most encyclopedic knowledge is available online, with the advent of online tools like Google Docs, a computer or even a laptop could arguably be replaced with a phone that has a robust internet browser and easier-to-use keyboard. If the purpose of these $10 laptops is simply to enable the students online where most of the information is, in fact, an argument could be made for the Indian government to make the push for a $10 iPhone. Yes, it’d be pretty challenging to type a 1000 word essay on a mobile phone keyboard, but think of all the money saved on IT services, expensive software, networks, firewalls, servers, (the list goes on), since the cell phone company would take care of the infrastructure.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Indian govt hopes to make $10 laptop - Über Desi

According to an article in TOI,

“At a time when oil is the most precious commodity in our planet, fuel worth Rs 1,000 crore is wasted every year in Delhi by vehicles idling at its 600 traffic signals. If all drivers were to switch off their engines wherever the stoppage time exceeds 14 seconds - which would hold for, perhaps, all signals - the country would be richer by that amount, not to speak of cleaner air in the city.”

The article cites a study by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), an Indian govt. affiliated research body, that points to the fact that each car owner can save about Rs 3,100/- by turning of the engine at a traffic light if they need to stop for more than 14 seconds. While, I’m sure that readers will be skeptical of the benefits versus not being able to restart the vehicles in time - something common with the much older vehicles. We looked around to see other resources out of the des that could shed some light.

CNN has a report here, dated May 2007, that somewhat concurs with the TOI report.

“Restart your engines

It’s probably a myth that goes back to the days when cars were equipped with carburetors, but many drivers believe that starting up and turning off your car repeatedly is a fast way to drain your gas tank.

But because of modern fuel-injection technology, drivers actually save gas by turning off their engine than letting their car needlessly idle, says Consumer Reports’ Paul.

Granted it’s probably not sensible shutting down the engine every time you get stuck in traffic, but if it looks like you might be at the drive-thru for more than 30 seconds to a minute, it’s worth turning off your car, says Paul.”

There are other important tips too. Also Edmunds.com has a few proven methods of saving gas, because they actually tested the myths for evidence, and they come up with some strong recommendations.

“Test #1 Aggressive Driving vs. Moderate Driving

Result: Major savings potential

The Cold Hard Facts: Up to 37 percent savings, average savings of 31 percent

Recommendation: Stop driving like a maniac.”

And finally To A/C or not to A/C. [CNN]

There’s no question air-conditioning makes extra work for the engine, increasing fuel use. But car air conditioners are much more efficient today than they used to be. In around-town driving, using the A/C will drop fuel economy by about a mile a gallon.

Meanwhile, driving at higher speeds with the windows down greatly increases aerodynamic drag. As speed increases, drag becomes more of an issue, making A/C use the more efficient choice at high speeds.

What do readers think? Are the suggestions practical, effective and relatively well known? Or, are you a step ahead and do you get 50 mpg or more through the controversial and possibly risky technique known as hypermiling?

Fuel saving tips - Über Desi

A few interesting factoids: [VCCircle]
-”Motorola will split into two independent, publicly traded companies, thus separating its struggling mobile-phone business from its broadband and mobility-solutions operations”
-As you probably guessed from the title Jha is a doctor, not a doctor like Dr. Pepper, but the desi Ph.D. variety doctor with a Ph.D. in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.
-He is 45 years in age.
-Motorola’s mobile-phone business has struggled recently with no stalwart devices to its name after the Razr. Personal opinion: Even though the Razr was a commercial success, technologically it left a lot to be desired. If they count the Razr as a success, that’s not setting the bar very high.
-His appointment as Motorola CEO drew so much curiosity that “Sanjay Jha” was among the top searches for August 4, 2008 and featured on Google Hot Trends for that day along with the Morgan Freeman crash story.
-Sanjay Jha was not involved in the Morgan Freeman crash. (Ok, that was random but true)
-Dr. Jha was born in India.

So will he succeed in pulling the mobile-phone business for Motorola out of the doldrums? Stay tuned.

Dr. Sanjay Jha makes Motorola co-CEO - Über Desi

Tesla is an automobile startup that produces high performance automobiles with a difference - their cars are battery-electric hybrids. Their first first production vehicle (lucky customers have started taking deliveries), the Tesla Roadster, is an all-electric sports car capable of a top (governed) speed of 125 mph with a range of 221 miles on a single charge.

The reason that we is talking about Tesla today is that the company has gotten itself its first Über CFO. Ex- Ford executive Deepak Ahuja is joining Tesla as their new CFO. Previously Ahuja (an IT-BHU, Northwestern and Carnegie Melon alum) was the controller/CFO for a number of successive Ford ventures. Most recently, Deepak oversaw the financial angles of Ford’s strategic initiative to bring several of their fuel efficient cars from Europe to the US.

Considering the birthing pains that Tesla has undergone - their founders acrimonious departure, the Fisker lawsuits, the powertrain issues - the company seems to be finally moving forward with the customer deliveries.

And regardless of Fisker’s plans to introduce a similar car of their own, Tesla is still considered by many as the pioneer of eco-friendly sports car. Tesla has recently set up a design studio and just yesterday, it was announced that Franz von Holzhausen, hot shot head of Mazda’s design studio (and the main brain behind several Mazda concepts that have recently appeared in various autoshows to universal acclaim) has been picked to lead it.

While it remains to be seen if Ahuja’s contributions to Ford’s successes (the paradigm shift to get Ford’s hot Euro offerings to the US should count as a success, IMHO) will move with him to Tesla, things should certainly improve. So Ahuja certainly seems to be joining Tesla at a time when its stock is rising. We, at ÜberDesi, wish him the very best.

Deepak Ahuja - Tesla Motors’ new CFO - Über Desi

In case you have been living under a rock or something, Rajat & Jayant Agarwalla pulled their popular Scrabble like app off Facebook last week (Pssst.. check out Scrabulous.com), after they were sued in US federal court in New York, by Hasbro Inc.

After months of uncertainty, Hasbro (who signed a deal last year with video game maker Electronic Arts to develop digital versions of the classic board games including Monopoly, Scrabble and Yahtzee), went ahead with the lawsuit after EA announced the launch of its online version of Scrabble on its portal, Pogo.com and a similar Facebook app soon.

But now the Scrabulous’s creaters have the game’s back up on Facebook in another format (Wired News), arguably different, but with all the familiar touches that we have all grown to like.

Instead of Scrabble-like square tiles, for instance, Wordscraper has circles. The tiles earning double and triple points have been rearranged, and tiles for quadruple points have been added.

So I am thinking that we can all play and get our quota if we agree not to call it Scrabble? And I am in! However my suggestion is that you use the words “tokens” and “shelf” instead of the standard Scrabble you know whats.

But I am not too happy that Wordscraper will not let me use all the seven “tokens” on my “shelf” to spell “LANGOTI”. Come on guys! We are desi, yaar! And the langoti is what we roll in!

You can now join the Über Desi group on Facebook.

Wordscraper - Facebook’s Phoenix? - Über Desi