Open society and global terrorism

There is a new trend in terrorism. I cop pasted this from an email that originates from Slate Magazine. I've also been following what is said about #Mumbai on Twitter.

Washington Post writes. There is a link to WP in the Slate insert.

By Emily Wax, Page A01

MUMBAI, Nov. 28 -- Indian army commandos struggled all day Thursday and into the early hours of Friday to regain control of two luxury hotels and a Jewish center in India's commercial capital, battling armed assailants...


Mumbai Under Siege By Daniel Politi

Posted Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, at 6:43 AM ET

More than a day after groups of gunmen descended on southern Mumbai and carried out a string of highly-coordinated attacks targeting "well-known symbols of India's prosperity and places where Westerners and Israelis gather," as the Washington Post summarizes, government forces were still working to gain control. The attacks have left at least 143 people dead, according to early morning wire reports, and more than 300 injured. The New York Times highlights there are widespread fears the death toll would rise since people who escaped the hotels reported "stepping around bodies." It's still not known who was behind the attacks, although it's clear the gunmen were well prepared. The Los Angeles Times hears word the militants "struck after months of reconnaissance during which they set up 'control rooms' in the targeted hotels." And the Wall Street Journal hears unconfirmed reports that the attackers had been renting an apartment for the past six months near the Jewish center that was attacked. USA Today highlights that whoever they were, the gunmen delivered "an unmistakable message: This U.S.-friendly democracy of 1.2 billion people has joined the front lines of the global war on terrorism."

Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration - About Us

Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration - About Us: Amit Agarwal - Profile

Amit Agarwal is a technology analyst and professional blogger.

He holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from IIT and has worked with clients like ADP Inc., Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. In 2004, Amit quit his job to become the first professional blogger in India.

Helge: I learnded about Digital Inspiration today. There was a short story about Cory Doctorow and his advice to bloggers. Bloggers should learn to write headlines that provide answers for those who ask questions through research engines.

Amit blogs at Digital Inspiration on computers, software, consumer technology and Internet. He also writes personal technology columns for The Hindustan Times and Financial Express, both leading national dailies.

Helge: India is important.

Amit has appeared on TV and radio channels including BBC, CNN IBN, CNBC, NDTV and Blog TV Singapore. He has been featured on the coverpage of The Week magazine. Microsoft awarded him the "Most Valuable Professional" status for 2007 and 2008.

Helge: Good to know.

Amit is part of the advisory council of Symantec (developers of Norton Security products) and TechTribe.com (a social site for IT pros).

Helge: Techie...

Amit lives in India with his extended family. He enjoys swimming, photography and making short movies for the web.

About Digital Inspiration

Digital Inspiration, which started in late 2004, is now the 40^th most-favorited blog on the Internet, according to Technorati, out of an estimated total of 100+ million blogs.

Helge: High!

Our mission is to help users in taking maximum advantage of the software tools and web technologies at their disposal so that they spend more time doing things they really love.

Helge: Gives good advice.

Digital Inspiration blog averages more than 1.4 million hits per month and has been quoted in mainstream publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CNet, Wired, CNN Money, Guardian, Financial Times, CBC, Wired, ITWire, MSNBC, BoingBoing, BBC, Mercury News, Sydney Morning Herald, and others.

Helge: I'm still a beginner. I work and write within small niche segments.

The site is read by computers hobbyists, students, technology professionals, journalists, not-so-tech-savvy mom and dads, entrepreneurs, early adapters and decision makers.

Helge: A broad readership.

Digital Inspiration won the Best Technology Blog award at Indibloggies 2006. It is also included in the prestigious "Blogs of Note" list compiled by the Blogger team at Google.

Helge: Lots of attention.

A survey by Business World magazine puts Digital Inspiration blog in the list of most popular blogs and online youth hangouts. The site is also mentioned as one of the top 20 blogs at Microsoft BlogStars.

Helge: We live in an attention economy!

DNA - Money - DLF to create new Bangalore - Daily News & Analysis

DNA - Money - DLF to create new Bangalore - Daily News & Analysis: "NEW DELHI: DLF, the country's biggest realty firm, plans to develop a huge integrated township spread over 9,178 acre on the outskirts of Bangalore at an estimated investment of up to Rs 60,000 crore over the next seven years. The Karnataka government awarded the project to develop Bidadi Knowledge City to DLF yesterday.

According to sources close to development, DLF would develop the project in a 50:50 joint venture with Dubai-based Limitless Holdings, a sister company of Nakheel. DLF is developing two townships in Gurgaon and Maharashtra of 20,000 acre each with Nakheel.

The total cost of project is estimated at between Rs 50,000-60,000 crore, including Rs 3,600 crore for the land, the sources said, adding that the investment would come from internal resources of the two partners and private equity at project-level."

ganeshsrinivasa DLF to create new Bangalore: DLF, the country's biggest realty firm, plans to develop a huge inte..

Ganesh Srinivasan's Professional Services - Leverage My Network, Get Value Added Services

Ganesh Srinivasan's Professional Services - Leverage My Network, Get Value Added Services: "New Delhi: India Inc's shopping-spree across the globe is at an all time high and will continue to be robust even in 2007, says a report by FICCI and Ernst and Young.

The total outbound deals, which were valued at $4.3 billion in 2005, crossed $15 billion-mark in 2006 and it could well breach the $35-billion level this year, the report on 'Direct investments in the United States of America by Indian enterprises' said."

Helge: I found this information on Twitter a few minutes ago.

SMEs Collaboration EU - Asia

On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, I participated in a seminar “Hong Kong – Guangdong Your partners for success in China – 8 November 2006 Helsinki.” The Scandic Hotel ball room was full of people. Couldn’t count them all, but I guess several hundred participants and maybe one hundred Chinese and Hong Kong business development officials, entrepreneurs and businessmen / women.

Rapid economic development in China has created major opportunities in two areas: a fast expanding market for goods and services, and a sophisticated production base for manufacturers and retailers. Successful companies realise that China is not one market, but a series of regional markets. Currently, most foreign companies concentrate to the Pearl River Delta region (PRD) on the southern tip of the Chinese mainland, closely connected to Hong Kong.

Why focus on the Greater Pearl River Delta?

This region offers the combined advantages of Hong Kong, with its international services and ease of business, and the PRD, which offers quality low-cost manufacturing and a growing consumer market. The PRD is also home to the Chinese mainland’s wealthiest consumers and highest spenders. Per Capita GDP and retail sales in the Greater Pearl River Delta are significantly higher than the Chinese mainland’s other regions, including the Yangtze River Delta region around Shanghai, and the Bohai region around Beijing.

What has this to do with Web 2.0?

The Asian businesses can be regarded as a threat or opportunity from an European point of view. We’ve been building bridges and contact networks to China, India, Bangladesh, Korea and Japan during the past years. It just struck me that the markets and opportunities for collaborative projects are so huge that it will take European wide efforts to be competitive in comparison with US companies playing a very active role there. The Asian market has been a playground for very large corporations. Finland is strongly represented through Nokia and its R&D and manufacturing partnership companies. But I will concentrate on what EU based SMEs could dot to enhance business relationships with the Asian SMEs.

New Business Models for SMEs

• Collaborative efforts to create knowledge based offerings
• Collective Networking Mashups with Asian SMEs
• European SMEs are often more international than smaller SMEs in US
• This applies most probably to the Web 2.0 environment as well (our national home markets are smaller than for the US SMEs and we have to start exporting in an earlier stage)
• We’re better equipped to handle multi-lingual operations and to understand cross-cultural differences
• We’ve a definitive lead in the Mobile Phone manufacturing and application areas in Europe compared to US but have to do some catch-up with DoCoMo in Japan, Hongong, South-Korea.

What do you think?
Best Regards
Helge Keitel

Finnish Companies in India

Here is an incompleter lisf of Finnish companies in India:

1. Aspocomp
2. Finnair will open a direct flight to Delhi
   
3. Cap Gemini Finland
4. Kone
   
5. Metso
   
6. Nokia has a new mobile phones factory in Chennan close to Sriperumburd (2 500)
   
7. Nokia has a mobile phones service center close to Madras (Being global)
   
8. Perlos
9. Salcomp
   
10. Sanoma has a project in Mumbai
11. Wärtislä
    

What are they doing or planning to do?

1. ICT services
2. Production, manufacturing
3. Customer services centers
   
4. Customer services
5. Product development
6. Accounting and administrative services
7. Marketing
8. Sales
9. Logistics

Just a few examples of Indian companies that have invested in Finland:

1. Sasken - Botnia High-Tech from Kaustinen
2. Sterling Infotech Group - WinWinD from Oulu and Loviisa
   
3. Wipro - Saraware from Rovaniemi

I will continue to update this list.