BIOGENE

Start-ups: In search of venture capital

2011-04-22T12:40:00.003+05:30

To secure elusive funding, entrepreneurs must understand the financial landscape and the motivations of investing firms.

Somewhere between borrowing money from friends and family and maxing out their personal credit cards, many scientists and researchers trying to take their discoveries from the lab to the marketplace decide to seek the counsel and financial support of a venture-capital firm. Such firms have long had a key role in establishing legal structures and marketing strategies for start-up companies, as well as in providing them with the funding to stay afloat until they are robust enough to secure a commercial bank loan, be purchased by a larger competitor or achieve sales that signal long-term success.

A. RUGGIERI/ILLUSTRATION WORKS/CORBIS

Yet, like insurance-claims adjusters, venture-capital firms are often the kind of friends that scientists might not want. That doesn't mean that they aren't highly valued partners, but the relationship frequently starts out on an unequal and problematic footing. “It's not just about money, it's about chemistry,” says Ellen Rudnick, executive director of the Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago in Illinois. “You want somebody there whom you trust and who really understands your business. You have to think of them as a marriage partner.”

Scientists can improve their odds of success in securing capital by knowing their options and responsibilities. The likelihood of achieving victory and avoiding pitfalls, such as surrendering one's fledgling company, increases if researchers know their goals from the outset, put a plan into motion to achieve them, recruit established hands to support their pursuit and go into the search with realistic expectations.

Devising a game plan

Firms aren't drawn to great ideas alone; they're attracted to great ideas that have the promise of financial success. It's a painful truth that many astonishing innovations won't ever win the favour of venture-capital firms, because they lack a market. “You need to ask yourself from a purely scientific standpoint: is this idea differentiated in the eyes of my peers? Is there something unique scientifically about my idea?” says Robert Nelsen, co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners in Seattle, Washington. “We're looking for the revolutionary rather than the evolutionary.”

For scientists working in universities or government labs, the vetting process starts with technology-transfer offices, which protect, manage and license research. Scientists who receive university or federal grants need to work out any potential licensing sticking points before embarking on a venture-capital search. Firms want to ensure that scientists are free to develop the discovery, and will need to determine whether the licensing of the technology is exclusive to one company, and for how long. When working with university-based scientists, the firm will also want to know whether the institute receives equity in the new company and whether the licence reverts back to the university if the start-up does not meet certain milestones or financial requirements.

A good technology-transfer office will employ business experts with experience in developing pitches and building management teams for start-ups. They can help in protecting discoveries, filing patent applications and outlining and resolving the researcher's licensing concerns.

But the challenges don't end there. Eva Harth, a chemist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who is trying to market a degradable nanosponge for the treatment of cancer and eye diseases, says that her search for the right firm to optimize her invention's commercial potential has been a struggle. “Getting from the science to putting it into the hands of physicians has been challenging, especially since I'm not an expert in business or finance,” says Harth. “If you don't have the connections and don't know how the system works, you're just lost.”

Venture collapse

Ellen Rudnick: "It's not just about money, it's about chemistry."

To get a handle on the current financial landscape, scientists need to understand the impact of the global economic crisis. The financial collapse of 2008 not only shrank the size and availability of investment capital, but also reduced the number of venture-capital firms. In the United States alone, the number dropped from 996 in 2007 to about 791 in 2010, and the threat of closures continues.

The largest impact on venture-backed companies may have come from the declining initial-public-offering market, says Emily Mendell, vice-president of communications for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) in Arlington, Virginia, the trade group for US venture-capital firms. Companies that had been in a position to go public were forced to wait, says Mendell, so firms had to invest more money and time than they had planned to keep promising companies afloat while the market righted itself. “There will be firms that will not be able to raise follow-on funds,” says Mendell. “We are seeing a shrinking industry going forward.” She notes, however, that the venture-capital industry in the United States, although smaller than it was, is not moribund. That was demonstrated in 2010, which saw the first year-on-year rise in investments since 2007. Venture-capital firms invested US$21.8 billion in 3,277 deals last year: a 19% boost in dollars compared with 2009 and a 12% increase in the number of deals, according to the 2010 MoneyTree Report by the NVCA and PricewaterhouseCoopers, a financial-services firm based in London.

Still, the current status of the industry helps to explain why many scientists feel that firms are increasingly reluctant to fund projects without a guaranteed return on their investment. “Venture implies that they take risk, but I think many of these firms take no risk at all,” says Harth. “They are looking for guarantees only.”

The United States and Europe are important centres for innovation and investment, and look set to remain so. But emerging markets are expected to drive the industry over the next five years, according to the 2010 Global Venture Capital Survey by the NVCA and Deloitte of New York. The survey, which measures the opinions of more than 500 venture capitalists worldwide, found that 92% in the United States think that the number of venture-capital firms in the country will decline in the next five years, a view echoed in France, Israel and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, 99% of venture capitalists in China, 97% in Brazil and 85% in India expected to see an increase in numbers of local venture-capital firms.

The upshot: scientists in less-developed countries will probably see rising investment opportunities through private entities. But there are some caveats attached to the boom. Venture capitalists in emerging markets may be inexperienced — leaving scientists ceding control to firms not familiar with regulations — or ill-prepared to raise the large amounts of capital required for biotechnology and other health-related investments. With so much at stake, it is essential that scientists exercise due diligence in selecting a venture-capital firm.

Knocking on doors

Before selection begins, experts say, scientists should avoid trading away pieces of their company to less-experienced individual entrepreneurs and angel-fund investors for early investment funds before approaching venture-capital firms. If scientists have already signed binding agreements with other funders or licence holders, firms will see only unappealing prospects: limited profitability and months of legal negotiations. “The biggest mistake faculty members make is to partner with entrepreneurs who are not of the quality or experience that venture investors will accept,” says Nelsen. And it is often best to secure only the investment needed for the next 12–18 months, rather than seek funding for an extended period of time. To win more-substantial, long-term funding for a smaller, less-established company often means trading away more of the enterprise than it would once the company has recruited its first client or validated its first innovation.

Once that concern is dodged, the capital–start-up relationship must be considered. If it's akin to marriage, then the first step in establishing it is finding and courting a firm that fits the personality of the technology or discovery at the heart of the fledgling company. By studying a firm's track record, scientists can learn about the type of company that they support and the successes and failures they've had in the past. It helps to call a few colleagues or university entrepreneurship officers to gauge a firm's reputation among scientists in the field, because word travels fast about flawed and failing venture-capital firms.

More importantly, researchers should look for that vital link, person or connection that can open the door. Firms say that for every 100 proposals they receive from researchers and entrepreneurs, they will fund only a single start-up. Being taken seriously as a prospect often starts with a good reference from a colleague or department chair who has the credentials to attract high-powered investment. “In any university or national lab, find the person who has had success in creating a start-up, and they most likely can introduce you to someone,” says Nick Galakatos, managing director of Clarus Ventures in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Once they have a foot in the door, researchers need to make a compelling case. They must explain what need their product fulfils, and how they intend to market and sell it. These preliminary conversations, which must be both aspirational and grounded in reality, help the firm to understand the level of risk involved in the prospective investment. They also provide early opportunities to assess the business acumen of the scientists on the project.

The best firms treat entrepreneurs as important customers and add tremendous value to a start-up in terms of recruiting, strategy, coaching and connections. But they are not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts, says serial entrepreneur Steve Blank, a lecturer in entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of a blog for start-ups (http://steveblank.com). “Entrepreneurs need to understand that VCs are simply a sophisticated form of financial investors who in turn need to satisfy their own investors,” he wrote on his blog this year. Some investors acknowledge that there are bad actors in the field, who mistreat scientists and want to wrest companies away from their founders. But scientists' general lack of business experience makes them ill-suited to run multi-million-dollar companies in competitive environments for themselves. Furthermore, any firm willing to invest heavily in a start-up will expect to guide and manage that company's future.

Ultimately, scientists should take heart in the market forces that drive venture-capital firms. Those firms that fail to invest robustly in science, or that treat scientists unfairly, only damage their own reputations and undermine their own success. “Our business is to make people money, and that includes entrepreneurs and scientists,” says Nelsen. “If we make a huge company that is quite successful and the scientist doesn't make money, and the university doesn't make money, that's a huge failure for us. We want people to keep coming back to us again and again with their discoveries — so we all make money.”

n vitro assembly of cubic RNA-based scaffolds designed in silico

2010-09-18T10:38:00.000+05:30

The organization of biological materials into versatile three-dimensional assemblies could be used to build multifunctional therapeutic scaffolds for use in nanomedicine. Here, we report a strategy to design three-dimensional nanoscale scaffolds that can be self-assembled from RNA with precise control over their shape, size and composition. These cubic nanoscaffolds are only ~13 nm in diameter and are composed of short oligonucleotides, making them amenable to chemical synthesis, point modifications and further functionalization. Nanocube assembly is verified by gel assays, dynamic light scattering and cryogenic electron microscopy. Formation of functional RNA nanocubes is also demonstrated by incorporation of a light-up fluorescent RNA aptamer that is optimally active only upon full RNA assembly. Moreover, we show that the RNA nanoscaffolds can self-assemble in isothermal conditions (37 °C) during in vitro transcription, which opens a route towards the construction of sensors, programmable packaging and cargo delivery systems for biomedical applications.

Nanoparticles boost cancer treatment

2010-02-24T18:34:00.001+05:30

U.S. researchers say combining nanoparticles with a scorpion venom compound can cut the spread of cancerous brain tumor cells by 98 percent.

The University of Washington said the nanoparticles more than double the effectiveness of chlorotoxin, a small peptide isolated from scorpion venom.

"People talk about the treatment being more effective with nanoparticles but they don't know how much, maybe 5 percent or 10 percent," Miqin Zhang, professor of materials science and engineering, said Friday in a release. "This was quite a surprise to us."

Researchers said adding nanoparticles can improve a therapy by increasing the length of time the combination lasts in the body. Nanoparticles also boost effectiveness of treatment compounds because therapeutic molecules tend to clump around each nanoparticle, the report said.

Nanoparticles guide genes through the bloodstream

2010-02-24T18:31:00.000+05:30

Scientists from University of Bonn in Germany have designed a technique that allows them to repair damaged arteries’ tissue. The technique is based on sending genes and healthy cells through the bloodstream to the place that needs to be repaired.

Earlier, the “problem” was that it was unknown what quantity of healthy cells to send in order to repair the tissue. Small magnetic nanoparticles which are situated on the planted gene or on the planted cell can with the aid of an external magnetic field be specifically directed to the location of the damage.

German researchers have discovered that the gene-based transfer is way more successful than non-gene-based one. Magnetic nanoparticles can support or even enable gene transfer under clinically relevant experimental conditions.

What is nanomedicine

2010-02-06T10:23:00.000+05:30

Nanomedicine is a subfield of nanotechnology. It is often defined as the repair, construction and control of human biological systems using devices built upon nanotechnology standards. Basically, nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. Nanostructured materials, engineered enzymes and many other products of biotechnology will be very useful in the future. Of course, the full potential of nanomedicine is unlikely to arrive until after complex, high-sofisticated, medically programmable nanomachines and nanorobots are developed. When that happens, every medical doctor’s dream will become reality. Having robots fabricated to nanometer precision (1 nanometer = 1 bilionth of a meter) will allow medical doctors to approach the human body at the cellular and molecular levels. Interventions such as repairing damaged tissues (bone, muscle, nerve) will be possible.

We all know that the mankind is still fighting against many complex illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, diabetes as well as some inflammatory or infectious diseases (i.e. HIV). Nanotechnology raises hopes and expectations for millions of patients that suffer from those diseases. For example, it is expected that doctors will be able to destroy the very first cancer cells and so stop the disease from growing.

Nanomedicine is a huge industry. Sales reached 6.8 billion dollars in 2004. Significant amounts of money are being invested in research – USA and European Union are investing billions of dollars and plan to invest more in the future.

NIH established eight nanomedicine development centers which are staffed by multidisciplinary research teams including biologists, physicians, mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists. The intial phase of their program is directed towards gathering extensive information about the properties of nanoscale biological elements. This is very important and will help scientists to correct defects in unhealthy cells. The second phase has been approved recently and is directed towards applying the knowledge from the first phase in treating diseases.

European Technology Platform is a platforum formed by 53 European stakeholders. Their first task the group had was to write a vision document on nanotechnology in which experts describe the extrapolation of needs until 2020.

There are three key priorities in the future: nanotechnology-based diagnostics and imaging, targeted drug delivery and release and regenerative medicine.

According to the journal „Nature Materials“, there are over 130 nanotech-based drugs and delivery systems developed worldwide. Nanomedicine industry is expected continue to grow and have a significant impact on the economy.

Colon cancer warning signs

2010-02-06T10:21:00.001+05:30

A lot of patients suffering from colon cancer might well present no symptoms or signs during the earliest stages of the condition. When symptoms do eventually present, they can be many and varied, and can very much depend upon the size of the affliction, how far it has spread and also its actual location. It might be that some symptoms that present are as a result of a condition other than cancer itself, ranging from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and occasionally diverticulosis. Also, such problems as abdominal pain or swelling can be symptomatic of colon problems and may well require further investigation.

You may also notice that, upon going to the lavatory, you have some blood in your stools, and this can be a symptom of cancer. It can, however, also be indicative of other conditions and problems. For example, the kind of bright red blood that you may see on your toilet tissue could be as a result of hemorrhoids or anal fissures. It should also be remembered that various food items can also result in red-colored stools, and these include beetroot and red liquorice. Some medications can also be culprits, and some can also turn the stools black-including iron supplements. Irrespective, any sign of blood or change in your stools should prompt you to seek advice from your GP, as it is always best to be sure that it is not a sign of a more serious condition, and with any cancer,early detection and treatment is essential to a successful recovery.

You should also note-if you are currently concerned-any change in the regularity of your stools-including whether or not they are more thin or irregular than usual-especially over a period of several weeks. Also, be mindful if you have diarrhea for several days in a row or, conversely, constipation.

You might also experience pain in your lower abdomen-including a feeling of hardness. You may also experience persistent pain or discomfort in your abdominal region, and this can include wind and cramps. You may also get the sensation that, when evacuating your bowels, that the bowel doesn’t empty fully. Also, if you have an iron deficiency (or anemia), it may be an indication that there is bleeding in your colon. Also, as in most cases and types of cancer, you should seek medical advice immediately if you experience any sudden and unexpected or unexplained weight loss, as this is one of the principal red flags. Also be aware of more vague, seemingly incidental symptoms, such as fatigue. IF you have a couple of symptoms and also feel fatigued for days in a row inexplicably, then this is also another warning sign and you should seek medical advice. It is important not to panic, but just to be aware of what might be going on.

Remember, cases of colon cancer account for around 90% of all cases of intestinal cancers, and also account for more deaths every year of men and women from cancer. Early treatment is an absolute must.

Colon cancer warning signs

2010-02-06T10:21:00.000+05:30

Men of Honor

2009-12-08T17:08:00.001+05:30

New killer virus found in Africa

2009-09-23T11:58:00.001+05:30

Scientists discover disease that causes Ebola-like bleeding

Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus.

The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.

It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.

"This one is really, really aggressive," he said of the virus.

A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.

The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.

She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.

A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.

Investigators believe the virus spread from person to person through contact with infected body fluids.

"It's not a kind of virus like the flu that can spread widely," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the research.

The name given to the virus — "Lujo" — stems from Lusaka and Johannesburg, the cities where it was first identified.

Investigators in Africa thought the illness might be Ebola, because some of the patients had bleeding in the gums and around needle injection sites, said Stuart Nichol, chief of the molecular biology lab in the CDC's Special Pathogens Branch. Other symptoms include include fever, shock, coma and organ failure.

Samples of blood and liver from the victims were sent to the United States, where they were tested at Columbia University in New York and at CDC in Atlanta. Tests determined it belonged to the arenavirus family, and that it is distantly related to Lassa fever, another disease found in Africa.

The drug ribavirin, which is given to Lassa victims, was given to the fifth Lujo virus patient — a Johannesburg nurse. It's not clear if the medicine made a difference or if she just had a milder case of the disease, but she fully recovered, Nichol said.

The research is a startling example of how quickly scientists can now identify new viruses, Fauci said. Using genetic sequencing techniques, the virus was identified in a matter of a few days — a process that used to take weeks or longer.

Along with Fauci's institute, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Google also helped fund the research.

Aspirin cuts death risk for colon cancer patients

2009-09-23T11:52:00.000+05:30

Score another win for the humble aspirin. A study suggests colon cancer patients who took the dirt-cheap wonder drug reduced their risk of death from the disease by nearly 30 percent.

Aspirin already is recommended for preventing heart attacks and strokes, along with its traditional use for relief of minor aches and pains. Its merit in colon cancer prevention has been tempered by its side effects, bleeding from irritation of the stomach or intestines.

The new study suggests patients who already have colon cancer may benefit from taking aspirin along with surgery and chemotherapy. In a separate analysis of a subgroup of patients, only those with the most common type of tumor, those that overproduce the Cox-2 enzyme, saw a benefit.

“The paper is absolutely incredible, and I don’t gush normally,” said Dr. Alfred Neugut of Columbia University Medical Center in New York who has done similar research but was not involved in the new study. In an accompanying editorial, Neugut wrote that the study “comes as close as it can to offering patients a way to help themselves.”

Test yourself

Test your colon cancer knowledge

“This is certainly something patients would want to discuss with their doctors,” said Dr. Andrew Chan of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who led the study, which appears in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

It’s too early for an across-the-board recommendation however, both Chan and Neugut said. The results should be confirmed in an experiment where patients would be randomly assigned to take aspirin or a dummy pill. A study based in Singapore that’s now recruiting patients may verify aspirin’s benefit.

Chan’s study was observational, meaning researchers merely observed what patients were already doing, such as taking aspirin regularly for headaches. It’s possible that factors other than aspirin accounted for the difference in cancer deaths.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 50,000 Americans will die from it this year.

The researchers analyzed data from two large ongoing studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

They looked at nearly 1,300 people with colorectal cancer who’d been followed for an average of 12 years. All the patients in the study had surgery for colon cancer and many also had chemotherapy.

Among the 549 participants who used aspirin regularly after their diagnosis, 81 died from colorectal cancer (about 15 percent). In contrast, among the 730 people who didn’t use aspirin, 141 died of the disease (about 19 percent).

Heat can help chemotherapy work better

2009-09-23T11:31:00.000+05:30

Cancer patients whose tumors are targeted with heat treatment as well as chemotherapy are more likely to stay alive and cancer-free for longer than those who receive only chemotherapy, researchers said on Tuesday.

The finding suggests it may be possible to cut the dose of chemotherapy drugs by using heat, although more research is needed to establish this, they said.

German researchers looking at cancers in soft tissues such as muscle, fat and tissue around the joints, found that heat treatment more than doubled the proportion of patients whose tumors responded to chemotherapy.

mportantly, the process did not increase the harmful effects of chemotherapy treatment.

"We expect our findings will encourage other researchers to test the approach in other locally advanced cancers," said Rolf Issels, a professor of medical oncology at the University of Munich in Germany.

"Targeted heat therapy has already shown promise in recurrent breast and locally advanced cervical cancer in combination with radiation, and studies combining it with chemotherapy in other localized tumors such as those in the pancreas and rectum are ongoing."

Heat therapy for cancer involves a technique known as regional hyperthermia, which uses focused electromagnetic energy to warm the tissue in and around the tumor to between 40 and 43 degrees Celsius (104 to 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

The heat not only kills cancer cells, but also seems to make chemotherapy work better by making cancer cells more sensitive, Issels said. It also improves blood flow, allowing chemotherapy to be more effective.

Issels said his findings, presented at the ECCO-ESMO European cancer congress in Berlin, showed that soft tissue sarcoma patients receiving the targeted heat therapy plus chemotherapy "fared better on all outcome measurements."

"Almost three years after starting treatment, they were 42 percent less likely to experience a recurrence of their cancer at the same site or to die than those who were getting chemotherapy alone," he said.

The average length of time that patients remained disease free was 32 months in the group that got both treatments, compared with 18 months in the group that got chemotherapy alone — an improvement of 30 percent.

Issels said the equipment and specialist knowledge to be able to offer such heat therapies is only currently available in a handful of clinics and hospitals in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and the United States.

But he urged cancer doctors to take note.

"The clear results of this trial show that the field has now matured to the point where we must step up efforts to explore its potential to offer an entirely new way of treating locally advanced disease in several major cancers," he said.

Men of Honor - Twelve steps to honor

2009-07-11T15:32:00.001+05:30

Men of Honor - Twelve steps to honor

Charlie Chaplains Greatest Speech

2009-04-02T13:42:00.001+05:30

Charlie Chaplains Greatest Speech

Rocky Balboa 6 Training scene

2009-04-02T13:29:00.001+05:30

Rocky Balboa 6 Training scene

Most Inspiring Video

2009-04-02T13:13:00.001+05:30

Most Inspiring Video

India ...Need motivation

2009-04-02T13:07:00.001+05:30

India ...Need motivation

Anthrax investigation still yielding findings

2009-02-27T13:23:00.000+05:30

Chemical composition of spores doesn't match suspect flask.

The deadly bacterial spores mailed to victims in the US anthrax attacks, scientists say, share a chemical 'fingerprint' that is not found in bacteria from the flask linked to Bruce Ivins, the biodefence researcher implicated in the crime.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleges that Ivins, who committed suicide last July, was the person responsible for mailing letters laden with Bacillus anthracis to news media and congressional offices in 2001, killing five people and sickening 17. The FBI used genetic analyses to trace the mailed spores back to a flask called RMR-1029, which Ivins could access in his laboratory at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Investigators used genetic analyses to track down the particular strain of Bacillus anthracis used in the attacks.

At a biodefence meeting on 24 February, Joseph Michael, a materials scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, presented analyses of three letters sent to the New York Post and to the offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. Spores from two of those show a distinct chemical signature that includes silicon, oxygen, iron, and tin; the third letter had silicon, oxygen, iron and possibly also tin, says Michael. Bacteria from Ivins' RMR-1029 flask did not contain any of those four elements.

Two cultures of the same anthrax strain grown using similar processes — one from Ivins' lab, the other from a US Army facility in Utah — showed the silicon-oxygen signature but did not contain tin or iron. Michael presented the analyses at the American Society for Microbiology's Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.

The chemical mismatch doesn't necessarily mean that deadly spores used in the attacks did not originate from Ivins' RMR-1029 flask, says Jason Bannan, a microbiologist and forensic examiner at the FBI's Chemical Biological Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia. The RMR-1029 culture was created in 1997, and the mailed spores could have been taken out of that flask and grown under different conditions, resulting in varying chemical contents. "It doesn't surprise me that it would be different," he says.

The data suggest that spores for the three letters were grown using the same process, says Michael. It is not clear how tin and iron made their way into the culture, he says. Bannan suggests that the growth medium may have contained iron and tin may have come from a water source.

Hard to tell apart

The meeting offered scientists who collaborated with the FBI during the investigation an opportunity to share detailed data. The analyses will eventually be published in peer-reviewed journals, the FBI has said.

Jacques Ravel, a genomics scientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, described his team's efforts to find genetic differences between various cultures of the Ames strain, the B. anthracis strain identified in the anthrax letters. At first, the team was surprised to find that the DNA sequences of a reference Ames strain and Ames samples from the investigation, such as bacteria isolated from the spinal fluid of the first victim, were exactly the same. "It was kind of a shock," says Ravel.

For help, the researchers turned to variants found by a team at USAMRIID. Patricia Worsham and her colleagues had noticed differences in shape, colour and rate of spore formation even within a single anthrax culture. Ravel's team identified the genetic mutations associated with four variants and developed an assay for one of them, called Morph E. Researchers at Commonwealth Biotechnologies in Richmond, Virginia, and the Midwest Research Institute's Florida Division in Palm Bay created assays for three other variants.

The FBI then used that arsenal of tests to pin down the origins of the anthrax letters, matching the mix of genetic variants in the mailed spores to Ivins' RMR-1029 flask. "It has the genetic signatures that identify it as the most likely source of the growth," says Bannan.

Ravel also sequenced the genome of a Bacillus subtilis strain that was found in one of the letters. That sample did not match a B. subtilis strain found in Ivins' lab, says Bannan, but the bacterial contamination still could have come from somewhere else in Ivins' institution.

The FBI has asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to convene an independent panel of experts to review the anthrax investigation data. The academy is still in the process of drawing up a contract with the FBI that lays out an agreement to perform the study, says NAS spokeswoman Christine Stencel.

Thomas DeGonia, Ivins' lawyer at Venable LLP in Rockville, Maryland, maintains Ivins' innocence.

Scientists reverse brain birth defects in animal models

2009-01-08T15:48:00.000+05:30

Prof Joseph Yanai and his associates at the Hebrew University were able to overcome neural and behavioral birth defects in mice by using mouse embryonic neural stem cells. These cells migrate in the brain, search for the deficiency that caused the defect, and then differentiate into becoming the cells needed to repair the damage.

Neural and behavioral birth defects, such as learning disabilities, are said to be particularly difficult to treat, compared to defects with known cause factors such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, because the prenatal teratogen — the substances that cause the abnormalities — act diffusely in the fetal brain, resulting in multiple defects.

In the animal model, researchers were able to reverse learning deficits in the offspring of pregnant mice who were exposed to organophosphate (a pesticide) and heroin. This was done by direct neural stem cell transplantation into the brains of the offspring. According to the scientists, the recovery was almost 100 percent, as proved in behavioral tests in which the treated animals improved to normal behavior and learning scores after the transplantation. On the molecular level, brain chemistry of the treated animals was also restored to normal.

However, the researchers have also discovered that the neural stem cells succeed before they die in inducing the host brain itself to produce large number of stem cells, which repair the damage. This discovery was published earlier this year in one of the leading journals in the field, Molecular Psychiatry.

The scientists are now in the midst of developing procedures for the least invasive method for administering the neural stem cells, which is probably via blood vessels, thus making the therapy practical and clinically feasible.

The research on the project was supported by the US National Institutes of Health, the US-Israel Bi-national Science Foundation and the Israel anti-drug authorities.

Foreign VC funds get mixed reception in India

2008-12-27T16:30:00.002+05:30

Matrix Capital Management LLC (Matrix; Waltham, MA, USA) announced on March 19 its plans to invest between $300–$600 million in late-stage funding in Indian biotech and pharmaceutical companies this year—the largest amount ever allotted for this sector by a single foreign investor. But Indian startup companies, which are accustomed to a dearth of venture capital (VC) in the country, are skeptical that overseas funds will benefit the industry.

"We are looking at India because Indian human capital is arguably the highest in the world and it is a country where one can get high returns at low cost [of investment]," says David Goel, managing general partner at Matrix. Teams that manage $1 billion in funds from Matrix and its sister company Matrix Venture Capital Investments (Waltham, MA, USA) were in India in March scouting for what Goel describes as "high-quality pharma and biotech companies to invest [in]."

But Matrix is not alone. At the BioAsia-2004 meeting held in Hyderabad February 26–28, Andreas Wicki, CEO of VC firm HBM Bioventures (Baar, Switzerland), announced plans to commit $10–$20 million annually for Indian biotech companies. And Michael Alder, managing director of VC company Redmont Venture Partners (Birmingham, AL, USA), talked about the possibility of his firm joining an Indian coinvestor to create a $20 million fund for early-stage biotech firms.

"We think overseas venture funding will give a big push to our nascent biotech industry, whose main problem is finances," says Bhim Sain Bajaj, a senior official at the All India Biotechnology Association (AIBA, New Delhi). "Last month we were talking to HBM Bioventures and now Matrix is here. As the word spreads, more [overseas VC] will come to give our companies a boost," says Bibhu Prasad Acharya, secretary of Industries and Commerce for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

But not everyone agrees with Bajaj. Ashok Kumar Sadhukhan, managing director of Transgene Biotek (Hyderabad, India), welcomes the Matrix move to invest in the country, but does not think startup firms are going to benefit. "Why would the foreign investors take risks when our own venture funds are shying away?" he wonders.

Peter Boelhouwer, a Matrix team member, admits that for its first venture in India—which is also its first foray into the biotechnology field—the main strategy of his company is to buy stocks in Indian public companies already making profits. Wicki also makes it clear that his company's focus "is on mature companies including spinoffs and, in some instances, early-stage companies."

Sarath Naru, managing director of APIDC-Venture Capital (APIDC-VCL; Hyderabad), which funds only biotech startups, is not surprised at the dilemma of overseas investors. "Traditionally they are used to funding early-stage companies in their backyards," he says. "Not many of them are coming to India because it is difficult for them to operate unless they tie up with a local venture partner."

But potential local VC partners are few and far between. The total amount annually invested into Indian biotech is about $500 million, according to AIBI. But other than APIDC-VCL, none of the approximately 25 Indian VC funds is dedicated to biotechnology. Last year, the Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) proposed to raise and manage a $12 million fund, but the Finance Ministry stalled the initiative because it felt the funds should be raised and managed by private firms and the DBT's role should be limited to providing matching loans. The only other Indian fund dedicated to local biotech firms is a $45 fund that is still under discussion by the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (Bangalore, India).

According to Naru, Indian VCs have been staying away from early-stage biotech companies since the dot-com bust in 2000. The long gestation period of biotech projects is another reason, says Renuka Ramnath, CEO of VC firm i-Venture (Mumbai, India). Against this backdrop, Naru says that overseas funding will definitely be helpful, but "what we want in India is early-stage funding by foreign VCs with handholding fund managers in India, [a situation that would] add value locally and overseas."

Lufthansa-CNBC TV18 - All for this one moment. Interview with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

2008-12-24T14:04:00.001+05:30

Lufthansa-CNBC TV18 - All for this one moment. Interview with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Biotechnology giant Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Success and Failure

2008-12-24T13:44:00.001+05:30

giant Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Success and Failure

Sandeep Unnikrishnan

2008-12-17T16:22:00.001+05:30

Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Mumbai attack : Bihar Regiment’s Major Sandeep dies as a national hero

2008-12-17T15:56:00.002+05:30

Two NSG personnel, including an officer, were today killed and six other commandos injured during operations against terrorists in Mumbai, the first casualties suffered by the elite force during the siege.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, 31, was killed while engaging terrorists this morning at the Taj hotel. An officer of the Bihar Regiment, he was commissioned in the Indian Army in June 1999.

Major Sandeep was with the 51 Special Action Group of the force and was with the NSG on deputation. He has been with the Black Cat commando force for the last two years. The officer had joined the NSG on deputation in January 2007 after having served two tenures with his battalion in counter insurgency and counter terrorism roles.

The officer hails from Bangalore where his father works for the Indian Space Research Organisation. Remembered for being high on principles, he was strictly averse to hypocrisy, sycophancy, apathy and lack of compassion.

In spite of being such an asset to the national security, the modest Unni always felt that his job was a regular one. But what he didn’t know was the fact that this so called ‘regular’ job will end up making him a national hero.

Soaked in blood and pierced with bullets, Unikrishnan’s body was found around 1.30 pm on the third floor of the hotel. “We lost contact with him around noon which means he fought alone before the terrorists killed him,” an NSG official told.

The second casualty was of Gajender Singh, another NSG commando, who died fighting terrorists in Nariman House. He was one of the members of the two platoons which were air dropped around the Nariman House area. His body was flown to Delhi on Friday night from where it will be taken to Dehradun.

Six other commandos were also injured during the encounters with terrorists at Taj hotel, Oberoi-Trident and Nariman House.

Indian Government's Shame

2008-12-17T15:29:00.006+05:30

An Olympic Shooter wins Gold medal (Only a game)

Govt gives him 3 Crore + Awards

Another Shooter dies, fighting with terrorists (Saving our country and our lives)

Govt pays his family 5 Lakhs

Incredible India

2008-11-26T13:21:00.001+05:30

Incredible India

INDIA-1

2008-11-26T13:18:00.001+05:30

INDIA-1

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE .... Part III

2008-11-26T13:08:00.001+05:30

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

inspirational

2008-11-26T13:06:00.001+05:30

inspirational

Bacterial Meningitis

2008-11-15T10:26:00.001+05:30

Bacterial Meningitis

Are entrepreneurs born or made?

2008-11-11T11:24:00.001+05:30

Are entrepreneurs born or made?

Snow - Informer

2008-11-11T11:20:00.001+05:30

Snow - Informer

Tum Chalo (LeadIndia - New Anthem)

2008-10-23T15:07:00.001+05:30

Tum Chalo (LeadIndia - New Anthem)

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE .... Part II

2008-10-23T15:04:00.001+05:30

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

JUST FOLLOW THIS

2008-10-23T14:53:00.001+05:30

JUST FOLLOW THIS

The Law Of Attraction

2008-10-23T14:38:00.001+05:30

The Law Of Attraction

Rocky Balboa Tribute 1-6

2008-10-22T15:58:00.001+05:30

Rocky Balboa Tribute 1-6

Rocky 3 - Trailer

2008-10-22T15:51:00.001+05:30

Rocky 3 - Trailer

Invincible" - Vince Papale, final scenes

2008-10-22T15:34:00.001+05:30

Invincible" - Vince Papale, final scenes

Genetic markers: How accurate can genetic data be?

2008-10-22T15:15:00.002+05:30

Molecular markers come in different flavours—blood groups, allozymes, RFLPs, AFLPs, RAPDs, STRs, SNPs, you name them. Whether the focus is on specific populations or on worldwide patterns (Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1994), genetic data have become prominent in recent decades and have fundamentally changed our views on human evolution and prehistory. But what if some of these markers were biased? What if genetic markers, far from being more objective than other types of data, were producing a distorted view of human diversity, and, as a consequence, of human origins? And if that were the case, would it be possible to identify the best and least biased data sets around? These important questions are at the heart of an article by Romero et al. (2008) recently published in Heredity.

In technical terms, the issue addressed by Romero et al. is called ascertainment bias and it has been around for some time (Garrod, 1902). It refers to a statistical bias introduced during the collection (or ascertainment) of data, and started to catch the eye of human population geneticists some 15 years ago (Bowcock et al., 1994). In population genetic studies the main cause of ascertainment bias is an economic one. Genetic markers are usually selected on the basis that they should be polymorphic (that is, variable) in a reference sample. Understandably, their costly development is rarely carried out on large samples and, once identified, it would be hard to imagine colleagues who would be happy to spend their research budget genotyping whole populations at markers for which most individuals will be identical.

The first and most obvious consequence of this selection process is that, by eliminating the least variable markers, genetic diversity is overestimated. In itself this is not necessarily a major problem, if one keeps track of the markers that were eliminated. A second consequence is that genetic diversity is usually inflated in the reference population/s as shown by Bowcock et al. (1994) in humans. This effect was particularly strong in Europe compared to other regions with nuclear RFLPs (restriction fragment length polymorphism), allozymes and blood groups, but weak or absent in microsatellites. They wrote that 'a reasonable explanation [...] is the bias introduced by their initial selection in Europeans.' They added that this 'bias is likely to be less serious for markers with large numbers of alleles such as microsatellites'. Interestingly, this second ascertainment problem is very general. Using cattle and sheep, Ellegren et al. (1997) elegantly showed that microsatellite markers developed in one species produced shorter repeats and lower diversity estimates in the other species. Importantly, this explained why humans appeared to have longer microsatellites than other apes without invoking directional selection in humans.

A third and more subtle consequence of ascertainment bias arises even when the reference sample comprises individuals from the whole species range, as is the case in the protocols used for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery in humans. The critical issue is that the number of individuals in the so-called 'discovery panel' is usually very small. Thus, rare alleles tend to be missed and selected SNPs typically have alleles with similarly high or medium frequencies (SNPs are typically biallelic). This is problematic because many demographic events leave specific signatures in the allele frequency distribution. For instance, population bottlenecks tend to eliminate rare alleles, whereas expanding populations exhibit more loci with rare alleles. Similarly, directional or balancing selection also either favour one allele or maintain the allele frequencies at some equilibrium value, respectively. In other words, this type of ascertainment bias can mimic balancing selection or demographic bottlenecks. It can thus either generate false signatures or mask existing ones.

What makes the study of Romero et al. important is that they not only try to identify biases in genomic data sets but they also suggest a way to identify 'unbiased' data sets. As an example, Romero et al. cite a study by Ray et al. (2005) who tried to infer the region of origin of modern humans using a large single-tandem repeats (STRs) data set and massive spatial simulations. Ray et al. (2005) found that the most likely region of origin was North Africa, a region for which there was no known support from archaeological or anthropological data. Their guess was that a bias similar to that identified by Bowcock et al. (1994) was somehow shifting the centre of origins towards Europe or regions genetically close to Europe. After correcting for this bias, East Africa became the most likely region. Although Ray et al. (2005)'s final result is very sensible, Romero et al. were not fully convinced that the STR markers used were biased in any particular way.
Romero et al.'s results can be divided into three main points. First by comparing three existing genomic data sets, namely 783 STRs, 2834 SNPs and 210 insertion deletion polymorphisms (indels), they showed that there are significant differences between them, and hence not all may properly reflect human neutral diversity. Then, by generating a new set of 16 STR markers in the least biased way possible, they used these new STRs as a benchmark against which the three genomic data sets could be compared. Finally, their comparisons showed that the genomic data set least biased was the STR data that Ray et al. had used.

Does that mean, as the authors claim, that the 783 STR markers 'suffer no discernable bias'? We need here to go back to the selection process followed to generate the 16 STRs. Romero et al. actually started by identifying 70 independent STRs. The difficulty to obtain reliably amplifying loci led to the elimination of 46 loci. Among the 24 remaining loci, eight (one-third) proved to be nearly monomorphic, and were discarded from the rest of the analyses. It is thus fair to ask whether discarding these loci would not affect parameter inference beyond the obvious overestimation of genetic diversity in human populations. In fact, there are good reasons to think that this would create a bias when populations have either gone through a bottleneck or a population expansion, because the very proportion of monomorphic loci is providing us with information on such events as I noted above. This had already been noticed by Beaumont (1999) in a bottlenecked population and has since been confirmed on other real data sets. As a quick test I also performed some simulations (not shown), in which I had a set of 24 loci from which I then selected two sets of 16 loci: one by discarding the eight least variable loci, and the other by discarding eight loci randomly. I found that in an admixture model the admixture proportions did not seem to be biased, whereas in the population size change models the selection of the 16 most variable loci seemed to produce biases for some parameters, but not all. Altogether the previous studies and these (admittedly very limited) simulations thus suggest that even the STRs identified by Romero et al. are likely to produce some biases.

To conclude, Romero et al. have clearly demonstrated that significant problems exist with both indels and SNPs, and they have also shown that the STRs are probably the best loci available today (but see Nielsen et al. (2004) for possible corrections for SNPs). One should probably take with a pinch of salt their claim that their STRs were unbiased or that the biases identified by Ray et al. (2005) were not real. But clearly, Romero et al.'s study is a significant step towards proper population genetics inference.

Rocky Balboa 6 Training scene

2008-10-22T15:13:00.001+05:30

Rocky Balboa 6 Training scene

Tissue sample suggests HIV has been infecting humans for a century

2008-10-03T15:57:00.003+05:30

48-year-old lymph node biopsy reveals the history of the deadly virus.

A biopsy taken from an African woman nearly 50 years ago contains traces of the HIV genome, researchers have found. Analysis of sequences from the newly discovered sample suggests that the virus has been plaguing humans for almost a century.

Although AIDS was not recognized until the 1980s, HIV was infecting humans well before then. Researchers hope that by studying the origin and evolution of HIV, they can learn more about how the virus made the leap from chimpanzees to humans, and work out how best to design a vaccine to fight it.

In 1998, researchers reported the isolation of HIV-1 sequences from a blood sample taken in 1959 from a Bantu male living in Léopoldville1 — now Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Analysis of that sample and others suggested that HIV-1 originates from sometime between 1915 and 19412.

Now, researchers report in Nature that they have uncovered another historic sample, collected in 1960 from a woman who also lived in Léopoldville3

“It's as if you had a nice pearl necklace of DNA and RNA and protein and you clumped it together, drenched it in glue and then dried it out.”

It took evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona in Tucson and his colleagues eight years of searching for suitable tissue collections originating in Africa before they tracked down the 1960 lymph node biopsy at the University of Kinshasa.

Drenched in glue
The samples had all been treated with harsh chemicals, embedded in paraffin wax and left at room temperature for decades. The acidic chemicals had broken the genome up into small fragments. Formalin, a chemical used to prepare samples for microscopy, had crosslinked nucleic acids with protein. "It's as if you had a nice pearl necklace of DNA and RNA and protein and you clumped it together, drenched it in glue and then dried it out," says Worobey.

The team worked out a combination of methods that would allow them to sequence DNA and RNA from the samples; another lab at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, confirmed the results, also finding traces of the HIV-1 genome in the lymph node biopsy.

This photo shows Kinshasa around 1885, shortly after its founding. The growth of Kinshasa and other cities in the region may have been crucial to the emergence of HIV/AIDS.Royal Museum for Central Africa

Using a database of HIV-1 sequences and an estimate of the rate at which these sequences change over time, the researchers modelled when HIV-1 first surfaced. Their results showed that the most likely date for HIV's emergence was about 1908, when Léopoldville was emerging as a centre for trade.

Although that date will not surprise most HIV researchers, the new data should help persuade those who were unconvinced by the 1959 sample, says Beatrice Hahn, an HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The sequences of the 1959 and 1960 samples - the earliest that have ever been found - show a difference of about 12%. "This shows very clearly that there was tremendous variation even then," says Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
A virus ready for its close-up

However, it may never be possible to pinpoint exactly how HIV crossed from chimpanzees into humans, Hahn cautions. She and her collaborators previously tracked the likely source of HIV-1 to chimpanzees living in southeast Cameroon4, hundreds of kilometres from Kinshasa, and it is tempting to hypothesize that trade routes contributed to the virus's infiltration of the city. But even by 1960, HIV-1 had infected only a few thousand Africans. It is unlikely that it will be possible to track down samples from the very earliest victims, Hahn notes.

Meanwhile, Worobey plans to continue his search through old tissue collections in the hope of finding additional samples. In time, he says, it may even be possible to reconstruct the historic HIV viruses for further study.

Collecting information about old strains of HIV — even those that disappeared over time — can help researchers learn how successful strains broke through, says Wain-Hobson. "For every star in Hollywood there are fifty starlets," he says. "We would love to know what it was that caused this strain to move out of starlet phase and to the big time."

Ratan Naval Tata

2008-09-09T11:25:00.000+05:30

Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Mumbai) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, India's largest conglomerate founded by Jamsedji Tata and consolidated and expanded by later generations of his family.
Ratan Naval Tata

Ratan Tata
Born
December 28, 1937 (1937-12-28) (age 70)Mumbai, India
Occupation
Chairman of Tata Group
Spouse(s)
Never married
Children
None
Parents
Naval & Soonoo Tata

In 1971, Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty. Ratan suggested that the company invest in developing high-technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. J.R.D. was reluctant due to the historical financial performance of Nelco which had never even paid regular dividends. Further, Nelco had 2% market share in the consumer electronics market and a loss margin of 40% of sales when Ratan took over. Nonetheless, J. R. D. followed Ratan's suggestions.
From 1972 to 1975, Nelco eventually grew to have a market share of 20%, and recovered its losses. In 1975 however, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, which led to an economic recession. This was followed by union problems in 1977, so even after demand improved, production did not keep up. Finally, the Tatas confronted the unions and, following a strike, a lockout was imposed for seven months. Ratan continued to believe in the fundamental soundness of Nelco, but the venture did not survive.
In 1977, Ratan was entrusted with Empress Mills, a textile mill controlled by the Tatas. When he took charge of the company, it was one of the few sick units in the Tata group. Ratan managed to turn it around and even declared a dividend. However, competition from less labour-intensive enterprises had made a number of companies unviable, including those like the Empress which had large labour contingents and had spent too little on modernisation. On Ratan's insistence, some investment was made, but it did not suffice. As the market for coarse and medium cotton cloth (which was all that the Empress produced) turned adverse, the Empress began to accumulate heavier losses. Bombay House, the Tata headquarters, was unwilling to divert funds from other group companies into an undertaking which would need to be nursed for a long time. So, some Tata directors, chiefly Nani Palkhivala, took the line that the Tatas should liquidate the mill, which was finally closed down in 1986. Ratan was severely disappointed with the decision, and in a later interview with the Hindustan Times would claim that the Empress had needed just Rs 50 lakhs to turn it around.
In 1981, Ratan was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group's other holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses.
In 1991, he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock Market.
Under Ratan's guidance, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica.
On January 31, 2007, under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, Tata Sons successfully acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer. With the acquisition, Ratan Tata became a celebrated personality in Indian corporate business culture. The merger created the fifth largest steel producing entity in the world.

Ratan Tata's dream was to manufacture a car costing Rs 100,000 (1998: approx. US$2,200; today US$2,528). He realized his dream by launching the car in New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008. Three models of the Tata Nano were announced, and Ratan Tata delivered on his commitment to developing a car costing only 1 lakh rupees, adding that "a promise is a promise," referring to his earlier promise to deliver this car at the said cost.Recently when his plant for Nano production was obstructed by Mamta Banerjee(plant was shut down for 2 weeks,its first car for use in the market will be delayed by a couple of weeks), his decision of going out of West Bengal was warmly welcomed.This would affect the image of West Bengal in rest of India and abroad as well.Although, Industrialization in West Bengal is only supported by CM Budhadeb Bhattacharjee.The fianl decision is yet to come.
On March 26, 2008, Tata Motors under Ratan Tata bought over Jaguar & Land Rover from Ford Motor Company. The icons of British Luxury, Jaguar and Land Rover were acquired for £1.15 billion ($2.3 billion).[1]
Contents[hide]
1 Personal life
2 Awards and Recognition
3 External links
4 References
//

[edit] Personal life
Ratan Tata, a shy man, rarely features in the society glossies, has lived for years in a book-crammed, dog-filled bachelor flat in Mumbai's Colaba district.[2]

[edit] Awards and Recognition
On the occasion of India's 50th Republic Day on 26 January 2000, Ratan Tata was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration that may be awarded to a civilian. On 26 January 2008 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration. He was one of the recipients of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards-2008 given away at a ceremony on February 14 2008 in Mumbai. Ratan Tata accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata family. [3][4]
Ratan Tata serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and he is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. In March 2006 Tata was honoured by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, considered the highest honor the university awards to distinguished individuals from the corporate sector.[5]
Ratan Tata's foreign affiliations include membership of the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz Allen Hamilton. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, University of Southern California and of his alma mater, Cornell University.[6][7] He also serves as a board member on the Republic of South Africa's International Investment Council and is an Asia-Pacific advisory committee member for the New York Stock Exchange. Tata is on the board of governors of the East-West Center, the advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy and serves on the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative. In February 2004, Ratan Tata was conferred the title of honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of China.
He recently received an honorary doctorate from the London School of Economics and was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business named by Fortune magazine in November 2007. In May 2008 Mr Tata made it to the Time magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 most Influential people.Tata was hailed for unveiling his tiny Rs. one lakh car 'Nano'.One of Powerfull personalities ever who stood by his promise.
On 29th August 2008, Singapore Government has conferred its honorary citizenship on Ratan Tata, in recognition of his abiding business relationship with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors in Singapore. Ratan Tata is the first Indian to receive the honorary citizenship of Singapore.

How to get rid of problems - Paper On Hinduism (Part VII)

2008-08-23T10:42:00.001+05:30

How to get rid of problems - Paper On Hinduism (Part VII)

Law of Creation - Paper On Hinduism - Part II

2008-08-23T10:39:00.001+05:30

Law of Creation - Paper On Hinduism - Part II

Why should people suffer - Paper On Hinduism (Part III)

2008-08-23T10:35:00.001+05:30

Why should people suffer - Paper On Hinduism (Part III

Bally Sagoo -Ishq Mitha

2008-07-12T10:45:00.001+05:30

Bally Sagoo -Ishq Mitha

Ishq Bina

2008-07-10T15:22:00.001+05:30

Ishq Bina

Sting feat. Cheb Mami - Desert Rose (Original)

2008-07-03T10:25:00.001+05:30

Sting feat. Cheb Mami - Desert Rose (Original)

The Don't Quit Poem

2008-07-02T19:21:00.001+05:30

The Don't Quit Poem

Biotech

2008-07-02T19:09:00.001+05:30

Biotech

Biotechnology: The Invisible Revolution

2008-07-02T19:06:00.001+05:30

Biotechnology: The Invisible Revolution

swami vivekananda

2008-07-02T18:54:00.001+05:30

swami vivekananda

Power and Repose: Swami Vivekananda

2008-07-02T18:52:00.001+05:30

Power and Repose: Swami Vivekananda

Michael Jackson - Heal The World

2008-07-02T18:42:00.001+05:30

Michael Jackson - Heal The World

Cheb Khaled

2008-07-02T18:38:00.001+05:30

DIDI

THE BEE GEES -

2008-07-01T15:52:00.001+05:30

THE BEE GEES -

Papa Kehte hai

2008-07-01T15:30:00.001+05:30

Papa Kehte hai

woh pehli bar

2008-07-01T15:25:00.001+05:30

woh pehli bar

jeena haseena

2008-07-01T15:23:00.001+05:30

jeena haseena

Rocky theme song

2008-06-12T16:54:00.001+05:30

Rocky theme song

Bob Marley Natural Mystic Live

2008-06-12T16:50:00.001+05:30

Bob Marley Natural Mystic Live

Independence Day (ID4) Speech

2008-06-12T15:32:00.001+05:30

Independence Day (ID4) Speech

Customer Focus

2008-06-12T15:29:00.001+05:30

Customer FOCUS

MAN OF MIRACLE DRUGS-DR YELLAPRAGADA SUBBAROW PHOTO GALLERY

2008-06-09T17:02:00.012+05:30

A portrait by Philip Rane

In this humble home

Child bride finances medical education

Swamins of Ramakrishna Order motivate SubbaRow to become a medical doctor

With colleagues who seek cures for modern ailments from ancient Ayurveda

In this Harvard Lab, Dr. SubbaRow discovered ATP

With Colleagues

Stamp out common virus to beat brain cancer

2008-05-26T15:27:00.002+05:30

Cancer experts have suggested a new way to tackle particularly tenacious brain tumours known as glioblastomas. Attacking a common virus often found in these cancers may halt their growth, say researchers.
This technique might provide an alternative to current surgical treatments for glioblastoma, which, because of the tumours' position deep in the brain, carry a significant risk of brain damage.
This strategy may help doctors pursue their preferred tactic of allowing the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells, systematically eradicating them from the brain tissue without harming nearby healthy cells.
Until now it has been impossible for the immune system to distinguish brain tumour cells from healthy cells as they often have the same identifying marker proteins - called antigens - and because brain tumours often suppress immune function.
Delaying tactics
In the new study, oncologist Duane Mitchell at Duke University Medical Center and colleagues build on previous research showing the consistent presence of cytomegalovirus, a type of herpesvirus, in glioblastoma cells but not in surrounding healthy tissue.
Roughly 50-80% of healthy people in the United States are infected with cytomegalovirus, although in healthy people it remains latent. Virus particles multiply to high numbers only in those with compromised immune systems. So Mitchell and his team wondered if they could halt the cancer by guiding the immune system to attack the unique antigens of the virus in glioblastoma cells.
The team took white blood cells from 21 patients, exposed them to parts of the virus, and injected the cells back into the patients. Their preliminary results suggest that this technique is safe and effective.
“Because the immune system kills both the virus and the cell it resides in, we are hoping that we will be able use this vaccine to kill the tumour cells that standard therapy can't reach,” explains Mitchell.
Mitchell and his colleagues will unveil their findings1 on 1 June at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. Although the results are preliminary, tumour progression for those in the trial was delayed by more than a year on average - and several patients had no sign of tumour growth after two years.

The delay in tumour growth using standard therapy is typically six to eight months compared with non-treatment, with average survival of less than 15 months.
Attack is the best form of defence
Nobody is certain whether the virus triggers the cancer or the cancer attracts the virus. But, “the fact that the brain tumour cells create an immunosuppressive environment where the virus can make its home makes a lot of sense,” explains Charles Cobbs at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, who first discovered the association between cytomegalovirus and the tumours.
If the virus is causing the cancer, then destroying it is all the more important. But even if it merely exists side by side with the cancer, “its unique antigens look like the perfect way for the immune system to go about attacking the tumour,” explains Cobbs.

'In business, the name of the game is innovation'

2008-05-18T12:46:00.000+05:30

From a three-man army to a company with four offices in Mumbai itself and over 1,000 employees, the Unisource Group has grown in leaps and bounds in the short span of seven years. This is, in no small way, credited to the vision of its 33-year-old founder Avirat Sonpal.
In an email interview with rediff.com's Shifra Menezes, Avirat talks about how he started off as an entrepreneur and what it takes to make it big.
Tell us a little about your background. I completed my schooling in Greenlawns, Mumbai, and further went on to pursue a degree in Fashion at FIT, USA. For sometime thereon, I ran my own business in the US when I met with Andy Todd, the now President of our affiliate brand, Steve & Barry's, who spoke to me about the core concept that makes Steve & Barry's, which engaged me then, and to date engages me.
My family has been involved in the garment business for four generations, with this common link being the binding force that has brought generations together. Our main line of expertise was primarily textiles and fabrics, and then was later diversified into the garment business as well. Export of fabrics to Africa formed the primary business function.
How did 4004 Incorporated - The Unisource Group come about?In 2001, Steve & Barry's had approximately 10-15 stores across the US. I was in the US pursuing my degree and running my business, where I happened to meet with Andy Todd, the President of Steve & Barry's. The Steve & Barry's concept was extremely challenging, and the philosophy of retailing merchandise at affordable prices was fascinating.
4004 Incorporated - Unisource Group was set up with a three-man army -- two assistants and I, and we began sourcing basic tee-shirts from India and neighbouring countries.
We now have over 1,000 employees, and are procuring merchandise ranging from apparel, footwear and accessories; and performing all allied functions including quality, logistics, design, product development, social compliance, to name a few. We have certainly come a long way since inception and hope to grow a lot more in the near future.
Setting up the Unisource Group from ground level up, was my real first career stint, as I was previously involved in running my own clothing business in New York. I started out my career as an entrepreneur in the beginning stages, and then went on to set up the Unisource Group from infancy, my greatest and proudest achievement yet.
Tell us a bit about the early days of the companyThe Unisource Group now serves as a one-stop resource for sourcing, quality assurance, logistics, merchandising, technical audits, etc right from inception. It wasn't this case from the start.
The small team initially primarily carried out negotiations with our vendors with regards to the pricing and quality of our products, within a 9 am to 8 pm time parity, and I would then have to liaise with our affiliate brand by night, keeping in mind, the time difference factor, which would work out to be an 11 pm to 3 am shift.
The initial years were indeed, a challenge, but the gains from the hard work and sacrifice were more than I hoped for, and so, was worth every minute.
Do you believe in the 'lucky break' factor, or do you believe that an innovative, new idea is all you need to guarantee career success?I do believe that it has to be a combination of both innovation and luck. Innovation forms a core criterion for guaranteeing success in any field, be it business, a specialisation or a trade of any sort.
My strong philosophy is that it is a person's creativity that allows them to stay ahead in the game with groundbreaking ideas and creativity, and it is this crucial factor that defines success.
What kind of challenges have you faced in the course of your career, and how have you learned to deal with it?All companies have challenges of their own to face, and challenges to me, form the spice of life, as real victory is based, not only on how many targets one has managed to achieve, but also on how many challenges one has managed to overcome. One of the primary challenges when the Unisource Group came into being, was putting across the groundbreaking concept that formed the basis of our ideology -- that of affordable pricing keeping in mind high quality -- and educating our business partners on the same.
In the beginning stages of our inception, it was quite a challenge negotiating with our vendors, and getting them to believe in the company as fiercely as I do. Effectively running a business means facing at least one (if not more) challenge a day, and coming to terms with that, and taking away something positive from every challenge has been and still is my key learning.
What do you think is the most common mistake newcomers make? Newcomers today are extremely bright, and the evolving education industry, globalisation, access to information and the worldwide web have made them more aware and informed.
The future generations are very promising, the one concern I have is that youngsters today seem extremely keen and eager to grow very quickly. This may sometimes be a trade-off to enriching one's experience through tenure and time.
Has your success impacted your personal life at all? I do feel like one has to prioritise what's important in one's own life, and in order to achieve great success of any sort, compromise is inevitable. The measure of real success is one where one has mastered the art of balancing both, the personal and professional life.
Once a person has identified what really matters to them, everything else falls into place. I personally do not view 'work' in the sense that most people do, as work to me is about pursuing my passion, so work to me is like pursuing a hobby!
What tips do you have for today's youngsters looking to set up their own company? Other than a good idea, what is required from them?The name of the game for any business to thrive in this day and age is 'innovation'. With the way the world has and is still advancing, competition has never been at a greater high than in current times.
However, it isn't only important having a concept, what is vital is to have knowledge of the industry, competition, and an estimate of the overall expected growth in the industry.
A budding entrepreneur must ideally have a healthy mix of both education and experience and information to make it big, and should be able to creatively combat challenges and hurdles that he would come across in his professional life in as creative a manner as possible.
I also believe that it's important to master your art, and know each and every core aspect of one's business. Knowledge is thus, another important requisite for any leader

Researchers Close in on Origins of Main Ingredient of Alzheimer's Plaques

2008-04-12T09:51:00.002+05:30

The ability of brain cells to take in substances from their surface is essential to the production of a key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned.

The researchers used a drug to shut down the intake process, known as endocytosis, in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The change led to a 70 percent drop in levels of amyloid beta, the protein fragment that clumps together to form Alzheimer's plaques. Importantly, they also found that endocytosis' ability to increase amyloid beta was coupled to normal nerve cell communication called synaptic activity

Blocking endocytosis isn't a viable option for treatment because cells throughout the body, including brain cells, need endocytosis for healthy function," says first author John Cirrito, Ph.D., research instructor in neurology. "But we are starting to understand the origins of amyloid beta in more detail now, and what we’re learning is opening other options we can pursue to seek new treatments for Alzheimer's disease

While endocytosis is necessary for normal function of brain cells, Cirrito and others believe it may accidentally be causing the cells to take in the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which breaks down into amyloid beta. If so, a drug that reduces brain cells' intake of APP may help reduce amyloid beta production.

The results appear in the April 10 issue of Neuron.

Other research had shown previously that endocytosis might be important for amyloid beta production, and that amyloid beta is produced inside brain cells. In 2005, Cirrito and his colleagues linked increased communication between brain cells to higher amyloid beta levels.

Cirrito decided to test both endocytosis and brain cell activity in a coordinated fashion. He used a technique known as microdialysis that he had previously adapted for Alzheimer's research to monitor the results. In addition to allowing repeated sampling of the amyloid beta levels in the brains of live mice, the approach allows him to introduce drugs that reduce endocytosis and alter communication between brain cells.

When researchers gave mice the drug that stopped endocytosis, amyloid beta levels dropped by 70 percent. To see how much normal brain activity contributed to ongoing amyloid beta production in the absence of endocytosis, they then added a second drug that reduced brain cell communication. Amyloid beta levels did not decrease further.

When they reversed the experiment, reducing brain cell communication first, amyloid beta decreased by 60 percent. Adding the drug that stops endocytosis caused an additional small reduction in amyloid beta.

The results show that amyloid beta production requires both brain cell communication and endocytosis, but endocytosis is essential for a slightly larger share of amyloid beta. Basic nerve cell physiology may explain why.

The study focused on synapses, the region where nerve cells transmit messages by releasing chemicals from small compartments near the cell surface. To replenish those compartments, the nerve cell regularly takes them back in through endocytosis. The more active a brain cell is, the more often it has to bring these compartments back into the cell and refill them.

Endocytosis can be messy in that it brings lots of substances into the cell from the membrane it internalizes," Cirrito says. "I think APP may be an innocent bystander in this process -- it just happens to be present on the cell surface when nerve cell communication causes more endocytosis. If there is a functional reason APP has to participate in this process, no one has found it."

Activity isn't the only cause of endocytosis in brain cells. The cells have other reasons for bringing in materials through endocytosis, and this additional intake could account for the small share of amyloid beta production that requires endocytosis but doesn't need brain cell activity.

Cirrito conducted the research in the laboratories of co-senior authors David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the School of Medicine, and neurologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and Steven J. Mennerick, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology and psychiatry.

Researchers already know several proteins on the surfaces of brain cells that bind to APP. They will be conducting follow-up studies to see if blocking these interactions can block APP endocytosis and reduce amyloid beta production.

Protecting a Life-Saving Blood Product from Human Form of Mad Cow Disease

2008-04-12T09:46:00.002+05:30

Amid concern that recipients of certain blood transfusions may risk infection with a deadly protein responsible for the human form of mad cow disease, researchers in Canada now report development of a special filter that quickly and effectively removes the protein from blood.

In addition to causing mad cow disease, these so-called prion proteins cause a variant form of the human neurological disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Termed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), its emergence triggered recent bans on exportation of beef from Europe. Variant CJD also can be transmitted in blood transfusions

“The use of the device will significantly decrease the risk of acquiring vCJD through blood transfusions,” co-author Patrick V. Gurgel, Ph.D., reported at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The device has been approved for use in Europe “and has no competitor at the moment,” said Gurgel.

About the size of a person’s hand, the device contains a specially-designed material that recognizes and binds to prions. “This technology adds a needed layer of protection against the transmission of vCJD through blood transfusion,” said Gurgel, senior research scientist at ProMetic Life Sciences in Mont-Royal, Quebec, Canada. “Our research shows that it works.”

The new filter can remove prions from red blood cell concentrate in less than an hour. Transfusions of red blood cells go to thousands of patients with chronic anemia resulting from kidney failure, cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, and acute blood loss resulting from trauma.

The researchers needed five years to develop the device and are now working on ways to remove prion proteins from other blood components, including plasma and plasma proteins, Gurgel said.

In previous studies, the scientists showed that the device could successfully remove prions from the blood of infected hamsters and that the disinfected blood could be injected into healthy hamsters without causing disease. More recently, the researchers demonstrated that the device can also filter healthy human blood without damaging the red blood cells and other blood components, a finding that demonstrates that the technique is safe for use on human blood, they said.

Human clinical studies using the device, called the P-Capt® Prion Capture Filter, are now underway in Europe, where it has received approval for commercialization, the scientists say. The first commercialization will be in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) and is expected in mid 2008, in an effort to help safeguard blood supplies, Gurgel suggested

Experts believe that vCJD is acquired from eating beef from prion-infected cattle. As in cows, the disease is characterized by a slow destruction of the brain tissue, which results in nerve damage, paralysis, and eventually death. So far, vCJD has killed at least 200 people in Europe alone. Health officials are increasingly concerned that the disease may spread elsewhere, including the United States, through blood transfusions from infected individuals.

There is currently no reliable blood test for detecting the disease or a way of destroying the infectious prion proteins in blood. As a result, blood donation centers in the U.S. have imposed restrictions on blood donations from individuals who have lived in Europe for at least five years, particularly in the UK, where most vCJD cases have occurred.

Promising New Nanotechnology for Spinal Cord...

2008-04-12T09:40:00.002+05:30

Promising New Nanotechnology for Spinal Cord Injury

A spinal cord injury often leads to permanent paralysis and loss of sensation below the site of the injury because the damaged nerve fibers can't regenerate. The nerve fibers or axons have the capacity to grow again, but don’t because they're blocked by scar tissue that develops around the injury.

Northwestern University researchers have shown that a new nano-engineered gel inhibits the formation of scar tissue at the injury site and enables the severed spinal cord fibers to regenerate and grow. The gel is injected as a liquid into the spinal cord and self -assembles into a scaffold that supports the new nerve fibers as they grow up and down the spinal cord, penetrating the site of the injury.

When the gel was injected into mice with a spinal cord injury, after six weeks the animals had a greatly enhanced ability to use their hind legs and walk.

The research is published today in the April 2 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"We are very excited about this," said lead author John Kessler, M.D., Davee Professor of Stem Cell Biology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "We can inject this without damaging the tissue. It has great potential for treating human beings.

"Kessler stressed caution, however, in interpreting the results. "It's important to understand that something that works in mice will not necessarily work in human beings. At this point in time we have no information about whether this would work in human beings."

"There is no magic bullet or one single thing that solves the spinal cord injury, but this gives us a brand new technology to be able to think about treating this disorder," said Kessler, also the chair of the Davee Department of Neurology at the Feinberg School. "It could be used in combination with other technologies including stem cells, drugs or other kinds of interventions."

“We designed our self-assembling nanostructures -- the building blocks of the gel -- to promote neuron growth,” said co-author Samuel I. Stupp, Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, and Medicine and director of Northwestern’s Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. “To actually see the regeneration of axons in the spinal cord after injury is a fascinating outcome.

”The nano-engineered gel works in several ways to support the regeneration of spinal cord nerve fibers. In addition to reducing the formation of scar tissue, it also instructs the stem cells --which would normally form scar tissue -- to instead to produce a helpful new cell that makes myelin. Myelin is a substance that sheaths the axons of the spinal cord to permit the rapid transmission of nerve impulses.

The gel's scaffolding also supports the growth of the axons in two critical directions -- up the spinal cord to the brain (the sensory axons) and down to the legs (the motor axons.) "Not everybody realizes you have to grow the fibers up the spinal cord so you can feel where the floor is. If you can't feel where the floor is with your feet, you can't walk," Kessler said.

Now Northwestern researchers are working on developing the nano-engineered gel to be acceptable as a pharmaceutical for the Food & Drug Administration.

If the gel is approved for humans, a clinical trial could begin in several years.

"It's a long way from helping a rodent to walk again and helping a human being walk again," Kessler stressed again. "People should never lose sight of that. But this is still exciting because it gives us a new technology for treating spinal cord injury."

Drug makers chase cancer stem cells

2008-04-12T09:17:00.001+05:30

As evidence implicating stem cells in cancer mounts, drug makers are taking notice. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in December formed a strategic alliance worth up to $1.4 billion with OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, of Redwood City, California. The deal gives GSK an option to license four of OncoMed's antibody candidates developed to target cancer stem cells, one of which is scheduled to enter clinical trials in June.

The GSK-OncoMed pact is the first major deal focused on cancer stem cell R&D, which is undergoing explosive growth. John Bates, the director of Biopharm Reports, in Cambridge, UK, says the number of companies devoted to this research has grown from 17 in April 2007 to nearly 40 today. What's more, patents covering developments in cancer stem cells doubled to about 70 in 2007, he adds. The problem is that not everyone even believes that targeting cancer stem cells will yield therapeutic benefits.

George Schreiner, CEO with Raven Biotechnologies in San Francisco, attributes the burst of commercial interest to recent evidence of cancer stem cells in solid tumors. Scientists have suspected since the 1950s that the cells play a role in blood tumors, such as acute myeloid leukemia, but their existence in solid tumors became evident only in 2003. That's when Michael Clarke, currently associate director of Stanford University's Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, and his then post-doc, Mohamed Al-Hajj, claimed to find cancer stem cells in breast tumors. The cells had two markers that are now synonymous with cancer stem cells: high expression of the antigen CD44 and low expression of antigen CD24. Isolated on the basis of these markers, the human cells were cultured and introduced into immunocompromised mice. Clarke and Al-Hajj found that only a few of the cells could spawn aggressive, metastatic tumors in the animals. Those findings bolstered a theory that solid tumors arise from a small population of cancer stem cells that, like normal stem cells, have the capacity for self-renewal. Clarke and his colleague Max Wicha, the director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, founded OncoMed to pursue clinical opportunities in cancer stem cells in 2004. They now sit on the company's scientific advisory board.

Findings in other laboratories have since suggested cancer stem cells exist in various tumors, including those of the brain, head and neck, prostate, and colon. Scientists further postulate that cancer stem cells resist current drug therapies and repair DNA after radiation treatment more efficiently than their differentiated, daughter cells. That explains why solid tumors often recur after treatment, Schreiner explains. "What happens is the stem cells survive and repopulate to form a new tumor," he says. "And because they transmit their resistance to daughter cells, the new tumors are much harder to treat." Some researchers now believe the only way to cure cancer is by killing the stem cells that give rise to it.

OncoMed is one of a handful of companies preparing to test compounds against cancer stem cells in the clinic. In the GSK deal, OncoMed receives an undisclosed, up-front payment in cash and equity investment, with $1.4 billion more tied to achieving milestones. Royalties on product sales would follow. OncoMed's lead candidate, a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) OMP-21M18, targets "a cancer stem cell pathway with broad applicability across multiple solid tumors," says Paul Hastings, the company's CEO.

Other companies preparing for clinical trials this year include Arius Research in Toronto, whose lead humanized IgG1 mAb targets a variant form of CD44 found in leukemia, breast, colon and prostate cancer cells. Also, Raven Biotechnologies has two mAbs in preclinical development: RAV17 (which targets the pancreatic assigned tumor marker PAN), which Schreiner says targets prostate as well as pancreatic cancer cells, and RAV18 (which targets ADAM-9), for colon and lung cancer. Raven is now preparing to merge with VaxGen, a San Francisco-based vaccine manufacturer, picking up needed cash reserves from a company with a depleted pipeline but plenty of manufacturing assets. Reflecting a broader trend in cancer drug development, most compounds targeting cancer stem cells are monoclonal antibodies, Bates says (see Table 1). MAbs predominate because they target antigens on the cell surface rather than processes inside the cell as small molecules do.

The chief safety concern with targeting cancer stem cells, Clarke warns, is that these mAbs might also attack normal stem cells that replenish damaged tissues. "The main thing is to ensure that we eliminate the malignant cancer stem cells only without affecting the normal stem cells," he says. "Whether we'll be able to do this is the billion dollar question that everyone wants to answer."

Meanwhile, as commercial entities grow up around it, skeptics question the validity of targeting cancer stem cells. Current thinking holds that a tiny population of stem cells can explain why cancers recur even when existing treatments kill off up to 99% of a given tumor. According to Bert Volgestein, a professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, tumors can be completely eradicated only if those small—and presumably drug-resistant—stem cell fractions are destroyed.

The tumor fraction contributed by stem cells ranges from a low of 0.1% to a high of 40%, and some reports have described tumors made entirely of stem cells. But Vogelstein also admits that if a tumor containing a large fraction of stem cells were almost completely eliminated by treatment, this would undermine the logic of targeting stem cells as the last, drug-resistant holdouts from which aggressive metastatic tumors would likely emerge refractive to treatment.
GSK's interest in OncoMed comes from a desperation "to tap into oncology space, an area in which it is particularly weak," says Sho Matsubara, an analyst with London-based Standard and Poor's Equity Research Division. Also, GSK's sales are assumed to decline in coming years, due to generic competition (Matsubara estimates a 7% drop annually for the next five years). It does have a compound of its own that may have shrunk breast tumors by attacking cancer stem cells. According to evidence described at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 17, six weeks' treatment with GSK's Tyverb (lapatinib), a small molecule used in conjunction with Xeloda (capecitabine) for late-stage breast cancer, slashed the number of stem cells by more than half among 30 women studied. Two-thirds of the women were reportedly cancer-free after follow-up treatment.

But others remain cautious as, in some instances, claims pointing to the existence of cancer stem cells have turned out to be wrong upon closer inspection. "More studies are needed to confirm that cancer stem cells were in fact targeted by Tyverb," Bates notes. "We need further evidence to show that cancer stem cells in humans have been fully characterized. And we need ways to demonstrate that a particular subpopulation of cells has been reduced by treatment," he notes.
Ultimately, the best evidence will come from more studies that show killing cancer stem cells improves patient survival, Bates says. For fast-moving cancers such as pancreatic tumors, the evidence may come sooner. In the case of slow-moving cancers, such as prostate, accumulating the necessary evidence could take more time, he points out.

'To dream big has always been my motto': CEO at 27

2008-03-17T16:32:00.001+05:30

Very few people can boast of achievements that M Thiagarajan, the 29-year-old promoter, chief executive officer and managing director of Chennai-based Paramount Airways notched so early in his life.

At 27, on October 19, 2005 to be precise, he launched India's first and only 'business class' airline Paramount Airways. Before that he had set up Paramount Mills in Madurai when he was dabbling in business management.
Apart from that he is an avid stargazer and a hobby pilot. In fact, an interesting incident inside a flight simulator in Frankfurt sparked Thiagarajan's passion for aviation.

"A pilot friend of mine had invited me to view his 747 Jumbo Jet flight simulator in Frankfurt. I was seated in the simulator and my friend was called away. I began to idly press the buttons and fidget with the controls. I created enough chaos to bring the flight instructor running!" said he in an e-mailed interview with rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore. That incident played a crucial role in Thiagarajan turning into an aviator.

Despite coming from an illustrious family -- his grandfather Sri Karumuttu Thiagaraja Chettiar, a reputed name in the field of textiles and education founded Bank of Madura which has now merged with ICICI Bank -- this gutsy aviator says that he believes in functioning independently of the family connections. "I believe that one needs to blaze one's own path in life."
And that he has done time and again to prove his point. When most entrepreneurs thought of starting low-cost airlines like Air Deccan and Spice Jet, Thiagarajan purchased the next-generation aircraft from Embraer to give travellers an 'Elite flying experience'.

The other feather in the cap of this 29-year-old is that Paramount succeeded in making operational profits within two years of its existence and boasts of an attrition rate of employees of zero per cent.

Very soon Paramount will spread its wingspan across India � currently it services only the southern sector � for the company is in the process of buying 40 more Embraer jets.

How did it all begin? Who and what inspired you to start an airline business? You had also started Paramount Mills before starting the airlines business.

What made you venture into the airline business?
I've always been fascinated by aviation and astronomy. Stargazing is a hobby and the wide expanse of the skies has always captivated me. My first encounter with aviation began when I was holidaying in Germany [Images], many years ago.

A pilot friend of mine had invited me to view his 747 Jumbo Jet flight simulator in Frankfurt. I was seated in the simulator and my friend was called away. I began to idly press the buttons and fidget with the controls. I created enough chaos to bring the flight instructor running!

But the incident, humourous though it was, sparked a very real passion for aviation. After that I started taking the pilot in me seriously and joined the flying school near London .When the instructor there asked me to fly a Cessna, I told him I only flew 747s. It was an amazing feeling to become a full-fledged pilot with a license to fly!

At 26, I wanted to nurture my passion further taking advantage of the Open Skies policy in India, I decided to set up Paramount Airways. To dream big has always been my motto and it was my desire to create an organisation that would reflect excellence and give me an opportunity to set up a global brand.
By then, I had already established my own textile mills -- Paramount Mills in Madurai, which won a national award for the highest export of cotton products from the Textile Export Promotion Council Of India. My journey while establishing Paramount Mills began even as I was graduating in management.
Having decided to venture into the civil aviation sector I started to assiduously research the various existing business models of international airline companies. This was to primarily understand the trend that was ingrained in commercial aviation. I soon realised that I didn't want to imitate any model.
I knew Paramount had to be unique; a model created to bring out the true joy of flying, to cherish and celebrate the experience of air travel. Paramount Airways is a 'High Value Carrier' -- one that gives you the best comfort in the skies at the best possible price, affording you true value for money and a flying experience that has no parallel.

You come from a very illustrious family. Did that help you when you launched Paramount Airways?
We're a very traditional family with three generations of involvement in the textile industry. My grandfather, Sri Karumuttu Thiagaraja Chettiar was a doyen in the field of textiles who founded several educational institutes and the former Bank of Madura which has now merged with ICICI Bank.
The family is rooted in ethical and traditional values, which include teetotalism and vegetarianism. I have a great passion for literature. As for my educational qualifications, I'm a business management graduate and a qualified hobby pilot.
My grandfather was an industrialist and philanthropist who had made great strides in business and education. He has always been my inspiration. However, I have always functioned independently of the family business; I believe that one needs to blaze one's own path in life.

Are there any advantages/disadvantages of starting an airline business at such an early age?
It is my firm belief that age is never a stumbling block as long as your vision is clear and your commitment to your goals is always your top priority.

Did you start this business on your own? What was the reaction of your family when you started this business?
Yes, Paramount Airways is my brainchild. My family has always been very supportive of the venture. Perhaps my family was a tad surprised that I was seriously considering another venture apart from textiles, over which the family has had a strong hold for generations.

What distinguishes your style of operations from the rest in the space? Who are your competitors?
Paramount Airways, translated literally means the pinnacle or the highest summit -- the peak of excellence.
Paramount Airways is a growing aspirational brand designed with the comfort of the traveller in mind. Our flight pattern is such that there is a convenient flight all through the day to all the sectors we fly. The day return flights have been well received by the business traveller as a great advantage. So we have been able to put together an innovative package of services and offer value based excellence to the discerning flyer.

This has fired the imagination of the customer who is value driven and appreciates a good brand when he sees one. We have differentiated ourselves as a value-based airline in terms of customer-orientation and have been categorised as a 'High Value Carrier' -- a model that is now being followed by other airlines across the world.

Can you share with us the secret behind Paramount Airways making operational profits with only two years into operations when other big airlines struggle to do it?
Dreaming big, a clear vision and sheer hard work makes the impossible, the often untried, happen!

How do you manage an attrition rate of zero per cent at Paramount Airways?
Quite simply -- we provide an excellent environment that nurtures and supports employees at all levels.
We have structured and well managed training programs, which, as a continuous improvement practice, is a great motivator and engages the employees while on the job. Apart from this, we involve each department in leisure pursuits outside of the office, in order for them to bond better and de-stress.

We also have established clear career paths bringing in technology and best international practices in our processes and systems. Our functional heads in key areas have international exposure, having run global airlines. All this, in addition to the right attitude in addressing employee related issues has minimised our attrition.

We also have specific employee recognition programs and send letters of commendation to those who excel at their tasks.

If somebody has to join Paramount Airways, what are the skills/qualities that you look out for in your potential staff?
I essentially look for the qualities of a winner -- someone who deeply believes in the company's ideals, would be willing to go that extra mile and are completely committed. We basically look for dynamic, creatively inspired individuals. Experience takes a back seat to attitude.

Any important message for young entrepreneurs who'd also want to make it big in life like you did?
My message to young entrepreneurs and readers is this -- persevere endlessly while believing in yourself and your dreams. Nurture your strength of mind and your power of conviction, while exploring our rich heritage and traditional roots. Live life to the fullest and contentment will always be yours!
What are your plans to make Paramount Airways the best airline in India/World?
Right now, the focus is on nurturing and further enhancing our loyal client base, providing as much of value as we can to the entire experience of flying to our 'Elite Travellers'.
I'm happy that Paramount has achieved global recognition for its unique model and has clearly established a leadership position in the Southern skies where we fly with a 26 per cent market share. What I am really proud of is the fact that Paramount through its unique offering and value-based service excellence has redefined airline travel in the country.

Concepts such as 'fine dining in the sky' with a four-course meal served in opulence and style on our aircraft and other fringe benefits such as valet service, 30 kgs baggage allowance (which is the highest when compared to the economy classes of other airlines), no cramped middle seats, the highest cabin crew per passenger ratio in the world on domestic sectors -- all translates into exceptional comfort and value.

Whether it is the gilded crockery or the linen serviette or the personal warm attention that our cabin crew gives to every passenger, our goal is to pamper our passengers. Every service we provide has been carefully tailor made for this. We take special care to ensure that our signature cuisine is created especially to suit our different clientele's tastes in various sectors that we fly.

A lot of care and effort has gone into seeing that a Paramount experience is a personal experience. We remain the first airline in the world to introduce an 'All Business Class' service bringing in quality differentiation in the basic offering itself. I have often heard people say that flying in a Paramount is akin to flying a corporate jet.

All this is a reflection of the business model that we arrived at after intensive research to understand the psyche of the typical passenger in the flying sector, his need for luxury, comfort and good service, the various business practices in the industry, even at the international level. Today we have largely succeeded in getting the discerning passenger to look at Paramount seriously primarily because of the fact that we are differentiated from the rest and appeal to his sense of belonging.

We have created a product that is aligned with the passengers' beliefs on moving up the ladder as per Maslow's theory of needs. With quality-edge and premium positioning we would like to establish our brand wherever we operate.
Winning the International Arch of Europe Award in the Gold Category in Frankfurt in February 2007 has helped reaffirm our goals. When I received the award from Mr Jose. E.Prieto, Executive President and CEO of the Business Initiatives Directions, he said and I quote "The awarded companies are symbols of commitment to leadership, technology and innovation which make them models for other companies in their sectors."

While the industry was focusing only on Airbus and Boeing we were the first to introduce the next-generation aircraft from Embraer which fly-by-wire. While giving the air-traveller a completely new experience we also made sure of our operational efficiency through this highly fuel efficient jets.

As for our future goals, we would like to saturate and consolidate our leadership position in the south and then get into the western India market which should happen shortly. We shall adopt the same strategy connecting Tier II and Tier III cities with the hub expanding and penetrating the market where possible.
We are in the process of acquiring 40 more Embraer jets over a period of time till 2011. Once we saturate and establish leadership in the western market we aim to have a National footprint by 2011.

Could A Nanotube-based Drug Prevent Radiation Injury

2008-02-01T17:42:00.000+05:30

The Department of Defense has commissioned a nine-month study from Rice University chemists and scientists in the Texas Medical Center to determine whether a new drug based on carbon nanotubes can help prevent people from dying of acute radiation injury following radiation exposure. The new study was commissioned after preliminary tests found the drug was greater than 5,000 times more effective at reducing the effects of acute radiation injury than the most effective drugs currently available.

"More than half of those who suffer acute radiation injury die within 30 days, not from the initial radioactive particles themselves but from the devastation they cause in the immune system, the gastrointestinal tract and other parts of the body," said James Tour, Rice's Chao Professor of Chemistry, director of Rice's Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory (CNL) and principal investigator on the grant. "Ideally, we'd like to develop a drug that can be administered within 12 hours of exposure and prevent deaths from what are currently fatal exposure doses of ionizing radiation."

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Tour and co-principal investigators J. Conyers and Valerie Moore at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT-Houston) and Luka Milas, Kathy Mason and Jeffrey Myers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center a $540,000 grant for a nine-month study of an experimental drug that the investigators have named Nanovector Trojan Horses (NTH).
NTH is made at Rice's Chemistry Department and Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory in the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. The drug is based on single-walled carbon nanotubes, hollow cylinders of pure carbon that are about as wide as a strand of DNA. To form NTH, Rice scientists coat nanotubes with two common food preservatives -- the antioxidant compounds butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) -- and derivatives of those compounds.

"The same properties that make BHA and BHT good food preservatives, namely their ability to scavenge free radicals, also make them good candidates for mitigating the biological affects that are induced through the initial ionizing radiation event," Tour said.

In preliminary tests at M.D. Anderson in July 2007, mice showed enhanced protection when exposed to lethal doses of ionizing radiation when they were given first-generation NTH drugs prior to exposure.

"Our preliminary results are remarkable, and that's why DARPA awarded us this grant with a very compressed timeline for delivery: nine months, which is almost unheard of for an academic study of this type," Tour said. "They are very interested in finding out whether this will work in a post-exposure delivery, and they don't want to waste any time."

Ionizing radiation is any form of radioactive particle or energy that converts an atom or molecule into an ion by altering the balance between the number of protons and electrons. In living organisms, ionization often results in the creation of free radicals -- highly reactive molecules that can wreak havoc by disrupting healthy physiological processes. These free radicals induce a cascade of deleterious biological events that cause further destruction to the organism in the days and weeks after initial radiation exposure event. NTH is designed to terminate the destructive biological cascade.

Tour said the researchers are also interested in finding out whether the new drugs can prevent the unwanted side effects that cancer patients suffer after undergoing radiation therapy.

RT-PCR: The Basics

2008-01-29T12:54:00.000+05:30

RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) is the most sensitive technique for mRNA detection and quantitation currently available. Compared to the two other commonly used techniques for quantifying mRNA levels, Northern blot analysis and RNase protection assay, RT-PCR can be used to quantify mRNA levels from much smaller samples. In fact, this technique is sensitive enough to enable quantitation of RNA from a single cell.

This article first discusses the advantages of real-time RT-PCR compared to end-point methods. This discussion is followed by a description of the different methods for quantitating gene expression by real-time RT-PCR with respect to the different chemistries available, the quantitation methods used and the instrumentation options available. Subsequently, the “traditional” methods of quantitating gene expression by RT-PCR, i.e. end-point techniques, are presented.

Why Real-Time RT-PCR?
Over the last several years, the development of novel chemistries and instrumentation platforms enabling detection of PCR products on a real-time basis has led to widespread adoption of real-time RT-PCR as the method of choice for quantitating changes in gene expression. Furthermore, real-time RT-PCR has become the preferred method for validating results obtained from array analyses and other techniques that evaluate gene expression changes on a global scale.To truly appreciate the benefits of real-time PCR, a review of PCR fundamentals is necessary.

At the start of a PCR reaction, reagents are in excess, template and product are at low enough concentrations that product renaturation does not compete with primer binding, and amplification proceeds at a constant, exponential rate. The point at which the reaction rate ceases to be exponential and enters a linear phase of amplification is extremely variable, even among replicate samples, but it appears to be primarily due to product renaturation competing with primer binding (since adding more reagents or enzyme has little effect). At some later cycle the amplification rate drops to near zero (plateaus), and little more product is made. For the sake of accuracy and precision, it is necessary to collect quantitative data at a point in which every sample is in the exponential phase of amplification (since it is only in this phase that amplification is extremely reproducible). Analysis of reactions during exponential phase at a given cycle number should theoretically provide several orders of magnitude of dynamic range. Rare targets will probably be below the limit of detection, while abundant targets will be past the exponential phase. In practice, a dynamic range of 2-3 logs can be quantitated during end-point relative RT-PCR. In order to extend this range, replicate reactions may be performed for a greater or lesser number of cycles, so that all of the samples can be analyzed in the exponential phase. Real-time PCR automates this otherwise laborious process by quantitating reaction products for each sample in every cycle.

The result is an amazingly broad 107-fold dynamic range, with no user intervention or replicates required. Data analysis, including standard curve generation and copy number calculation, is performed automatically. With increasing numbers of labs and core facilities acquiring the instrumentation required for real-time analysis, this technique is becoming the dominant RT-PCR-based quantitation technique.Real-Time PCR ChemistriesCurrently four different chemistries, TaqMan® (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), Molecular Beacons, Scorpions® and SYBR® Green (Molecular Probes), are available for real-time PCR. All of these chemistries allow detection of PCR products via the generation of a fluorescent signal. TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons and Scorpions depend on Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) to generate the fluorescence signal via the coupling of a fluorogenic dye molecule and a quencher moeity to the same or different oligonucleotide substrates. SYBR Green is a fluorogenic dye that exhibits little fluorescence when in solution, but emits a strong fluorescent signal upon binding to double-stranded DNA.TaqMan ProbesTaqMan probes depend on the 5'- nuclease activity of the DNA polymerase used for PCR to hydrolyze an oligonucleotide that is hybridized to the target amplicon. TaqMan probes are oligonucleotides that have a fluorescent reporter dye attached to the 5' end and a quencher moeity coupled to the 3' end.

These probes are designed to hybridize to an internal region of a PCR product. In the unhybridized state, the proximity of the fluor and the quench molecules prevents the detection of fluorescent signal from the probe. During PCR, when the polymerase replicates a template on which a TaqMan probe is bound, the 5'- nuclease activity of the polymerase cleaves the probe. This decouples the fluorescent and quenching dyes and FRET no longer occurs. Thus, fluorescence increases in each cycle, proportional to the amount of probe cleavageWell-designed TaqMan probes require very little optimization. In addition, they can be used for multiplex assays by designing each probe with a spectrally unique fluor/quench pair. However, TaqMan probes can be expensive to synthesize, with a separate probe needed for each mRNA target being analyzed.Molecular BeaconsLike TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons also use FRET to detect and quantitate the synthesized PCR product via a fluor coupled to the 5' end and a quench attached to the 3' end of an oligonucleotide substrate. Unlike TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons are designed to remain intact during the amplification reaction, and must rebind to target in every cycle for signal measurement. Molecular Beacons form a stem-loop structure when free in solution.

Thus, the close proximity of the fluor and quench molecules prevents the probe from fluorescing. When a Molecular Beacon hybridizes to a target, the fluorescent dye and quencher are separated, FRET does not occur, and the fluorescent dye emits light upon irradiation. Molecular Beacons, like TaqMan probes, can be used for multiplex assays by using spectrally separated fluor/quench moieties on each probe. As with TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons can be expensive to synthesize, with a separate probe required for each target.ScorpionsWith Scorpion probes, sequence-specific priming and PCR product detection is achieved using a single oligonucleotide. The Scorpion probe maintains a stem-loop configuration in the unhybridized state. The fluorophore is attached to the 5' end and is quenched by a moiety coupled to the 3' end. The 3' portion of the stem also contains sequence that is complementary to the extension product of the primer. This sequence is linked to the 5' end of a specific primer via a non-amplifiable monomer. After extension of the Scorpion primer, the specific probe sequence is able to bind to its complement within the extended amplicon thus opening up the hairpin loop. This prevents the fluorescence from being quenched and a signal is observed. SYBR GreenSYBR Green provides the simplest and most economical format for detecting and quantitating PCR products in real-time reactions. SYBR Green binds double-stranded DNA, and upon excitation emits light. Thus, as a PCR product accumulates, fluorescence increases.

The advantages of SYBR Green are that it is inexpensive, easy to use, and sensitive. The disadvantage is that SYBR Green will bind to any double-stranded DNA in the reaction, including primer-dimers and other non-specific reaction products, which results in an overestimation of the target concentration. For single PCR product reactions with well designed primers, SYBR Green can work extremely well, with spurious non-specific background only showing up in very late cycles.SYBR Green is the most economical choice for real-time PCR product detection. Since the dye binds to double-stranded DNA, there is no need to design a probe for any particular target being analyzed. However, detection by SYBR Green requires extensive optimization. Since the dye cannot distinguish between specific and non-specific product accumulated during PCR, follow up assays are needed to validate results.Real-time Reporters for Multiplex PCR TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons and Scorpions allow multiple DNA species to be measured in the same sample (multiplex PCR), since fluorescent dyes with different emission spectra may be attached to the different probes. Multiplex PCR allows internal controls to be co-amplified and permits allele discrimination in single-tube, homogeneous assays.

These hybridization probes afford a level of discrimination impossible to obtain with SYBR Green, since they will only hybridize to true targets in a PCR and not to primer-dimers or other spurious products. Quantitation of ResultsTwo strategies are commonly employed to quantify the results obtained by real-time RT-PCR; the standard curve method and the comparative threshold method. These are discussed briefly below.Standard Curve MethodIn this method, a standard curve is first constructed from an RNA of known concentration. This curve is then used as a reference standard for extrapolating quantitative information for mRNA targets of unknown concentrations. Though RNA standards can be used, their stability can be a source of variability in the final analyses. In addition, using RNA standards would involve the construction of cDNA plasmids that have to be in vitro transcribed into the RNA standards and accurately quantitated, a time-consuming process. However, the use of absolutely quantitated RNA standards will help generate absolute copy number data. In addition to RNA, other nucleic acid samples can be used to construct the standard curve, including purified plasmid dsDNA, in vitro generated ssDNA or any cDNA sample expressing the target gene. Spectrophotometric measurements at 260 nm can be used to assess the concentration of these DNAs, which can then be converted to a copy number value based on the molecular weight of the sample used. cDNA plasmids are the preferred standards for standard curve quantitation. However, since cDNA plasmids will not control for variations in the efficiency of the reverse transcription step, this method will only yield information on relative changes in mRNA expression.

This, and variation introduced due to variable RNA inputs, can be corrected by normalization to a housekeeping gene.Comparative Ct Method Another quantitation approach is termed the comparative Ct method. This involves comparing the Ct values of the samples of interest with a control or calibrator such as a non-treated sample or RNA from normal tissue. The Ct values of both the calibrator and the samples of interest are normalized to an appropriate endogenous housekeeping gene. The comparative Ct method is also known as the 2–[delta][delta]Ct method, where [delta][delta]Ct = [delta]Ct,sample - [delta]Ct,referenceHere, [delta]CT,sample is the Ct value for any sample normalized to the endogenous housekeeping gene and [delta]Ct, reference is the Ct value for the calibrator also normalized to the endogenous housekeeping gene.For the [delta][delta]Ct calculation to be valid, the amplification efficiencies of the target and the endogenous reference must be approximately equal. This can be established by looking at how [delta]Ct varies with template dilution. If the plot of cDNA dilution versus delta Ct is close to zero, it implies that the efficiences of the target and housekeeping genes are very similar. If a housekeeping gene cannot be found whose amplification efficiency is similar to the target, then the standard curve method is preferred.Instrumentation for Real-Time PCR Real-time PCR requires an instrumentation platform that consists of a thermal cycler, a computer, optics for fluorescence excitation and emission collection, and data acquisition and analysis software. These machines, available from several manufacturers, differ in sample capacity (some are 96-well standard format, others process fewer samples or require specialized glass capillary tubes), method of excitation (some use lasers, others broad spectrum light sources with tunable filters), and overall sensitivity. There are also platform-specific differences in how the software processes data.

Real-time PCR machines are not inexpensive, currently about $25K - $95K, but are well within purchasing reach of core facilities or labs that have the need for high throughput quantitative analysis. For a comprehensive list of real-time thermal cyclers please see the weblink at the end of this article.Tools for Real-Time RT-PCRAmbion’s MessageSensor™ RT Kit includes an RNase H+ MMLV RT that clearly outperforms MMLV RT enzymes that have abolished RNase H activity in real-time RT-PCR experiments. Unlike many other qRT-PCR kits, MessageSensor includes a total RNA control, a control human GAPDH primer set, RNase inhibitor, and nucleotides, as well as a buffer additive that enables detection with SYBR® Green dye. The Cells-to-cDNA™ II Kit produces cDNA from cultured mammalian cells in less than 2 hours. No RNA isolation is required. This kit is ideal for those who want to perform reverse transcription reactions on small numbers of cells, numerous cell samples, or for scientists who are unfamiliar with RNA isolation. Ambion's Cells-to-cDNA II Kit contains a novel Cell Lysis Buffer that inactivates endogenous RNases without compromising downstream enzymatic reactions. After inactivation of RNases, the cell lysate can be directly added to a cDNA synthesis reaction. Cells-to-cDNA II is compatible with both one-step and two-step real-time RT-PCR protocols.Genomic DNA contamination can lead to false positive RT-PCR results. Ambion offers a variety of tools for eliminating genomic DNA contamination from RNA samples prior to RT-PCR.

Ambion’s DNA-free™ DNase Treatment and Removal Reagents are designed for removing contaminating DNA from RNA samples and for the removal of DNase after treatment without Proteinase K treatment and organic extraction. In addition, Ambion has also developed TURBO™ DNase, a hyperactive enzyme engineered from wild-type bovine DNase. The proficiency of TURBO DNase in binding very low concentrations of DNA means that the enzyme is particularly effective in removing trace quantities of DNA contamination.Ambion now also offers an economical alternative to the high cost of PCR reagents for the ABI 7700 and other 0.2 ml tube-based real-time instruments. SuperTaq™ Real-Time performs as well or better than the more expensive alternatives, and includes dNTPs and a Reaction Buffer optimized for SYBR Green, TaqMan, and Molecular Beacon chemistries.End-Point RT-PCR: Relative vs. Competitive vs. Comparative In spite of the rapid advances made in the area of real-time PCR detection chemistries and instrumentation, end-point RT-PCR still remains a very commonly used technique for measuring changes in gene-expression in small sample numbers.

End-point RT-PCR can be used to measure changes in expression levels using three different methods: relative, competitive and comparative. The most commonly used procedures for quantitating end-point RT-PCR results rely on detecting a fluorescent dye such as ethidium bromide, or quantitation of P32-labeled PCR product by a phosphorimager or, to a lesser extent, by scintillation counting.Relative quantitation compares transcript abundance across multiple samples, using a co-amplified internal control for sample normalization. Results are expressed as ratios of the gene-specific signal to the internal control signal.

This yields a corrected relative value for the gene-specific product in each sample. These values may be compared between samples for an estimate of the relative expression of target RNA in the samples; for example, 2.5-fold more IL-12 in sample 2 than in sample 1. Absolute quantitation, using competitive RT-PCR, measures the absolute amount (e.g., 5.3 x 105 copies) of a specific mRNA sequence in a sample. Dilutions of a synthetic RNA (identical in sequence, but slightly shorter than the endogenous target) are added to sample RNA replicates and are co-amplified with the endogenous target. The PCR product from the endogenous transcript is then compared to the concentration curve created by the synthetic "competitor RNA." Comparative RT-PCR mimics competitive RT-PCR in that target message from each RNA sample competes for amplification reagents within a single reaction, making the technique reliably quantitative. Because the cDNA from both samples have the same PCR primer binding site, one sample acts as a competitor for the other, making it unnecessary to synthesize a competitor RNA sequence.Both relative and competitive RT-PCR quantitation techniques require pilot experiments. In the case of relative RT-PCR, pilot experiments include selection of a quantitation method and determination of the exponential range of amplification for each mRNA under study.

For competitive RT-PCR, a synthetic RNA competitor transcript must be synthesized and used in pilot experiments to determine the appropriate range for the standard curve. Comparative RT-PCR yields similar sensitivity as relative and competitive RT-PCR, but requires significantly less optimization and does not require synthesis of a competitor.Relative RT-PCR Relative RT-PCR uses primers for an internal control that are multiplexed in the same RT-PCR reaction with the gene specific primers. Internal control and gene-specific primers must be compatible — that is, they must not produce additional bands or hybridize to each other. The expression of the internal control should be constant across all samples being analyzed. Then the signal from the internal control can be used to normalize sample data to account for tube-to-tube differences caused by variable RNA quality or RT efficiency, inaccurate quantitation or pipetting. Common internal controls include ß-actin and GAPDH mRNAs and 18S rRNA. Unlike Northerns and nuclease protection assays, where an internal control probe is simply added to the experiment, the use of internal controls in relative RT-PCR requires substantial optimization. For relative RT-PCR data to be meaningful, the PCR reaction must be terminated when the products from both the internal control and the gene of interest are detectable and are being amplified within exponential phase (see Determining Exponential Range in PCR).

Because internal control RNAs are typically constituitively expressed housekeeping genes of high abundance, their amplification surpasses exponential phase with very few PCR cycles. It is therefore difficult to identify compatible exponential phase conditions where the PCR product from a rare message is detectable. Detection methods with low sensitivity, like ethidium bromide staining of agarose gels, are therefore not recommended. Detecting a rare message while staying in exponential range with an abundant message can be achieved several ways: 1) by increasing the sensitivity of product detection, 2) by decreasing the amount of input template in the RT or PCR reactions and/or 3) by decreasing the number of PCR cycles. Ambion recommends using 18S rRNA as an internal control because it shows less variance in expression across treatment conditions than ß-actin and GAPDH. However, because of its abundance, it is difficult to detect the PCR product for rare messages in the exponential phase of amplification of 18S rRNA. Ambion's patented Competimer™ Technology solves this problem by attenuating the 18S rRNA signal even to the level of rare messages. Attenuation results from the use of competimers — primers identical in sequence to the functional 18S rRNA primers but that are "blocked" at their 3'-end and, thus, cannot be extended by PCR. Competimers and primers are mixed at various ratios to reduce the amount of PCR product generated from 18S rRNA. Figure 1 illustrates that 18S rRNA primers without competimers cannot be used as an internal control because the 18S rRNA amplification overwhelms that of clathrin (compare panels A and B). Mixing primers with competimers at a 3:7 ratio attenuates the 18S rRNA signal, making 18S rRNA a practical internal control (panel C).

Figure 1. Ambion's QuantumRNA™ Technology in Multiplex Quantitative RT-PCR using 18S rRNA as an Internal Control. RT-PCR reactions on brain, embryo, liver, and spleen total RNA using A) primers for clathrin, B) primers for clathrin and 18S, or C) primers for clathrin, 18S rRNA primers and 18S rRNA Competimers. Note that without Competimers, 18S cannot be used as an internal control because of its high abundance (B). Addition of Competimers (C) makes multiplex PCR possible, providing sample-to-sample relative quantitation.
Ambion's QuantumRNA 18S Internal Standards contain 18S rRNA primers and competimers designed to amplify 18S rRNA in all eukaryotes. The Universal 18S Internal Standards function across the broadest range of organisms including plants, animals and many protozoa. The Classic I and Classic II 18S Internal Standards can be used with any vertebrate RNA sample. All 18S Internal Standards work well in multiplex RT-PCR. These kits also include control RNA and an Instruction Manual detailing the series of experiments needed to make relative RT-PCR data significant. For those researchers who have validated ß-actin as an appropriate internal control for their system, the QuantumRNA ß-actin Internal Standards are available.

Competitive RT-PCR
Competitive RT-PCR precisely quantitates a message by comparing RT-PCR product signal intensity to a concentration curve generated by a synthetic competitor RNA sequence. The competitor RNA transcript is designed for amplification by the same primers and with the same efficiency as the endogenous target. The competitor produces a different-sized product so that it can be distinguished from the endogenous target product by gel analysis. The competitor is carefully quantitated and titrated into replicate RNA samples. Pilot experiments are used to find the range of competitor concentration where the experimental signal is most similar. Finally, the mass of product in the experimental samples is compared to the curve to determine the amount of a specific RNA present in the sample. Some protocols use DNA competitors or random sequences for competitive RT-PCR. These competitors do not effectively control for variations in the RT reaction or for the amplification efficiency of the specific experimental sequence, as do RNA competitors. See The Accuracy of Competitive RT-PCR Depends on Using the Right Exogenous Standard for a further discussion on competitor choice and design.

Comparative RT-PCR
While exquisitely sensitive, both relative and competitive methods of qRT-PCR have drawbacks. Relative RT-PCR requires extensive optimization to ensure that the PCR is terminated when both the gene of interest and an internal control are in the exponential phase of amplification. Competitive RT-PCR requires that an exogenous "competitor" be synthesized for each target to be analyzed. However, comparative RT-PCR achieves the same level of sensitivity as these standard methods of qRT-PCR, with significantly less optimization. Target mRNAs from 2 samples are assayed simultaneously, each serving as a competitor for the other, making it possible to compare the relative abundance of target between samples. Comparative RT-PCR is ideal for analyzing target genes discovered by screening methods such as array analysis and differential display.

Tools for Any RT-PCR Technique
Whether you choose to perform real-time, relative, competitive, or comparative RT-PCR, Ambion offers products to simplify your RT-PCR experiments and make the data more quantitative. In addition to the specific products described above, Ambion offers SuperTaq™ Polymerase, M-MLV Reverse Transcriptase, and RNase-free PCR tubes.

Video Journey Into Nanotechnology

2008-01-01T10:54:00.001+05:30

At 28, a paraplegic, she makes her living from the stock markets

2007-12-26T09:57:00.000+05:30

Sujata Burla's life took an ugly turn on June 9, 2001. On a pilgrimage to Shirdi, where the Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra is located, from Hyderabad, she met with an accident.

Four months later, the doctors and physiotherapists treating her told her she could not walk for the rest of her life. The accident had turned her into a paraplegic. It meant Sujata was immobile below the shoulders. She was just 21.

Soon people who she thought were her friends abandoned her and Sujata was left alone. Compounding her tragedy was her father's death in March 2004. Not one to be easily cowed down by her circumstances, she started learning about the stock markets that year.
Now she trades like a pro and earns anywhere between Rs 200,000 and Rs 250,000 every month. On a day like Wednesday, September 19, 2007, when the Nifty was up 186 points, Sujata made a cool Rs 600,000 in a single day. She has still not sold her position.

"I expect the Nifty to touch 4800 in the next two, three trading days. I will sell my position then," Sujata told this correspondent in a telephone conversation from her home in Hyderabad.
Sujata moves around in a wheelchair and does not regret this fact. Financial independence is what she strove for and that is exactly what she has got through sheer determination and discipline.

How do you cope with such a trauma?
Before, I could not even write or type. Now I have got used to it. I can easily type and trade on my computer and laptop.

In the first four months after my accident I did not even know I would never be able to walk again. I went into a depression feeling that this was the end of life for me.

Does your condition make you dependant on others?
I am the kind of person who doesn't like to depend on anybody -- whether financially, physically or mentally. So, it was very tough for me to physically depend on somebody. I soon realised that financial independence could get me much more freedom in life.

So I started thinking how I could earn money. I worked with my sister, who is a fashion designer, and learned a bit about it. I soon started a textile workshop where I employed 10 people. However, the workers took undue advantage of my physical disability leading to losses. Since I wanted to be independent I started moving towards stock market trading. The textile workshop business is now my secondary business.

How did you get into the stock markets?
I realised that if at all I have to succeed in life I would have to do something for which I don't have to depend on anybody. Through a friend of mine I came to know about the stock markets in 2004. It took me almost a year to understand the various nuances of the stock market and it was in 2005 that I actually started trading.

What was your first trading/investment experience like?
My first investment was in blue chip companies like Reliance Industries Hero Honda, ACC and IDBI. However, the Rs 100,000 that I invested did not earn me any returns. It was my first investment and I did not know when to sell or the right time to sell my stocks. That learning experience helped me to hone my skills in the stock markets.

How much do you make from trading in stocks now?
My turnover for a month is over Rs 3 crore. But my actual investment is only Rs 15 lakhs. I make anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent per of this investment per month. It is like I earn 20 to 30 per cent sometimes and lose 10 per cent at other times. This takes my average monthly return to 10 to 15 per cent every month of my total investment of Rs 15 lakhs.

Could you share your success mantras for our readers?
Read all the advice that you get from various business television channels, newspapers, friends who understand the stock markets but be extremely cautious and disciplined when you act on this advice.

Never extend your trading bets beyond your means. I speak to my friends; get investment and trading ideas from my brokerages (she is registered for online trading with Reliance Money, Indiabulls and Kotak Securities).

How would you identify yourself as a stock market player?
I am a short-term trader; I am surely not a long-term investor.

Do you trade intra-day?
Well, if my bets appreciate considerably then I take home my profits on the same day. Otherwise, I wait for my investments to bear at least 7 to 8 per cent returns before I actually sell it.

Intra-day trading, though, is very risky as most traders tend to burn their fingers trying to time the market. And I have lost quite a bit of money trading intra-day in the cash market, believe me.

How much have you deposited with all these brokerage companies?
As I told you earlier, my total deposit with all the three brokers is Rs 15 lakhs. Using this amount I buy Call Options within my overall limits. There is no concept of margin money in options. Whatever money I have earned till now is only through Option trading. You can do risk-less trading in Options using a small amount.

As a safe strategy I never write a Put Option. Put Options are very risky. That way I am a very safe trader. In Puts I can even make 50 per cent a month on my investments; but then I can lose the same amount too. My principle is if I make money I make it; I shouldn't lose money at all.

I usually write a Call Option on the Nifty. I am always long (buying first and then selling at a higher price to make profit) on the markets and whenever the market is too overbought I wait for the markets to cool down.

The last two days turned out to be very good for the stock markets. How much did you make in these two days?
Actually, it is celebration time for me. I made 80 per cent returns today (September 19, the Nifty was up 186 points or 4.09 per cent). Most of the Nifty Calls went up by 80 per cent today. However, I did not invest the entire Rs 15 lakhs because I am sitting on a bit of cash as the markets have run up too fast in the recent past. I invested only 50 per cent of Rs 15 lakhs on which I made an 80 per cent return (Editor's note: That's a cool Rs 600,000; don't rub your eyes in disbelief; you read it right!).

However, there are times when I lose a big amount of money in trading. Such gains happen only once in a lifetime. The losses that I make during the year sort of offsets such gains.
But remember that these things don't happen every other day. I have still not booked my profits. I am still holding on my positions. I plan to sell them after a day or two because I feel that the markets can still go up -- at least for the next two, three days -- based on the strong momentum. I am expecting the Nifty to go up to 4800 at least.

Actually, the target given by one of my brokerage houses is 4900 but I am going to book profits at 4800 levels. Too much greed is also not good, is it?
Moreover, it is the festive season and Diwali is just round the corner. Normally, the markets go up during Diwali. There will be some profit booking (a situation when a trader sells her/his stocks at a profit) tomorrow and the day after that but the general mood is likely to remain bullish till Diwali. I don't expect a market crash or correction till Diwali.

Do you stay with your family?
I stay with my mother and cousin Priya. My father passed away on March 20, 2004. I have a sister and two brothers but they are all married and lead separate lives.

Do you have friends?
Before the accident I had many friends but they all ran away after my accident. They were all false friends. People like this go where there is money, success and happiness. People like these don't chase failures.

After my accident I have a different set of friends. I have a few friends now but they are my true friends. They have been with me through my bad times. They really care for me. I can count Pradeep and Ashish amongst my true friends now.

At 18, he runs an anti-hacking company

2007-12-26T09:52:00.000+05:30

At 18 years of age he is one of the world's youngest Microsoft Certified Systems administrators. His claim to fame, however, stems from the fact that his organisation endeavours to reduce cyber crime.

He gives lectures to officers of the Indian Army and Indian corporates on how to safeguard their networks and the Internet infrastructure backbone from potential raids by malicious cyber hackers.

As a mark of appreciation, Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates [Images] invited him to the launch of Biztalk servers in India in 2006.

Meet Vineet Kumar, the founder and CEO of the Global Ethical Hackers Association (GEHA) and the National Anti-hacking Group (NAG); the latter is a non-government organisation which 10,000 hackers have joined as members since its inception back in 2003).

Vineet and these NAG members belong to a category of hackers that take pride in calling themselves 'whitehat hackers' These are ethical individuals who are opposed to the abuse of computer systems by malicious hackers known as 'blackhats'.

Interestingly, despite his expertise in a field as arcane as hacking, Vineet has had no formal training in his trade. He was attracted to computers as a child and managed to get the hang of surfing the Internet and chatting online. During one such session in an online chatroom, he met his mentor, who he refuses to name.

"He was a 'greyhat' hacker," reminisces Vineet. "He was based out of Chicago and gave me hacking lessons over IRC (Internet Relay Chat)."

How does Vineet know that his mentor was somebody based out of Chicago?
"I used some of the techniques he taught me on him," chuckles Vineet, explaining that one can obtain the IP address (Internet Protocol address) of a machine without its owner knowing. "I did it for fun and to know if it actually works."

It's hardly surprising, then, to learn that this mischievous streak caused Vineet's teachers to brand him 'naughtiest kid in school' back when he attended the Army High School in Ranchi, his hometown. By his own admission, he misses those school days. Today he is pursuing a four-year course in Information Technology and Infrastructure Management Services, ITIMs, from Sikkim Manipal University.

Vineet spoke to rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about ethical hacking, his responsibilities as CEO of GEHA and NAG and the pressure of handling such a career while he is still in his teens.
So you are an ethical hacker. What exactly does that mean and what made you pursue becoming one?

I prefer to be called a cyber/ information security advisor. Ethical hackers are hackers who work for a good cause -- in other words, they are security researchers who plug the vulnerabilities and loopholes of online networks.

I do not concern myself with the philosophy of ethics, but with the simple knowledge of right and wrong engrained in my character. I work in favour of national interest, to save my country from cyber criminals who have a personal axe to grind.

You are only 18 now and CEO of the National Anti-hacking Group, NAG. What responsibilities does the position entail?
My responsibilities include managing the team, security projects, conferences, seminars, consultancy/ advisory assignments, taking important decisions and enabling the smooth functioning of the organisation.

You mentioned that you are pursuing a four-year course in Information Technology and Infrastructure Management Services from Sikkim Manipal University. Doesn't being CEO of an organisation interfere with your academics?
Yes, at times I do feel that my job responsibility interferes with my academic success. However, my ambition to be different from others belonging to my age group gives me the strength and will to work. Nothing worth achieving comes without concentrated effort.
Expert speak: Useful tips to beat PC hackers

How did you manage to accomplish so much at such a young age?
I think, that old adage holds true -- "Where there is a will there is a way". I also believe that at 18, I am at the most creative stage in my life -- I'm young, imaginative, full of positivity and inspired by the potential that the future holds for me.

Who are the people that are benefited by the NAG initiative?
We constantly try to solve social problems that stem from online activities by creating awareness in the field of cyber/ information security. Our efforts serve to protect children, students, families, individuals, and organisations (government as well as non-government) from the unseen criminals of the wired and wireless worlds, because we genuinely believe that social conscientiousness is primary to achieving a peaceful cyber co-existence.
We also voluntarily render our security services on a regular basis to providers who cater to society and the service sectors. The target beneficiaries includes schools, colleges, universities, educational institutions, financial institutions, the government sector, national and multinational organisations.

Our social commitment is to "enable people to use information and communication technology without fear". Our issue concerns not just our country, but the world -- today, a wired or wireless existence is almost as important as the physical.
Can you narrate any incident where NAG helped protect India from a dangerous cyber attack?
We protect many organisations, both government as well as non-government, from being violated. I am, however, bound to keep quiet by my professional commitment and therefore cannot disclose any information, nor the nature of my work. My friend Yash Kadakia and I have created a special security brigade to plug the vulnerabilities and loopholes in websites and networks and to provide them with timely guidance and security advice. According to a recent survey we conducted on Indian websites, 90 percent of them are vulnerable to violation; some of them possess critical information that should not be compromised under any circumstances. I would say that cyber security is still not given a priority in India.

What's the difference between a white hat hacker and a black hat hacker?
The basic difference is not in the nature of the work but in their objectives and motives. The techniques and strategies used by both are the same. However, whitehats work in the positive interest of online security, whereas blackhats work to disrupt it. A white hat generally focuses on securing IT systems, whereas a black hat will focus on breaking into them.

You are a regular on the lecturer circuit. How did it begin? What kind of lectures do you give and how do they benefit your audiences?
It all started a couple of years ago when I was attending Ranchi's Army High School. My father is an army officer and his colleagues, my teachers and friends all recognised the hidden potential in me. That's how I began giving lectures to create awareness on cyber security.
I make the audience aware of the techniques adopted by cyber criminals and provide tips on how they can keep themselves secure. Those who fall prey to hackers are usually victims of ignorance -- my mission is to dispel the darkness of ignorance by kindling the light of knowledge.
The audience usually accepts the stark truth that both the wired and the wireless worlds are vulnerable. They exhibit interest in knowing more about security and are ready to pay a price for a secure existence. They also appreciate my social initiatives.
Can you tell us something about your childhood? Who is your inspiration and what are the respective futures of Vineet Kumar the white hat and Vineet Kumar the student?
I was always an average student, but was quite dedicated when it came to computers. Sometimes I spent all night working on my machine and would end up sleeping in the classroom! My teachers branded me naughtiest kid in the school -- I was always up to some mischief, but the strong discipline enforced by them ool helped me follow a straight path. How I miss those memorable days!

AS for my future, Vineet Kumar the white hat and Vineet Kumar the student are the same person. As a white hat I provide security to Internet users. As Vineet Kumar the student, I try to increase my knowledge. These two aspects of my life are like two sides of one coin -- one manifests work, the other stands for growth and the urge to make a success of myself.

'I became a successful CEO at 30'

2007-12-26T09:49:00.000+05:30

How many of us can think of retiring at 30? And actually achieve it?
If you are Anil Rego, CEO of Right Horizons, an investment advisory and wealth management firm in Bangalore, now Bengalooru, then it is eminently possible.

"I'd always wanted to be an entrepreneur," says Anil, whose company with over 50 employees now manages Rs 75 crore for his clients, over the phone. Right from the time he joined Wipro [Get Quote], first as business planning manager and then in the merger & acquisition team, Anil was sure that one day he would build up his own organisation some day.

And that day came five years earlier than what he had targeted for. Being the smart entrepreneur he is Anil knew that starting his own business without keeping aside funds for his family would be a risky proposition. He was able to do that when he turned 30.

"My plan was to retire from corporate life and start on my own by 35 years, even before I joined Wipro. I had set myself a target of hitting a certain capital required for the family's monthly expenses, which I hit earlier and hence 'retired' and started 'Right Horizons' at 30 years," says Anil.

Anil considers the legendary investor Warren Buffet and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji as his inspiration. He admires Infosys founder N R Narayanmurthy for his ability to build a successful business. The Right Horizons CEO spoke to rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about his passion for investments, the challenges he faced while starting Right Horizons, and the qualities that are needed for a person to build a successful business. And, of course, how he retired at age 30!
Give us a brief sketch of your career in the industry and the company you worked with before you founded your own company.

My first job with Wipro happened to be my last job as well. I had a reasonably long tenure at Wipro -- of around 7 years. After my stint in business planning, I was part of the initial merger and acquisition team of Wipro. During that spell, I realised that we are so busy with our work that we tend to neglect our own financial management. That's where the thought of Right Horizons was born.

I am from Mangalore, though I was born and brought up in Bangalore. I did my pre-university and degree at St Joseph's Arts and Science College there.

Subsequently, I did my CFA/MBA from ICFAI Business School, Bangalore. My first job was in Wipro Infotech (now it is Wipro Technologies), as a business-planning manager.
Did you always have a passion for investments? When did you start investing?
Investments were always my passion. In fact, I started investing when I was studying in pre-university. I took money from my mother and started, after which, I never looked behind. When I took up my career, the only course I applied for was the CFA/MBA. However busy and hectic the schedule was at office, I used to keenly watch and invest in the market, with most of my research being done late in the night.

How did you succeed in retiring at 30? When did you decide to establish Right Horizons? Was it a struggle -- what disappointments did you have to cope with?
My plan was to retire from corporate life and start on my own by 35 years, even before I joined Wipro.

I had set myself a target of hitting a certain capital required for the family's monthly expenses, which I hit earlier and hence 'retired' and started Right Horizons at 30. This was possible because of planned and regular investments, right from the start. In fact, I had to plan for it in innovative ways, since there was no pension plan starting at 35!

I felt that there was a need for a one-stop-shop for all my financial needs. I spent too much time working with multiple players. I also found there was no one taking care of investors across financial planning, taxation, multiple investment avenues, tracking and providing regular and online reporting.

Most of the advisors did not have a financial background, which I felt was important even in insurance, which has evolved into market-linked instruments. I have tried to build those features and benefits, which I was looking for as an individual investor, intp Right Horizons.
I also believe that Indian equities should provide phenomenal returns and I saw this trend early and took advantage of the opportunity. Since I started at the right time, the journey has been fairly smooth. The biggest challenge we had in initial years was to attract good, quality talent, which is a prerequisite to success in any business.

When faced with a new challenge, how do you set about taking it on?
I have always set my goals first and then planned how to get there. We have taken up very challenging goals and have achieve them in reasonable time. The most common reason for failure, in my view, is the low priority given to 'tracking' one's progress. When we normally set out, we also need to outline parameters that we will track.

What qualities set apart success stories like yours from the average?
The factors that have helped us achieve what we have are:
~ Always dream and work towards converting your dreams into reality.
~ Formulate a plan to achieve your dreams, and more importantly, track it.
~ Do what is right for the customer -- for example we have always believed in doing what is right for the customer even if it has a revenue impact on us. My view is that in the long term, this is what will create value for us, as the customer sees the difference and remains with us for life.

~ Have passion and focus in what you do -- when you know what you are doing, and you enjoy what you are doing, this comes automatically.
~ Hard work -- I am always on the job.
~ Work as a team: Alone, one can only do so much.
What kind of criticism have you faced in the course of your career, and how have you learned to deal with it?

There were a lot of skeptical people, who felt I was making a big mistake by moving out of a great company, with a fantastic salary and growth prospects. Also, the investment field was full of individual advisors, and many vendors wanted to meet up with me initially out of sheer inquisitiveness. In our business, competition comes at various levels -- from unstructured individual agents and advisors, from large banks and financial institutions, and at the high end from multinational banks. I remained focused towards building an organisation in a highly competitive environment, and that seems to have paid-off.

Did you have a mentor, and if so, how did he/ she inspire you to steer your career in the right direction?

There are a lot of people and companies that have inspired me. As I would think for most investment professionals -- Warren Buffet, Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway -- has been inspiring. Mr Azim Premji chairman of Wipro, has also been a source of inspiration in terms of importance given to time, attention to detail, emphasis on process and quality, and his drive for cutting unnecessary costs.

I have admired companies like Infosys for their strategic thinking and determining the course of the company a lot in advance, through great planning. Also, Mr Narayana Murthy for building an organisation that is not dependant on any one individual and the wealth building across all stakeholders.

How has your career impacted your personal life? Do you feel like you've had to sacrifice a few personal pleasures in favour of your job?

Despite hectic work hours, I do spend quality time with my family. I come home a little early and spend time with them in the evenings and then start my 'second shift' work from 9 pm to about midnight.

Having come such a long way in your career in such a short span of time, what do you think remains to be achieved? Which dreams are yet to be realised career-wise?
At this time, I want to only focus on Right Horizons. In the future, I would like to set up a seed capital fund to help other entrepreneurs achieve their goals and work on social causes. Currently, we provide senior citizens free, tax filing, etc. I would also like to work toward helping with the education of poor children.

What tips do you have for today's youngsters looking at wealth management as a good career opportunity?
It is great career path to take because the amount of learning it provides. Since it is across multiple areas like taxation, financial planning, etc and works across multiple products like insurance, mutual funds, equity, etc, anyone who has built up a good knowledge across these verticals, is difficult to replace. This provides great career growth, both monetary and non-monetary.

What makes Right Horizons a great place to work?
Creating a common vision with the employee: Employees are part of decision making, sharing of company plans and strategies with employees.
Providing an environment of learning and providing challenging roles: High learning through continuous and in-depth training provided by top management on a regular basis, providing opportunity for leadership.
Compensation, reward and recognition programs -- both monetary and non-monetary: Competitive compensation, periodic recognition of outstanding performers, team parties/offsite team building get-togethers, and wealth-creation program.
Creating a family environment: Not much hierarchy, informal interactions, assisting team on personal issues

Can you tell me more about Right Horizons?
Right Horizons is an end-to-end investment advisory and wealth management firm that focuses on providing a solution that is specific to customers' needs. It works towards understanding financial goals of customers and helping them to attain those goals.
Our effort is to free the customer from her/his financial matters, and to help them achieve their dreams. We follow a de-risked financial model and though we use higher risk avenues, we do so on a lower risk basis.

We have a unique corporate help desk model where we do educative presentations on taxes and investments, set up support helplines by mail and phone, set up daily helpdesks on campus for employees, manage a section of their intranets -- we have experience in doing this for a corporate with over 50,000 employees across multiple locations.
We have branches in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai and have grown to be 50 strong, in less than 4 years.

Extremely Drug Resistant Tuberculosis XDR-TB - VOA Story

2007-12-17T17:44:00.001+05:30

Narayana Murthy

2007-12-14T10:42:00.000+05:30

One of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited; Chosen as the World Entrepreneur of the Year - 2003 by Ernst and Young

Narayana Murthy is the Non-Executive Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited. He is a living legend and an epitome of the fact that honesty, transparency, and moral integrity are not at variance with business acumen. He set new standards in corporate governance and morality when he stepped down as the Executive Chairman of Infosys at the age of 60.

Born on August 20, 1946, N.R. Narayana Murthy is a B.E. Electrical from University of Mysore (1967) and M.Tech from IIT Kanpur (1969). Narayan Murthy began his career with Patni Computer Systems in Pune. In 1981, Narayana Murthy founded Infosys with six other software professionals. In 1987, Infosys opened its first international office in U.S.A.

With the liberalization of Indian economy in 1990s, Infosys grew rapidly. In 1993, the company came up with its IPO. In 1995, Infosys set up development centers across cities in India and in 1996, it set up its first office in Europe in Milton Keynes, UK. In 1999, Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on NASDAQ. Today (in 2006), Infosys has a turnover of more than $ 2billion and has employee strength of over 50,000. In 2002, Infosys was ranked No. 1 in the "Best Employers in India 2002" survey conducted by Hewitt and in the Business World's survey of "India's Most Respected Company." Conducted in the same year.

Along with the growth of Infosys, Narayana Moorthy too has grown in stature. He has received many honors and awards. In June 2000, Asiaweek magazine featured him in a list of Asia's 50 Most Powerful People. In 2001, Narayana Murthy was named by TIME/CNN as one of the 25 most influential global executives. He was the first recipient of the Indo-French Forum Medal (2003) and was voted the World Entrepreneur of the Year - 2003 by Ernst and Young. The Economist ranked Narayana Murthy eighth on the list of the 15 most admired global leaders (2005) and Narayan Murthy also topped the Economic Times Corporate Dossier list of India's most powerful CEOs for two consecutive years - 2004 and 2005.

Team Building 101

2007-11-19T09:43:00.001+05:30

Team Building 101

Same idea, different business

2007-11-19T09:42:00.001+05:30

Same idea, different business

What is Entrepreneurship?

2007-11-19T09:41:00.003+05:30

What is Entrepreneurship?

Finding opportunities in every industry

2007-11-19T09:41:00.001+05:30

Finding opportunities in every industry

Kumar Mangalam Birla

2007-11-11T10:44:00.000+05:30

Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group; Vhosen as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year - India in 2005

Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. The group is India's third largest business house. Major companies of Aditya Birla Group in India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular. Aditya Birla Group's joint ventures include Birla Sun Life (Financial Services) and Birla NGK (Insulators). The group also has its presence in various countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Egypt, Canada, China and Australia.

Born on June 14, 1967, Kumar Mangalam Birla spent the early of his life in Calcutta and Mumbai. He is a Chartered Accountant and did his MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from the London Business School, London. Kumar Mangalam Birla took over as Chairman in 1995, at the age of 28, after sudden demise of his father, noted industrialist Aditya Birla, after whom the group is named.

When Kumar Mangalam Birla assumed the mantle at the Aditya Birla Group, Doubts were raised about his ability to handle a giant business house with interests spanning viscose, textiles and garments on the one hand and cement, aluminium and fertilisers on the other. But Kumar Mangalam proved his skeptics wrong. He brought in radical changes, changed business strategies, professionalised the entire group and replaced internal systems. Kumar Mangalam reduced his group's dependence on the cyclic commodities sectors by entering consumer products.

Under Kumar Mangalam Birla's leadership, the Aditya Birla Group, apart from consolidating its position in existing businesses, also ventured into sunrise sectors like cellular telephony, asset management, software and BPO.

Kumar Mangalam Birla also holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards, including chairmanship of the advisory committee constituted by the ministry of company affairs for 2006 and 2007, membership of the prime minister of India's advisory council on trade and industry, chairmanship of the board of trade reconstituted by the union minister of commerce and industry, and membership of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India.

Kumar Mangalam Birla has won several honors. Major among them include The Business Leader of the Year (2003) by The Economic Times, Business Man of the Year - 2003 by Business India, and The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year - India in 2005.

Dr. K. Anji Reddy

2007-11-11T10:27:00.000+05:30

Founder-chairman of Dr Reddy's Group of Companies; Awarded with Padma Shri in 2001.

Dr. K. Anji Reddy is a pioneer in the pharmaceutical research in India and is founder-chairman of Dr Reddy's Group of Companies.

Dr Kallam Anji Reddy did his B.Sc in Pharmaceuticals and Fine chemicals from Bombay University and subsequently completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, in 1969. Dr. K. Anji Reddy served in PSU Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited from 1969 to 1975. Dr. Reddy was the founder-Managing Director of Uniloids Ltd from 1976 to 1980 and Standard Organics Limited from 1980 to 1984.

In 1984, Dr. K. Anji Reddy founded Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and soon the company established new benchmarks in the Indian Pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories transformed Indian bulk drug industry from import-dependent in mid-80s to self-reliant in mid-90s and finally into the export-oriented industry that it is presently. In 1993, Dr. Reddy's became the first company to take up drug discovery research in India and in April 2001 it became the first non-Japanese Asian pharmaceutical company to list on NYSE. By the end of fiscal year 2005, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was India's second largest pharmaceutical company and the youngest among its peer group.

Presently, Dr. Reddy is a serving member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry, Government of India, and has been nominated to the Board of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER).

Dr. K. Anji Reddy is also a philanthropist. He is the founder-Chairman of Dr. Reddy's Foundation for Human & Social Development, a social arm of Dr. Reddy's, which acts as a catalyst of change to achieve sustainable development.

Dr. K. Anji Reddy has received many awards and honors. These include Sir PC Ray award (conferred twice, in 1984 and 1992); Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations (FAPA)'s FAPA-Ishidate Award for Pharmaceutical Research in 1998; leading business magazine Business India voted him Businessman of the Year in 2001; CHEMTECH Foundation bestowed on him the Achiever of the Year award in the year 2000 and the 'Hall of Fame' award in 2005, for his Entrepreneurship, Leadership and thrust on Innovation; and in 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Benefits of being self-employed

2007-10-29T20:29:00.000+05:30

Imagine this. The company you work for has just amassed a multi billion-rupee profit; your annual bonus for playing a part in this achievement is Rs 20,000. You work till 9 pm most evenings, and your boss doubts your commitment. You painstakingly prepare the sales presentation and your boss gets the credit since he always presents it.

When such things happen - and I am sure these things do happen -- do you feel the itch to just break out on your own and leave the company politics behind for good? Does any of this sound like the woe-story of your work life?

It's probably true that each of us have felt strongly about some of the above statements at our work place. There are varied reactions to such situations. Some people feel frustrated, crib and carry on. A few others want to change this situation for good in order to fulfill their potential. If you fall into the latter class, you just might consider starting your own business.

Am I meant to be self-employed?

Starting up a business requires detailed planning. An entrepreneur needs to anticipate change in markets, adapt quickly and avoid pitfalls. Odds are that even if one gets most of these elements in place, most businesses aren't profitable for the initial few months.

Owning a business is fraught with risk, but the excitement and rewards make the risk taking quite worthwhile. Most people are meant to be self-employed, just that they must choose the area of business in sync with their personality and strengths.

Quotes on Success

2007-09-21T20:16:00.000+05:30

Try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value.
- Albert Einstein

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Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.
- Norman R. Augustine

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Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can.
- Henry Drummond

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They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you make them feel.
- Carol Buchner

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Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.
- Norman R. Augustine

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Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.
- unknown

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Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.
- Henry Ward Beecher

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A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.
- Arthur Golden

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Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
- Samuel Johnson

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
- Theodore Roosevelt

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Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.
- Francis Bacon

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The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation...The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.
- Jacob Bronowski

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It is time for us to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever, the one who recognizes the challenge and does something about it.
- Vince Lombardi

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One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.
- Marie Currie

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Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning; but give me the man who has the pluck to fight when he's sure of losing.
- George Eliot

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Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
- Thomas Edison

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A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
- John C. Maxwell

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The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.
- William James

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Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
- Henry Ford

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After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.
- Italian Proverb

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Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
- Abraham Lincoln

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What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?
- Robert Schuller

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We never know how far reaching something we may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.
- B.J. Palmer

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The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
- Confucius

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What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside you.
- Wayne Dyer

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Empowerment is all about letting go so that others can get going.
- Kenneth Blanchard

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Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
- Malcolm Forbes

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Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.
- Cherie Carter-Scott

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Not every successful man is a good father. But every good father is a successful man.
- R. Duvall

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I talk and talk and talk, and I haven't taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week.
- Mario Cuomo

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The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.
- Benjamin Mays

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Victory belongs to the most persevering.
- Napoleon

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If you are to be, you must begin by assuming responsibility. You alone are responsible for every moment of your life, for every one of your acts.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We can never let up.
- Ralph Bunche

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I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

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Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
- Anonymous

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The real contest is always between what you've done and what you're capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else.
- Geoffrey Gaberino

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Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. Courage is what counts.
-Sir Winston Churchill

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
-Vince Lambardi

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Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.
-Abraham Lincoln

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What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
-Albert Pike

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The secret of joy in work is contained in one word -- excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
-Pearl S. Buck

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Successful: coming about, taking place or turning out as hoped for.
-Webster's

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Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
-Winston Churchill

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Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
- General George Patton

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It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
- Seneca

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The entrepreneur is essentially a visualizer and actualizer... He can visualize something, and when he visualizes it he sees exactly how to make it happen.
- Robert L. Schwartz

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According to aerodynamic laws, the bumblebee cannot fly. Its body weight is not the right proportion to its wingspan. Ignoring these laws, the bee flies anyway.
- M. Sainte-Lague

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Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
- Helen Keller

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You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
- Henry Ford

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Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
- Sam Ewig

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The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men.
- Captain J.A. Hatfield

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Success will not lower its standard to us. We must raise our standard to success.
- Rev. Randall R. McBride, Jr.

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It's never too late to be who you might have been.
- George Elliot

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Talk does not cook rice.
- Chinese Proverb

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Rule your mind or it will rule you.
- Horace

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It is when the well is dry that we know the price of water.
- Ben Franklin

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Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.
- George Halas

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Attach yourself to your passion, but not to your pain. Adversity is your best friend on the path to success.
- unknown

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A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.
- Sidney Greenberg

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As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person.
- Paul Shane Spear

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To achieve the impossible, one must think the absurd; to look where everyone else has looked, but to see what no else has seen.
- unknown

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A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.
- Richard Nixon

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Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
- Colin Powell

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I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.
- Talleyrand

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The mind is like a parachute - it works only when it is open.
- Unknown

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Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.
- Helen Keller

Have courage for the great sorrows in life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have laboriously accomplished your daily tasks, go to sleep in peace, God is awake.
- Victor Hugo

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ANTICIPATION: Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
- Benjamin Franklin

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I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
- Isaac Newton

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Outstanding leaders appeal to the hearts of their followers - not their minds.
- Unknown

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Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
- Thomas Edison

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We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Truth fears no trial.
- Proverb

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If there is anything I would like to be remembered for it is that I helped people understand that leadership is helping other people grow and succeed. To repeat myself, leadership is not just about you. It's about them.
- Jack Welch

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Yesterday is a cancelled check; Tomorrow is a promissory note; Today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.
- Kim Lyons

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Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living, the other helps you make a life.
- Sandra Carey

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Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.
- Anonymous

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If you take too long in deciding what to do with your life, you’ll find you’ve done it.
- George B. Shaw, 1856 – 1950

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How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.
- David Norris

~~~~~~~~

Never let a problem to be solved ecome more important than a person to be loved.
- Barbara Johnson

~~~~~~~~

Character cannot be developed in ase and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened; vision cleared; ambition inspired, and success achieved.
- Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies, for the hardest victory is victory over self.
- Aristotle

~~~~~~~~

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
- Dale Carnegie

~~~~~~~~

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
- T.S. Eliot

~~~~~~~~

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

~~~~~~~~

Genius is seldom recognized for what it is: a great capacity for hard work.
- Henry Ford, 1863 – 1947

~~~~~~~~

Success is your dreams with work clothes on…
- unknown

~~~~~~~~

The purpose of life is a life of purpose
- Robert Byrne

~~~~~~~~

Reputation is what people think you are. Character is who you really are. Take care of your character and your reputation will take care of itself.
- (On an American plaque)

~~~~~~~~

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

~~~~~~~~

Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one.
- Unknown

~~~~~~~~

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
- Richard Bach

~~~~~~~~

The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well.
- John D. Rockefeller

~~~~~~~~

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
- Tim Notke

~~~~~~~~

Success is a journey, not a destination.
- Ralph Arbitelle

~~~~~~~~

The middle of every successful project looks like a disaster.
- Rosabeth Moss Cantor

~~~~~~~~

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
- Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
- Roosevelt

~~~~~~~~

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.
- John Maxwell

~~~~~~~~

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
- Beverly Sills

~~~~~~~~

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.
- Ronald E. Osborn

~~~~~~~~

If you aren't making any mistakes, it's a sure sign you're playing it too safe.
- John Maxwell

~~~~~~~~

If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure.
- David Ambrose

~~~~~~~~

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.
- Buck Rodgers

~~~~~~~

The freedom to do your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best.
- Colin Powell

~~~~~~~

He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself.
- Philip Massinger

~~~~~~~

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

~~~~~~~

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

~~~~~~~

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.
- Mother Teresa

~~~~~~~

A good laugh is sunshine in a house.
- William Makepeace Thackeray

~~~~~~~

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
- Harry S Truman

~~~~~~~

Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top.
-J.C. Penny

~~~~~~~

Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the opposition he has encountered and the courage with which he has maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.
- Charles Lindbergh

~~~~~~~

To bring one's self to a frame of mind and to the proper energy to accomplish things that require plain hard work continuously is the one big battle that everyone has. When this battle is won for all time, then everything is easy.
- Thomas A. Buckner

~~~~~~~

Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work.
- Booker T. Washington

~~~~~~~

Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it.
- George Eliot

~~~~~~~

You must do the very thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

~~~~~~~

A competitive world has two possibilities for you: you can lose or, if you want to win, you can change.
- Lester C. Thurow

~~~~~~~

True success is obeying God.
- John Maxwell

~~~~~~~

Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?
- Frank Scully

~~~~~~~

There are three ways to get something done: Do it yourself, employ someone or forbid your children to do it.
- Monta Crane

~~~~~~~

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
- Booker T. Washington

~~~~~~~

All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.
- James Russell Lowell

~~~~~~~

I cannot give you a formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure - which is: try to please everybody.
- Mr. Herbert Bayard Swope

~~~~~~~

The secret of success is consistency of purpose.
- Benjamin Disraeli

~~~~~~~

Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them really great.
- St. Francis De Sales

~~~~~~~

Sometimes our best is simply not enough.... We have to do what is required.
- Sir Winston Churchill

~~~~~~~

And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
- Abraham Lincoln

~~~~~~~

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
- John Wooden

~~~~~~~

The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.
- Benjamin Disraeli

~~~~~~~

Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility... in the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have... is the ability to take on responsibility.
- Michael Korda

~~~~~~~

What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.
- HP Liddon

~~~~~~~

What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.
- HP Liddon

~~~~~~~

I used to sit on the banks with a raft and watch the water roll lazily by. One day I pushed my raft into the shallows of the water and found the water moved swifter than I thought. My raft was actually a boat. Then, after some time, I rowed my little boat into deeper water. There were great storms, mighty winds, tremendous waves, and sometimes I felt so alone. But I have noticed my little rowboat is now a mighty ship manned by my friends and loved ones; and beautiful calm seas, warm sunny days, and nights filled with comfortable dreams always double after a storm. Now, I could never go back and sit on the bank. In fact, I search for deeper water. Such is life when lived.
- B. D. Gulledge

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The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this. Irritations get into the shell... And when he cannot get rid of them, he uses the irritations to do the loveliest thing an oyster ever has the chance to do. If there are irritations in our lives today, there is only one prescription: make a pearl - And it takes faith and love to do it.
- Harry Emerson Fosdick

~~~~~~~

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

~~~~~~~~~~

GOALS
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true
and important principle of life
that the most likely way to reach a goal
is to be aiming not at that goal itself
but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
- Arnold Toynbee

~~~~~~~~~~

CURIOSITY
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe
when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity,
of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend
a little of this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity.
- Albert Einstein

~~~~~~~~~~

DEDICATION
The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.
- Cecil B. DeMille

~~~~~~~~~~

HONOR
The most important thing is to be whatever you are without shame.
- Rod Steiger

~~~~~~~~~~

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

~~~~~~~~~~

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.
- Plato

~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.
- Samuel Johnson

~~~~~~~~~~

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
- Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~~~

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never mended well.
- Benjamin Franklin

~~~~~~~~~~

He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.
- Henry Ward Beecher

~~~~~~~~~~

Your goal should be out of reach but not out of sight.
- Anita DeFrantz

~~~~~~~~~~

Doing the best at this moment
puts you in the best place
for the next moment.
- Oprah Winfrey

~~~~~~~~~~

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
- Benjamin Franklin

~~~~~~~~~~

The price of greatness is responsibility.
- Winston Churchill

~~~~~~~~~~

Happiness is giving back a little more than you received. Peace is accepting what has been offered with thanks.
- Ralph Arbitelle

~~~~~~~~~~

It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
- Roy Disney

~~~~~~~~~~

It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top.
- Arnold Bennett

~~~~~~~~~~

The last, if not the greatest, of the human freedoms: to choose their own attitude in any given circumstance.
- Bruno Bettelheim

~~~~~~~~~~

None of the secrets of success will work unless you do
. - Unknown

~~~~~~~~~~

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
- Paul Boese

~~~~~~~~~~

Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it that you can.
- Danny Kaye

~~~~~~~~~~

A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.
- Jackie Robinson

~~~~~~~~~~

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind in other people the convictions and the will to carry on.
- Walter Lippmann

~~~~~~~~~~

You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.
- John Bunyan

~~~~~~~~~~

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
- Proverbs 11:24,25

~~~~~~~~~~

A leader is one who see more than others see, who sees farther than others see,
And who sees before others see.
- Leroy Eims

~~~~~~~~~~

You shouldn’t gloat about anything you’ve done; You ought to keep going and try to find something better to do.
- David Packard

~~~~~~~~~~

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.
- James Baldwin

~~~~~~~~~~

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.
- Samuel Johnson

~~~~~~~~~~

There is a price to pray to grow. Commitment is the price.
- Ed Cole

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.
- Tom Brokaw

~~~~~~~~~~

Many persons have the wrong idea of what constitutes happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
- Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~~~

The man who keeps busy helping the man below him won’t have time to envy the man above him.
- Henrietta Mears

Ranjan Lakhanpal

2007-09-21T16:56:00.000+05:30

He Lost His Father And Son To Excesses Of The State. But This Human Rights Activist Is Still...

Had such tragedies happened to any other man, he would have been broken, perhaps irreparably. But not human rights activist and lawyer Ranjan Lakhanpal, who lost both his father and son to excesses of the state.

“But those two incidents only prodded me to fight harder against the dispossessed, the weak and the vulnerable,” said the 52-year-old who’s taken up more than 10,000 cases of human rights abuses. "I know the pain of a sufferer."

Tears still fill Lakhanpal’s eyes as he talks about the death of his father and, much later, his son. “My father, an advocate like me, was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) because he raised his voice against imposition of Emergency and arbitrary arrests being made at that time,” he said, going back in time. “He died in jail."

What happened years later was worse. “My son, just 10, was killed by the police because I was fighting cases against them. They had earlier threatened me repeatedly, but I took no note. When I didn’t agree, they did this to put pressure on me,” said the man who’s now a rallying point for those taking up rights issues.

The legal eagle, who started his practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1980, has been instrumental in freeing 250 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. Not that he’s spared Pakistan. “I filed a petition in the Pakistan Supreme Court for violating the human rights of Lieutenant Sourabh Kalia and five other Indian soldiers who died during Kargil war. This was the first case to be filed by an Indian in Pakistan,” added Lakhanpal, who’s been crying hoarse about Bhikiwind’s Sarabjit Singh, awaiting execution in the Kot Lakhpat jail across the border.

Not one to back out from a tough, and often dangerous fight, the lawyer was one of the first ones to leap up to defend the accused in the infamous Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal. “Everyone needs a fair hearing,” is his simple argument against all charges, including that of treason.

So what’s been his best battle? He remembers the touching case of POK resident Shenaz Praveen Kausar and her India-born daughter Mobin. In a suicide bid, Kausar had jumped into the Jhelum in POK but survived and reached the other side of the river in India. She was immediately arrested and was later raped in jail. Kausar then delivered Mobin. But that was just one part of her unfortunate story. The Pakistan government agreed to take Kausar back but refused Mobin entry, saying she is Indian.

Lakhanpal filed a PIL in Jammu and Kashmir High Court for their release and adequate compensation. The court ordered cops to release Kausar and Mobin. It also granted Rs 3 lakh to them. After the matter got highlighted at the international level, Pakistan government too took back both Kausar and her daughter.

“This case is close to my heart because I helped a woman and her child who were totally helpless in a foreign land,” said Lakhanpal who sees Mother Teresaas his guiding light.

Satyendra Kumar Dubey

2007-09-21T16:39:00.000+05:30

Satyendra Kumar Dubey (1973 - 2003) was project director at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He was assassinated in Gaya, Bihar for fighting corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project.

Early life
Satyendra K. Dubey, the son of Bageshwari Dubey and Phulamati Devi, was born at the village of Shahpur in the Sewan district of Bihar, India. The family of five girls and two boys subsisted on a small piece of land, and Bageshwari also held a low-paying clerical position in a nearby sugar mill.

Until the age of 15 he studied at the Gang Baksh Kannaudi High School and joined junior college at Allahabad, about three hundred kilometers away. Living away from home was a considerable drain on the meager resources of his family. However, he pursued his dream of becoming an engineer, and was admitted to the Civil Engineering Department of IIT Kanpur in 1990, the first person from his village to achieve this feat.

He graduated with an excellent academic record in 1994. He graduated with an M. Tech (Civil Engineering) degree from IT-BHU in 1996.

Exposing Corruption
During planning,designing and execution of the project he found deficiency and corruption in every stage. He termed the project as "Great Loot Of Public Money" in the subject of confidential letter addressed to then Prime Minister.

{A dream project of unparalleled importance to the Nation but in reality a great loot of public money because of very poor implementation at every state.}

The GQ project had strict controls to ensure that the construction work would be carried on by experienced firms with proper systems. A second independent contract was given for supervision of the project. However, Dubey discovered that the contracted firm had been quietly subcontracting the actual work to smaller low-technology groups, controlled by the local mafia. When he wrote to his boss, NHAI Project Director SK Soni, and to Brig Satish Kapoor, engineer overlooking the supervision, there was no action.

According to the case file after his murder (FIR), Dubey had been facing several threats following his action against corruption at Koderma. A subsequent FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named both Soni and Kapoor.

In August 2003 when he was transferred to Gaya, a transfer which he opposed since he felt that it did not serve the interests of NHAI.

At Gaya, he exposed large-scale flouting of NHAI rules regarding sub-contracting and quality control. At this time he took a departmental test and was promoted as deputy general manager, which made him eligible to take charge as project director. Since there was no project director's post in Gaya, he was likely to be posted to Koderma soon.

There was widespread sentiment (based on their pattern of operation), that the criminal nexus, opposed to having him as director, may have been behind his murder.

Letter to the Prime Minister
Meanwhile, faced with the possibility of high-level corruption within the NHAI, Dubey wrote directly to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, detailing the financial and contractual irregularities in the project. While the letter was not signed, he attached a separate bio-data so that the matter would be taken more seriously. Despite a direct request that his identity be kept secret and its sensitive content that pointed fingers at some of his superiors, the letter along with bio-data was forwarded immediately to the Ministry for Road Transport. Dubey also sent the same letter to the Chairman, NHAI.

Soon Dubey received a reprimand: the vigilance office of NHAI officially "cautioned" Dubey for the impropriety of writing a letter directly to the Prime minister. In the process, through connections in the NHAI and the Ministry, it is likely that the letter may have reached the criminal nexus running the highway construction projects in Bihar.

Following the event, pressure is mounting in India to incorporate a Whistleblower Law.

Contents of the Letter
The letter said the NHAI officials showed a great hurry in giving mobilisation advance to selected contractors for financial consideration. "In some cases the contractors have been given mobilisation advance just a day after signing the contract agreement."

"The entire mobilisation advance of 10 per cent of contract value, which goes up to Rs 40 crore (USD 10 million) in certain cases, are paid to contractors within a few weeks of award of work but there is little follow up to ensure that they are actually mobilised at the site with the same pace, and the result is that the advance remains lying with contractors or gets diverted to their other activities," it said.

Dubey also highlighted the problems of sub-contracting by the primary contractors.

[But in reality, they are getting most of the work done through numerous small petty contractors (main contractors are supplying only a few critical equipment & materials) at 50-60 per cent of the price quoted by them and the rest 40 per cent of contract price is being pocketed by them without much effort. In the process, the main contractors are working just like commission agents.] – Letter of S.K. Dubey addressed to Prime Minister Of India.

"Though the NHAI is going for international competitive bidding to procure the most competent civil contractors for execution of its projects, when it comes to actual execution, it is found that most of the works, sometimes even up to 100 per cent are subcontracted to petty contractors incapable of executing such big projects," he said. Everyone in the NHAI is aware of the phenomenon of subcontracting but turned the other way.

"I have written all these in my individual capacity. However, I will keep on addressing these issues in my official capacity in the limited domain within the powers delegated to me," the letter said.

Assassination
On November 27, 2003, Dubey was returning from a wedding in Varanasi, and called his driver to meet him at the station. He reached Gaya railway station at three in the morning, and found that the his car was not able to come because of a battery malfunction.

It appears that at this point Dubey decided to take a rickshaw home. When he didn’t reach home, his driver went to look for him and found him dead by the side of the road in the suburb of A.P. Colony. He had been shot.

The news ignited tremendous public hue and cry. The matter was raised in Parliament, and the Prime Minister shifted the onus of investigation from the Bihar Police (who might themselves be implicated), to the CBI.

A foundation, SK Dubey foundation, was set up to fight corruption in India.

The CBI registered a case against unknown persons under 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code and various provision under Arms Act on December 14 2003.

The Investigation
In early investigations, the CBI interrogated the rickshaw puller Pradeep Kumar who was caught using Dubey's stolen cell phone. The mobile phone was switched off for about a fortnight after the murder, but then Kumar called his 'second wife' in Kolkata, following which the CBI traced the rickshaw puller to his slum in Gaya. Although Kumar had a criminal history in similar cases of robbery, it appears he was released after interrogation, and could not be traced a month later.

Two other suspects, Sheonath Sah and Mukendra Paswan, were questioned by the CBI. They were found dead from poisoning on February 1, 2004, within within 25 hours of the CBI questioning. Sah's father lodged an FIR against the CBI with the Bihar Police, but CBI Director Umashanker Mishra called their deaths a suicide in a press meeting a few days later.

The CBI concluded its investigations and four persons were charge-sheeted on September 3, 2004. Based on testimony by Pradeep Kumar, who was his rickshaw puller, the event was presented as an attempted robbery. Because Satyendra put up a fight about giving up his briefcase, he was shot.

The person accused of actually shooting Dubey with a country-made pistol was Mantu Kumar, son of Lachhu Singh, of Village Katari, Gaya district. Accomplices with him included Uday Kumar, Pinku Ravidas and Shravan Kumar.

Murderer Escapes
On September 19, 2005, while the case was being heard in Patna, Bihar in the court of Addl. Session Judge, J M Sharma, Mantu Kumar escaped from the court premises, leading to widespread allegations of police complicity. While Mantu was being held at the high security Beur Jail, the invigilation can be lax during such court appearances, and it is a common tactic of the mafia to organize a few policemen to make it possible for the criminal to escape.

It was felt that the escape was engineered by higher-ups who may have executed the murder through Mantu Kumar.

The CBI announced a cash reward of Rs. 1 Lakh for apprehending Mantu.

A month later, Mantu Kumar was arrested from near his home in Panchayatee Akhada in Gaya. He had apparently been living in Gaya town and working as a rickshawpuller.

Who ordered the murder
Now, it is quite possible that Dubey may have been the victim of a simple robbery during which Mantu Kumar shot him, as alleged in the case filed by CBI. However, given the death and disappearance of several witnesses and the startling escape of the prime accused, there is wide-spread speculation that vested interests may have engaged the criminals who actually pulled the trigger.

As for the GQ project, the Supreme Court is currently overlooking investigations into the corruption charges initially raised by the Dubey letter. Several official have been indited and a technical team is overseeing the actual construction.

Also, as of September 2005, news reports indicated that the law ministry was about to introduce legislation to protect whistleblowers.

Meanwhile, on February 10, 2006, a 600 meter stretch of the highway connecting Kolkata to Chennai subsided into the ground, opening up ten meter gorges near Bally, West Bengal 2. This stretch had been completed a year back by a multinational firm, selected after global tendering.

Fighting Corruption
It is a testimony to fickleness of public memory that there was little hue and cry about Mantu Kumar's escape. Fortunately he was re-arrested.
However, even if it establishes these men as the actual perpetrators of the murder, the motives for the murder remain to be clarified...

However, the fight against corruption in India continues. Unfortunately it continues to claim lives.

A kindred spirit of Dubey, Manjunath Shanmugam, was a graduate of the prestigious IIM Lucknow, 2003 batch. Manju was working as a Sales Manager with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), and refused bribes and ignored threats in his drive to check rampant adulteration of petrol in the pumps owned by the erstwhile monopoly Indianoil. On November 19, 2005, he was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri, allegedly by a petrol pump owner and his gang.

Legacy
Dubey's murder drew several protests in India and abroad, especially by the media. Student and Alumni bodies of IITs took the lead in raising this issue. S. K. Dubey Foundation for Fight Against Corruption in India was launched to systematically fight against corruption. IIT Kanpur instituted an annual award in his name, Satyendra K Dubey Memorial Award, to be given to an IIT alumnus for displaying highest professional integrity in upholding human values. Arvind Kejriwal, a recipient of this award, went on to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award as well. Indian Express had also announced a fellowship in the name of Dubey.

Satyendra Dubey was recognised posthumously by several awards, which included the Whistleblower of the year award from the London-based Index on Censorship, the Transparency International's Annual integrity award and the Service Excellence award from the All India Management Association.

Brave through the bad times

2007-09-21T16:35:00.000+05:30

I learnt: to stretch a shoestring budget to the max, the importance of a satisfied customer, value of a good team, and the fact that starting a company is no joke.’

Approximately one-third of employees in Indian software companies today are women. An increasing number of women enter professional engineering streams such as computer sciences and electronics. With the demand for technical professionals remaining strong in IT (information technology) industry, women will remain valued employees. “But the glass ceiling does exist at the senior management levels,” says Nita Goyal, co-founder and VP of Tavant Technologies.

She should know, as ‘the first woman to have obtained a computer science (CS) degree from any of the Indian Institutes of Technology’, a PhD from Stanford University in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), and a successful entrepreneur.

Goyal is, however, hopeful of better times for women. “I see a change with Indian companies that are beginning to create a better eco-system that supports women at work in terms of availability of quality childcare, creating women forums that allow for mentoring, flexi-time, rehiring, work from home etc,” she says, responding over email to questions from eWorld.

Excerpts from the interview:

How has your journey been thus far, beginning from IIT?

I went from being a student in IIT Kanpur to being a PhD student in CS at Stanford University. Stanford was a humbling and inspiring place where one got to learn with and from the best in the world. After graduating from Stanford I joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs and learned how to apply research skills to real-world problems. The technology developed by our group at HP was spun off as a start-up. This was my first experience as an entrepreneur — participating in everything from finding an office to developing technology and leading an offshore team. By 2000, the start-up fever hit again and Tavant was started. The journey beginning from IIT-K has been exhilarating. I have done research in academia and industry, lived the Silicon Valley experience of starting companies and seen a company grow from five to 1,000-plus employees.

How did your research in artificial intelligence find relevance in your subsequent work?

The PhD had led to my first start-up, Exemplary, as a spinout of my research. Soon after I left Exemplary, I got involved in discussing ideas with a group of executives who had been part of Junglee and we started Tavant in 2000. The key appeal of Tavant was the quality of the team that had come together — people from banking, Internet, enterprise software, consulting, research — who all worked well together. The AI PhD also came in handy in putting together Tavant’s mortgage pricing and optimisation solutions for our financial customers.

You have co-founded two companies. Did being a woman pose any difficulties?

Strangely enough, I never thought about it. Not that it was a piece of cake being one of the few women in a sea of men, but I never let that bother me. And I always found many friends and mentors, a large number of men and women who helped navigate this sea. Focusing on the work at hand rather than the gender has helped me.

Who is the person you most admire?

My mother. I learnt to balance my family, career, and other interests from her. She also taught me to strive and overcome gender barriers.

How do you balance your different roles?

Prioritisation and time management.

What is your advice to wannabe IT professionals among women?

Be yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, enjoy the labour of work with professionalism, and value yourself as a contributor to society.

On your greatest challenge…

In early-2001, with the down-cycle in the market, Tavant had trouble raising finance and we had a big first customer to deliver to. It ultimately turned out well; the customer was happy and eventually became an investor too. I learnt: to stretch a shoestring budget to the max, the importance of a satisfied customer, value of a good team, and the fact that starting a company is no joke — no one should do it unless they are willing to put in the commitment and hard work needed to see it through the bad times that are almost inevitable in any business.

Does a corporate stint help when launching a start-up?

Yes and no. Just out of school, it is hard to appreciate how markets work and how companies function. Corporate experience definitely helps in that regard. But energy, enthusiasm, fresh ideas, no fear of failure are more important and it is not necessary to spend time in the corporate world for that. Microsoft, Yahoo, Google are outstanding examples of companies sarted by people with not much corporate experience. On the other hand, the combined corporate experience of the initial team at Tavant was a key success factor.

In promoting entrepreneurial spirit, how crucial is a culture that gives space for ‘failure’?

Failure is a critical part of entrepreneurship. For every Google that succeeds, there are hundreds of companies that fail. Often failures teach us more than successes. When failure becomes socially acceptable, innovation blossoms, as people are more willing to risk the unknown. In India, failure is not tolerated quite so well. But I believe there is change afoot, and young people are increasingly comfortable with risk and failure and there are more start-ups now than even a couple of years ago.

Should entrepreneurs be trend-oriented?

Trends are interesting because they capture some market belief and usually either offer new problems to be solved or new ways to solve old problems. However, blind pursuit of trends is what led to the dotcom bust in 2000. Question is not whether a business is following a trend but rather what is the value being created by the company. For example, the Internet has fundamentally changed the way many businesses are done and several large companies have been built on this realisation.

Are current times tough for entrepreneurs in India?
Entrepreneurship is a challenge anytime, anywhere. The Indian economy at the moment provides opportunities in almost every sector, but being an entrepreneur is never easy. However, entrepreneurship has many rewards, such as a sense of personal satisfaction and the thrill of seeing your vision become reality.

It is a myth that the challenge for new entrepreneurs is lack of finance. Actually, the biggest challenge is identifying your customer and the value you can provide them. Further, you need hard work and the ability to stand your ground against overwhelming odds. Of course, you do need money to get started, a team that believes in the idea, and people who are willing to support and guide you - especially your family.

Is the entrepreneurial spirit healthy in India?
The entrepreneurial community is not only vibrant but growing significantly across all sectors. Not only are more people, senior and junior, starting and joining young companies, a lot of venture capital is available to finance them. India does throw up particular barriers for entrepreneurs - poor infrastructure and insufficient ecosystem to support entrepreneurs (mentors, risk-averse family members, inadequate talent). Incubators would help in addressing many of these issues. That said, most of the lessons of entrepreneurship are equally applicable in India. There are numerous forums that promote the understanding of these lessons by enabling India's upcoming entrepreneurs to meet with other successful entrepreneurs and investors. These forums include The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN).

How far can education be tailored to foster entrepreneurship?
Business schools today are incorporating entrepreneurship as part of their programme program. This is a welcome trend but needs to be supplemented with practical experience. Experience of entrepreneurship offers its own education that cannot be replaced by any classroom. Entrepreneurship requires one to wear multiple hats, think on the feet, act with incomplete information (intuition) and learn from failure. Having the flexibility of taking a break from the academic programme program can also be useful. Many US universities allow for it and Silicon Valley is full of entrepreneurs who mixed education with entrepreneurship successfully.

What motivates an entrepreneur?

2007-09-14T20:40:00.000+05:30

Since the 1990s, there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of high-tech enterprises started in India.

To understand the reasons behind this phenomenon, Subodh Bhat and Richard McCline of San Francisco State University studied the motivations, resources, networks, attitudes and behaviours of these new entrepreneurs with both in-depth interviews with a dozen entrepreneurs and a survey that netted 33 usable responses.

What was the sample like? An overwhelming majority (93 per cent) was male, with close to two-thirds in the 26- to 39-year range. A quarter had just undergraduate degrees, while 69 per cent had master's degrees.

More than 63 per cent of the respondents' businesses had been in existence for three to six years and the median annual revenue of the businesses was Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) with 85 per cent having annual revenues of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) or below.

The median number of employees was 15, with 84 per cent having less than 100 employees. Parents or close relatives of 28 per cent of the respondents owned their own businesses and the average number of people whom the respondents could call for help was 10.

The respondents had been employed for five to eight years before starting their first business. They were members of an average of three business or professional association and attended five seminars and trade fairs every year.

Entrepreneur motivation

The respondent entrepreneurs were motivated primarily by the desire to create something new, the desire for autonomy, wealth and financial independence, the achievement of personal objectives and the propensity for action ('doing').

The excitement of entrepreneurship was another major motivator -- this was nicely captured by one comment: "We are not sure what's coming down the curve but it is a thrill." Importantly, most entrepreneurs stressed that the objective was never money for its own sake.

They wanted to leave a legacy in the form of a profitable long-lasting business.

The driving force: what motivates Indian entrepreneurs
Motivator	% mentioning
Rewards of entrepreneurship
Autonomy	57
Making money/financial independence	43
Saw business opportunity/impact on industry	27
Recognition of self and/or organisation	23
Desire to create something new/innovate	20
Build something important/make a difference	17
Grow a business from scratch	17
Desire to be entrepreneur/excitement of entrepreneurship	3
Personal qualities
Intellectual challenge/achieve potential	27
Instinct	10
Others	10
Career
Career growth/diversification/satisfaction	13
Others	3
Experience
Utilise previous experience	6
Had technology/industry vision	3
Non-monetary factors
Help India in various ways	23
Non-monetary success/personal satisfaction	7
Create value/jobs/wealth in society	3

Support systems

Indian entrepreneurs rely on friends and family for help in starting the business, with the quality of help from friends, former co-workers and university mates in the startup and management stages being rated the best.

Assistance in terms of manpower was mainly from former co-workers. Help in marketing and access to markets was mainly from friends, former co-workers and university mates.

Finance was obtained from relatives and friends but not from former co-workers. One surprise was that few in the sample received much in the way of technological help from others.

Only 16 per cent received help from a government institution and 41 per cent from consultants. Several interviewees lamented the lack of a visible venture capital presence in India.

Success attributions

The respondents rated their success in business as quite high on various measures. They also reported that their businesses were quite profitable with median percentage annual growth in revenues, customers, and profits in the past three years of 25, 20 and 13 respectively.

They judged their success not only on the basis of business barometers like revenues, profits, growth and business reputation and monetary rewards, but also on personal factors like satisfaction and goal-achievement.

Most entrepreneurs felt their success was tied to creating something new and durable ('create a world-class company based on intellectual property') and to leaving a legacy ('leaving an indelible mark on the sands of time').

A few viewed success as being able to prove themselves and several emphasised the importance of the contribution of their business to the nation.

The respondents attributed their success mainly to hard work and focus or drive. Other factors were technical knowledge/experience and access to resources.

Emotional or mental strength, resilience ('I can't be kept too down for too long'), perfectionism and patience were other frequently mentioned qualities.

Leadership skills, particularly communication skills and good employee management, were highlighted as contributors to success.

Several entrepreneurs suggested that professional bodies play a more active role in encouraging entrepreneurship and representing the high tech industry and in educating the government and others in India on issues facing entrepreneurs and the high-tech industry.

Such organisations can develop programs to help entrepreneurs translate concepts into reality and to create role models. Another recommendation is to have schools play a more active role in encouraging entrepreneurship as a career by among other things, establishing training programs.

Surprisingly, our respondents did not report much networking and did not view it as very crucial to success.

Lessons learnt

What were the lessons the respondents learnt in the entrepreneurial process?

Do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary

Retain strong customer focus

Invest for the long-term

Invest in quality

Be hands-on

Multi-tasking is important

The need for the ability to tolerate ambiguity

Share profits with employees

Government's relative univolvement in the high tech industry is a blessing

And what hampers the entrepreneurial process?

Financial struggle -- lack of money in the business as well as personally was the most cited negative factor

No government support -- however, a few entrepreneurs disagreed, saying that the government has been supportive and has given lots of concessions to the high tech industry

Dearth of sophisticated local investors and angel investors

Lack of a forum for discussing entrepreneurial issues

Difficulty in finding top-notch resources (for instance, recruiting from good schools)

Poor infrastructure

Corruption and bureaucracy

Ratan Tata - A true Indian entrepreneur

2007-09-14T20:31:00.001+05:30

Ratan Tata has been in the news all the time and more so recently with the recent success they had in winning over Corus. What makes this man special? Is it the size of the businesses he oversees? It is the number of areas the TATA group has been able to diversify into? Is it the amount of value he's creating for his shareholders? What is the story about this man that makes him so special and likeable?

Ratan Naval Tata was born on the 28th of Dec 1937. In 1962 he graduated with a degree in Archietecture and Structural Engineering from Cornell University. He came back to India and was sent to work on the shop floor in Tata Steel for 3 yrs. How many of you remember a TV set called Nelco Blue Diamond? Nelco (National Radio and Electronics Company) was his next destination where he was made a Director.

Ratan completed a Management program in Harvard and around that time Emergency was imposed in India which led to a lockout of Nelco. From here Tata went to work in the textile business of the Tata's which had mixed results. The main reason for this was attributed to the labor problems in Bombay then under the astute leadership of Datta Samant, a strong trade union leader.

In 1991 Ratan Tata took over as group chairman of the TATA group and this period saw TATA consultancy services going public and the foray of TATA motors into the passenger car market. The TATA Indica was an ambitious project because no Indian company had designed cars before. The easiest way was to find a foreign partner and manufacture cars under a JV. Ratan chose to take the path that was never travelled.

TATA Indica was launched on Indian roads in 1998 and it met initially with a lot of criticism and was also plagued with defects and other running problems. But to the company's credits everything was sorted out in a short span of time and it's one of the best selling cars of the country today. This was followed by the supremely successful TATA Indigo which still sells like hot cakes. The TATA's are all set to launch a luxurious version of this car named Indigo XL.

Ratan also led TATA to Korea and acquired Daewoo motors heavy vehicles division. TATA Tea acquired Tetley. Tata Teleservices acquired Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) when the Government divested it's stakes in it. Corus was a tough bargain because CSN stepped in and upped the ante. But Ratan says they bought it for a price which was within what they had decided and it surely is a victory for the group.

Ratan Tata is know for his integrity in business and the values that he holds dear to him. An intensely private bachelor, he loves dogs, flying, electronics, technology and cars. Rumor has it that he drives a TATA Indica to work in Mumbai. His next big adventure according to him is to fly the F16 for which he's been invited. A big cheer for the man who makes India proud, who serves as a role model for countless indian and who strongly believes that corporates should give back something to the country.

This interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNN-IBN on being conferred the 'Indian of the year' is a must watch.

The World Is Flat- Thomas Freedman

2007-09-14T20:28:00.000+05:30

OVER the past few years, the United States has been obsessed with the Middle East. The administration, the news media and the American people have all been focused almost exclusively on the region, and it has seemed that dealing with its problems would define the early decades of the 21st century. ''The war on terror is a struggle that will last for generations,'' Donald Rumsfeld is reported to have said to his associates after 9/11.

But could it be that we're focused on the wrong problem? The challenge of Islamic terrorism is real enough, but could it prove to be less durable than it once appeared? There are some signs to suggest this. The combined power of most governments of the world is proving to be a match for any terror group. In addition, several of the governments in the Middle East are inching toward modernizing and opening up their societies. This will be a long process but it is already draining some of the rage that undergirded Islamic extremism.

This doesn't mean that the Middle East will disappear off the map. Far from it. Terrorism remains a threat, and we will all continue to be fascinated by upheavals in Lebanon, events in Iran and reforms in Egypt. But ultimately these trends are unlikely to shape the world's future. The countries of the Middle East have been losers in the age of globalization, out of step in an age of free markets, free trade and democratic politics. The world's future -- the big picture -- is more likely to be shaped by the winners of this era. And if the United States thought it was difficult to deal with the losers, the winners present an even thornier set of challenges. This is the implication of the New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman's excellent new book, ''The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.''

The metaphor of a flat world, used by Friedman to describe the next phase of globalization, is ingenious. It came to him after hearing an Indian software executive explain how the world's economic playing field was being leveled. For a variety of reasons, what economists call ''barriers to entry'' are being destroyed; today an individual or company anywhere can collaborate or compete globally. Bill Gates explains the meaning of this transformation best. Thirty years ago, he tells Friedman, if you had to choose between being born a genius in Mumbai or Shanghai and an average person in Poughkeepsie, you would have chosen Poughkeepsie because your chances of living a prosperous and fulfilled life were much greater there. ''Now,'' Gates says, ''I would rather be a genius born in China than an average guy born in Poughkeepsie.''

The book is done in Friedman's trademark style. You travel with him, meet his wife and kids, learn about his friends and sit in on his interviews. Some find this irritating. I think it works in making complicated ideas accessible. Another Indian entrepreneur, Jerry Rao, explained to Friedman why his accounting firm in Bangalore was able to prepare tax returns for Americans. (In 2005, an estimated 400,000 American I.R.S. returns were prepared in India.) ''Any activity where we can digitize and decompose the value chain, and move the work around, will get moved around. Some people will say, 'Yes, but you can't serve me a steak.' True, but I can take the reservation for your table sitting anywhere in the world,'' Rao says. He ended the interview by describing his next plan, which is to link up with an Israeli company that can transmit CAT scans via the Internet so that Americans can get a second opinion from an Indian or Israeli doctor, quickly and cheaply.

What created the flat world? Friedman stresses technological forces. Paradoxically, the dot-com bubble played a crucial role. Telecommunications companies like Global Crossing had hundreds of millions of dollars of cash -- given to them by gullible investors -- and they used it to pursue incredibly ambitious plans to ''wire the world,'' laying fiber-optic cable across the ocean floors, connecting Bangalore, Bangkok and Beijing to the advanced industrial countries. This excess supply of connectivity meant that the costs of phone calls, Internet connections and data transmission declined dramatically -- so dramatically that many of the companies that laid these cables went bankrupt. But the deed was done, the world was wired. Today it costs about as much to connect to Guangdong as it does New Jersey.

The next blow in this one-two punch was the dot-com bust. The stock market crash made companies everywhere cut spending. That meant they needed to look for ways to do what they were doing for less money. The solution: outsourcing. General Electric had led the way a decade earlier and by the late 1990's many large American companies were recognizing that Indian engineers could handle most technical jobs they needed done, at a tenth the cost. The preparations for Y2K, the millennium bug, gave a huge impetus to this shift since most Western companies needed armies of cheap software workers to recode their computers. Welcome to Bangalore.

A good bit of the book is taken up with a discussion of these technological forces and the way in which business has reacted and adapted to them. Friedman explains the importance of the development of ''work flow platforms,'' software that made it possible for all kinds of computer applications to connect and work together, which is what allowed seamless cooperation by people working anywhere. ''It is the creation of this platform, with these unique attributes, that is the truly important sustainable breakthrough that has made what you call the flattening of the world possible,'' Microsoft's chief technology officer, Craig J. Mundie, told Friedman.

Friedman has a flair for business reporting and finds amusing stories about Wal-Mart, UPS, Dell and JetBlue, among others, that relate to his basic theme. Did you know that when you order a burger at the drive-through McDonald's on Interstate 55 near Cape Girardeau, Mo., the person taking your order is at a call center 900 miles away in Colorado Springs? (He or she then zaps it back to that McDonald's and the order is ready a few minutes later as you drive around to the pickup window.) Or that when you call JetBlue for a reservation, you're talking to a housewife in Utah, who does the job part time? Or that when you ship your Toshiba laptop for repairs via UPS, it's actually UPS's guys in the ''funny brown shorts'' who do the fixing?

China and India loom large in Friedman's story because they are the two big countries benefiting most from the flat world. To take just one example, Wal-Mart alone last year imported $18 billion worth of goods from its 5,000 Chinese suppliers. (Friedman doesn't do the math, but this would mean that of Wal-Mart's 6,000 suppliers, 80 percent are in one country -- China.) The Indian case is less staggering and still mostly in services, though the trend is dramatically upward. But Friedman understands that China and India represent not just threats to the developed world, but also great opportunities. After all, the changes he is describing have the net effect of adding hundreds of millions of people -- consumers -- to the world economy. That is an unparalleled opportunity for every company and individual in the world.

Friedman quotes a Morgan Stanley study estimating that since the mid-1990's cheap imports from China have saved American consumers over $600 billion and probably saved American companies even more than that since they use Chinese-sourced parts in their production. And this is not all about cheap labor. Between 1995 and 2002, China's private sector has increased productivity at 17 percent annually -- a truly breathtaking pace.

Friedman describes his honest reaction to this new world while he's at one of India's great outsourcing companies, Infosys. He was standing, he says, ''at the gate observing this river of educated young people flowing in and out. . . . They all looked as if they had scored 1600 on their SAT's. . . . My mind just kept telling me, 'Ricardo is right, Ricardo is right.' . . . These Indian techies were doing what was their comparative advantage and then turning around and using their income to buy all the products from America that are our comparative advantage. . . . Both our countries would benefit. . . . But my eye kept . . . telling me something else: 'Oh, my God, there are just so many of them, and they all look so serious, so eager for work. And they just keep coming, wave after wave. How in the world can it possibly be good for my daughters and millions of other young Americans that these Indians can do the same jobs as they can for a fraction of the wages?' ''

He ends up, wisely, understanding that there's no way to stop the wave. You cannot switch off these forces except at great cost to your own economic well-being. Over the last century, those countries that tried to preserve their systems, jobs, culture or traditions by keeping the rest of the world out all stagnated. Those that opened themselves up to the world prospered. But that doesn't mean you can't do anything to prepare for this new competition and new world. Friedman spends a good chunk of the book outlining ways that America and Americans can place themselves in a position to do better.

People in advanced countries have to find ways to move up the value chain, to have special skills that create superior products for which they can charge extra. The UPS story is a classic example of this. Delivering goods doesn't have high margins, but repairing computers (and in effect managing a supply chain) does. In one of Friedman's classic anecdote-as-explanation shticks, he recounts that one of his best friends is an illustrator. The friend saw his business beginning to dry up as computers made routine illustrations easy to do, and he moved on to something new. He became an illustration consultant, helping clients conceive of what they want rather than simply executing a drawing. Friedman explains this in Friedman metaphors: the friend's work began as a chocolate sauce, was turned into a vanilla commodity, through upgraded skills became a special chocolate sauce again, and then had a cherry put on top. All clear?

Of course it won't be as easy as that, as Friedman knows. He points to the dramatic erosion of America's science and technology base, which has been masked in recent decades by another aspect of globalization. America now imports foreigners to do the scientific work that its citizens no longer want to do or even know how to do. Nearly one in five scientists and engineers in the United States is an immigrant, and 51 percent of doctorates in engineering go to foreigners. America's soaring health care costs are increasingly a burden in a global race, particularly since American industry is especially disadvantaged on this issue. An American carmaker pays about $6,000 per worker for health care. If it moves its factory up to Canada, where the government runs and pays for medical coverage, the company pays only $800. Most of Friedman's solutions to these kinds of problems are intelligent, neoliberal ways of using government in a market-friendly way to further the country's ability to compete in a flat world.

There are difficulties with the book. Once Friedman gets through explicating his main point, he throws in too many extras -- perhaps trying to make that chocolate sundae -- making the book seem slightly padded. The process of flattening that he is describing is in its infancy. India is still a poor third-world country, but if you read this book you would assume it is on the verge of becoming a global superstar. (Though as an Indian-American, I read Friedman and whisper the old Jewish saying, ''From your lips to God's ears.'') And while this book is not as powerful as Friedman's earlier ones -- it is, as the publisher notes, an ''update'' of ''The Lexus and the Olive Tree'' -- its fundamental insight is true and deeply important.

In explaining this insight and this new world, Friedman can sometimes sound like a technological determinist. And while he does acknowledge political factors, they get little space in the book, which gives it a lopsided feel. I would argue that one of the primary forces driving the flat world is actually the shifting attitudes and policies of governments around the world. From Brazil to South Africa to India, governments are becoming more market-friendly, accepting that the best way to cure poverty is to aim for high-growth policies. This change, more than any other, has unleashed the energy of the private sector. After all, India had hundreds of thousands of trained engineers in the 1970's, but they didn't produce growth. In the United States and Europe, deregulation policies spurred the competition that led to radical innovation. There is a chicken-and-egg problem, to be sure. Did government policies create the technological boom or vice versa? At least one can say that each furthered the other.

The largest political factor is, of course, the structure of global politics. The flat economic world has been created by an extremely unflat political world. The United States dominates the globe like no country since ancient Rome. It has been at the forefront, pushing for open markets, open trade and open politics. But the consequence of these policies will be to create a more nearly equal world, economically and politically. If China grows economically, at some point it will also gain political ambitions. If Brazil continues to surge, it will want to have a larger voice on the international stage. If India gains economic muscle, history suggests that it will also want the security of a stronger military. Friedman tells us that the economic relations between states will be a powerful deterrent to war, which is true if nations act sensibly. But as we have seen over the last three years, pride, honor and rage play a large part in global politics.

The ultimate challenge for America -- and for Americans -- is whether we are prepared for this flat world, economic and political. While hierarchies are being eroded and playing fields leveled as other countries and people rise in importance and ambition, are we conducting ourselves in a way that will succeed in this new atmosphere? Or will it turn out that, having globalized the world, the United States had forgotten to globalize itself?

Some business learnings

2007-09-14T20:14:00.000+05:30

A sale is NOT CLOSED till you have a signed contract and money in the bank account - Entreperenurship is about optimism. And this optimism many-a-times prompts your to jump up in joy when you come out of a meeting feeling that the deal is done. You go ahead and declare the great news to all and sundry and even do a small round of celebration. Its just a matter of time that the signed agreement is faxed to you. 1 day passes - 2 - 3 - 7 - you call the VP you had met - no response - 10 days - you call again - no reply. On the 15th day you get to know that you have lost the account
Its difficult to keep your cool during trying times. But, hey that's what differentiates the winners from the crowd. And, this is often easier said than done. However, my experience has been that if you discuss the situation with others in your team , often workable solutions come out. Albeit, its very important to be totally honest about the situation.
Always be open to spot opportunities. We had started with a line of business and still that happens to be our top revenue generator, however, some business lines have emerged which we had not even thought of 3 years back. Its fascinating to see the business evolve and mostly the final form is totally different from what you had started with
Try 100 different things (maybe, 1000) for driving business. Always try to experiment. Thats the only way to grow. There is NO SET FORMULA.
Your credibility and reputation "was - is - and always will be" the MOST VALUABLE thing if you are the business founder(or if you are not the founder). Nothing else can ever surpass your credibility and reputation. Period.

FEAR

2007-09-06T18:14:00.000+05:30

"You must do the thing which you cannot do"

"The presence of Fear is simply the absence of knowledge"

"A strategic sequence of carefully selecting which fears to face
and overcome first,will lead to increasing self-confidence,therefore
increasing self empowerment so that one can eventually face
bigger fears"

"One day Fear came knocking at my door, so i sent courage to
answer it.When courage opened the door... there was nothing there"

Biotech-Good Video

2007-08-31T11:36:00.001+05:30

Biotech-Good Video

Hepatitis B and C

2007-08-30T12:29:00.001+05:30

Hepatitis B and C

indian entrepreneurs...

2007-08-29T10:35:00.001+05:30

indian entrepreneurs...

Charlie Rose - Ratan Tata / Kiran Mazumdar Shaw / Anil...

2007-08-29T09:57:00.001+05:30

Ratan Tata / Kiran Mazumdar Shaw / Ani/ speech

Startup Founders: The Involved vs. The Committed

2007-08-24T18:16:00.001+05:30

’m going to refrain from starting this off with the story about the chicken and the pig (there’s something about the former being involved and the latter being committed). I’m vegetarian so this particular folksy tale doesn’t have a resonance with me.

In the startup world, the phrase that is often bounced around, is to have “skin in the game”. This is a short-hand for saying that a given individual has some incentive to see the company succeed. One of the most common examples is: “Susan just wrote our startup a $100,000 check – she has skin in the game.”

I’m going to argue that there are multiple levels at which parties can be involved in a startup. Certainly, writing a check is one way to align interests, but that is an over-simplification.

The reason people like to see “skin in the game” is that it motivates the right kind of behavior on the part of the individuals with the skin. Interests are (supposedly) aligned and those with skin in the game are expected to do the right thing more often than not for the company.

But, there’s a big difference between the degree to which interests are aligned and more importantly the degree to which an individual really has skin in the game.

On one end of the spectrum, you have those that are lightly (or heavily) “involved” in the startup. These can be advisors, could be passive angel investors could be members of the management team working for reduced salary – and of course, could even be one of the founders. Yes indeed, you can have involved (but not committed) founders. And, on the other end, you have those that are committed.

Here’s the litmus test for how I try to distinguish between the two: If your startup dies next week, what will be the actual impact on a given individual?

The point here is that just because someone quits their day job, just because they write a relatively large check, just because they take the founder title – none of these necessarily means that they’re committed. It’s possible that in all of these cases, the actual impact on the individual is relatively minor. They find another day job or they mourn the loss of their investment for a week or a month. What I consider “real” co-founders are those that are financially and emotionally committed to the startup. For the founders to be committed, if the startup dies tomorrow, it will forever change their life. They can’t just wake up the next day and have it be life as usual (yes, they’ll recover – but the failure will have a lasting impact).

In the startups that I’ve kicked off, much to my dismay (and my wife’s dismay), I’m always committed. And I’m particularly emotionally committed. Sure, I make substantial investments in the startup, but I really get emotionally committed. My identity becomes tied to the company. I meet great people, I experiment with new ideas, I (hopefully) build great products. But, what really reels me in is that everyone I know, knows that I’m working on a new startup. Sure, I might fail, but it will not be a quiet, subdued failure. It will be (in my own way) – spectacular. Just as everyone I know will know I started, everyone I know will also know it didn’t work out.

For my current startup, HubSpot, it took me some time to “draw in” my co-founder, Brian Halligan. I didn’t have to find him (we already knew each other pretty well, and he was already involved in the company for over a year – but he wasn’t committed). This past summer, he joined full-time as co-founder, but I still wasn’t absolutely sure he was committed until an important thing happened: He started talking to his friends, family and colleagues about HubSpot. He told them why he was doing it, and how great the company was. Now, for good or for bad, he is in. If by mistake or misfortune, HubSpot does not go in the direction we hope, I do not think he will be able to walk away untouched. He is committed, as I am. And that’s what you want in a co-founder.

How about you? Have you had a hard-time getting people to shift from the “involved” stage to the “committed” stage? Would love to hear about your experiences. Please leave a comment.