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Friday, August 8, 2008

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The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event which is being celebrated in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008 and followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from September 6 to September 17. 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports, one event more than was on the schedule of the 2004 games.[2] The 2008 Beijing Olympics will also mark the third time that Olympic events will have been held in the territories of two different National Olympic Committees (NOC), with the equestrian events to be held in Hong Kong.

The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing after an exhaustive ballot of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13, 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylised calligraphic character jing (?, meaning capital), referencing the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Several new NOCs have also been recognised by the IOC.

The Chinese government has promoted the games to highlight China's emergence on the world stage and has invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues will be used to host the events including 12 newly constructed venues. Earlier in 2007, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch had said that he believes that the Beijing games will be "the best in Olympic history," and despite controversies that have marred the image of the Chinese Olympics, current president Jacques Rogge asserts that the IOC has "absolutely no regrets" in choosing Beijing to host the 2008 games.

Bid

Main articles: 2008 Summer Olympics bids and Beijing 2008 Olympic bid

Beijing was elected the host city on July 13, 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, beating Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities (Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and Seville) submitted bids to the IOC but failed to make the short list in 2000. After the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated. In the second round, Beijing was supported by an absolute majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds.[7]

After winning the bid, Li Lanqing, the vice premier of China, declared "The winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people." Previously, Beijing had bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. It led the voting over the first three rounds, but ultimately lost to Sydney in the final round in 1993.

Development and preparation

Venues
2008 Summer Olympics

* Bid Process (Beijing bid)
* Venues
* Marketing
* Concerns
* Torch Relay (route)
* Opening Ceremony (flag bearers)
* Medal count
* Highlights
* Closing Ceremony

IOC · COC · SF&OCHK · BOCOG

Main articles: 2008 Summer Olympics venues and Olympic Green

By May 2007, construction of all 31 Beijing-based Olympic Games venues had begun.[8] The Chinese government is also investing in the renovation and construction of 6 venues outside Beijing as well as 59 training centres. Its largest architectural pieces will be the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Centre, Olympic Green Convention Centre, Olympic Green, and Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. Almost 85% of the construction budget for the six main venues is being funded by US$2.1 billion (RMB¥17.4 billion) in corporate bids and tenders. Investments are expected from corporations seeking ownership rights after the 2008 Summer Olympics. Some venues will be owned and governed by the State General Administration of Sports, which will use them after the Olympics as facilities for all future national sports teams and events. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are officially the most expensive games in history with a total of $40.9 billion spent between 2001 and 2007 on infrastructure, energy, transportation and water supply projects. [9]

Some events will be held outside Beijing, namely football (in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin), sailing (in Qingdao), and equestrian (in Hong Kong, because of "uncertainties of equine diseases and major difficulties in establishing a disease-free zone").[10]

Beijing National Stadium

Main article: Beijing National Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium.
The Beijing National Stadium.

The centrepiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics will be the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird nest" because of its nest-like skeletal structure.[11] Construction of the venue began on December 24, 2003. The Guangdong Olympic Stadium was originally planned, constructed, and completed in 2001 for the Games, but a decision was made to construct a new stadium in Beijing.[clarify][12] Government officials engaged architects worldwide in a design competition. A Swiss firm, Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG, collaborated with China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. The stadium features a lattice-like concrete skeleton forming the stadium bowl and will have a seating capacity of over 90,000 people during the Olympics. Architects originally described the overall design as resembling a bird nest with an immense ocular—an opening with a retractable roof over the stadium. However, in 2004, the idea of retractable roof was abandoned for economic and safety reasons. The Beijing National Stadium will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events and soccer finals. The stadium's designer Ai Weiwei has since withdrawn his support for China's Olympic games, saying "he wants nothing to do with them anymore".[13][14]

Most recently, the Beijing Olympic Village opened on July 16, 2008 and to the public on July 26, 2008.

Transport
A map of the Olympic venues in Beijing. Several expressways encircle the center of the city, providing for quick transportation around the city and between venues.
A map of the Olympic venues in Beijing. Several expressways encircle the center of the city, providing for quick transportation around the city and between venues.

In preparation for the huge rush during the games, Beijing's subway system underwent a major expansion which increased its capacity to more than twice its previous size. The previous system was composed of 4 lines and 64 stations. An additional 7 lines and more than 80 new stations were constructed, including a direct link to Beijing Capital International Airport. In the airport itself, 11 unmanned trains, each transporting a maximum of 83 passengers, will expedite the movement of people throughout the new terminal building.[15] Most of them are scheduled to operate from June 30, 2008, one month before the start of the games. In January 2007, the BOCOG announced that the Metro cars will be fitted with video screens showing the latest news and events during the games. Additionally, cellphone signals would be made available, so that people can use their communication devices in the metro stations or underground.[16] On August 1, Beijing South Railway Station was reopened after two years of construction. The 120-km long Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail opened on the same day that connects the new railway station with Olympic co-host city Tianjin with world's fastest scheduled train service at 350 km/h.[17]

According to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, a new five-level emergency alert system for extreme weather and security threats will be implemented in the airport. This system is designed to ensure smooth and safe transportation for the estimated 3 million domestic and overseas visitors who will flock to Beijing for the games in August 2008.[18]

On the ground, Beijing is set to designate 38 official public transit routes that will link the Olympic venues. During the games, 2,500 large-size buses and 4,500 minibuses will be operated by a total of 8,000 drivers to transport people across various venues. Prior to the games, public transport will be optimised in order to reduce the existing 110 overlapping routes.[19]

Athletes, Olympic guests and media will be moved around the city in a fleet of 5,000 Volkswagen "low-emission, low-consumption" vehicles.[20].

Beijing will be implementing a temporary road space rationing based on plate numbers during the Games in order to significantly improve air quality in the city.[21] Under the traffic plan made public on June 20, 2008, the rationing will be enforced for two months, between July 20 to September 20, as the Olympics will begin on August 8, and then will be followed by the 2008 Paralympics, from September 6 until 17.[22][dead link] The restrictions will be in placed on alternate days depending on the plates ending in odd or even numbers. This measure is expected to take 45% of the 3.3 million car fleet off the streets. In addition, 300,000 heavy polluting vehicles will be banned from July 1, and the plan also prohibits access to most vehicles coming from outside Beijing. The boosted public transport network is expected to absorb this additional demand, estimated in more than 4 million extra passengers per day.[23][22]

Marketing
Main article: 2008 Summer Olympics marketing

The 2008 Summer Olympics emblem is known as Dancing Beijing (simplified Chinese: ?????). The emblem combines a traditional Chinese red seal and a representation of the calligraphic character jing (?, "national capital", also the second character of Beijing's Chinese name) with athletic features. The open arms of the calligraphic word symbolises the invitation of China to the world to share in its culture. IOC president Jacques Rogge was very happy with the emblem, saying, "Your new emblem immediately conveys the awesome beauty and power of China which are embodied in your heritage and your people.

The slogan for the 2008 Olympics is "One World, One Dream" (simplified Chinese: ????? ?????; traditional Chinese: ????? ?????; pinyin: Tóng Yíge Shìjiè Tóng Yíge Mèngxiang.)[25] The slogan calls upon the whole world to join in the Olympic spirit and build a better future for humanity. It was chosen from over 210,000 entries submitted from around the world.[11]

The 2008 Olympic Mascots are the five Fuwa (simplified Chinese: literally "good luck dolls" initially known as Friendlies in English). The Fuwa consist of five members that incorporate fish, giant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and swallow designs. The Fuwa each have as their primary colour, one of the colours of the five Olympic Rings that stand for the five continents. The five Fuwa are named Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. When the first syllable of each of the five names are said together, the result is the phrase (Beijing huanyíng ni) which means "Beijing welcomes you".[26]

Thursday, July 31, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Airtel BroadBand Redirects Domain Typos to an Ad Filled Page

Posted: 31 Jul 2008 05:11 AM PDT

airtel I have been an Airtel Broadband customer for long and have always appreciated their Internet related services but what they have done recently is sad and misleading.

To quickly recap, if you mistype a web domain address in your browser - you will be redirected to a page that is filled with banner ads, text links and a Yahoo! search box.

Airtel Domain Not Found

Most would assume that the search box is there to help you perform a web search but that’s not the case - it will only search the ad inventory but to mislead customers even more, Airtel also displays a message saying "no web search results." See screenshot.

Airtel Search

Some may argue that this is just like parked domains on the web but there’s a difference - we are actually paying Airtel for using their services.

To stop Airtel from hijacking your typos and 404 pages, you may consider replacing Airtel DNS servers in your Network Connections with OpenDNS but that’s again no different since OpenDNS too will forward your 404s to their own search pages.

Airtel BroadBand Redirects Domain Typos to an Ad Filled Page - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Colors adopts novel marketing strategies to become channel leader

Posted: 22 Jul 2008 10:37 PM CDT

New channel, Colors launched by Viacom18 has already created a stir among the Hindi GEC owing to its a little off line programming list.

In its latest initiative to become the market leader, Colors is undertaking innovative promotions targeting Hindi speaking audience in 90 Indian cities.

To begin with, it has used all media such as TV, radio, print, websites, mobiles, movie theaters and outdoor for promoting the channel. It has placed 1300 hoardings and launched road shows across the country.

For a more concentrated campaign, 3000 taxis in Mumbai and 2000 auto rickshaws in small towns along with local trains and school buses have been painted with Colors brand. Even the efficient dabba service in Mumbai is used to disburse the channel message.

Along with this 65000 ad spots are booked on TV while 15 million SMS have been send across all telecom operators.

Coming to specific corporate marketing activties, at Big Bazaar stores, helpers and counter-guys are wearing Colors T-shirts and giving out information about the channel. In McDonald’s, the Colors brand is present on the menu while Fear Factor Khataron Ke Khiladi merchandise is available at Pantaloons and McDonalds.

For program specific advertising, Colors has tied up with ISKCON for promoting its mythological show Jai Sri Krishna at all ISKCON temples. Also, 1000 temples across Hindi speaking states are being used to promote the show by putting banners on banner stalls and giving Krishna merchandise, literature and calendars.

For the show Mohe Rang De, Colors has chosen Punjab and Delhi to organise street plays as these plays were the maximum witness to freedom struggle.

The marketing strategies seems to be quite aggressive and innovative but ultimately it would depend upon programming quality and show placement to establish its positiong in the Indian television space. source

Colors adopts novel marketing strategies to become channel leader - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Sunday, July 13, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Oberoi Vilas properties still continue their dominance

Posted: 13 Jul 2008 08:27 AM CDT

The Indian hospitality sector has once again shown its standards and class in global ranks. The Oberoi Vilas properties are once again ranked among the top in the 2008 Travel + LeisureWorld’s Best Hotels list.

Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur has been ranked the second best hotel in the world, while the Udaivilas, Udaipur and Amarvilas, Agra are ranked at 4th and 6th position respectively. That means 3 hotels out of the top 6 in the world are owned by Oberoi.

And not surprisingly, these 3 hotels occupies the top positions in Asia’s list of best hotels. The only other Indian hotel that mentions a name in the top list is the Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur.

Though there is a high possibility that the list may see a new entrant next year, with the opening up of Four Seasons, Mumbai.

In 2007, Udaivilas was voted as world’s best hotel in the same list.

Oberoi Vilas properties still continue their dominance - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Saturday, July 12, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Adlabs to build India’s largest multiplex at Phoenix Market City

Posted: 12 Jul 2008 04:45 AM CDT

After multiplex, its now turn of megaplex to dot Indian cities. The first announcement in this regard has come from ADAG’s Adlabs CInemas who would build a 140,000 sq. ft. multiplex at Phoenix Mills’ Kurla Market City.

The multiplex will have 15 screens with 4000 seats. It would also screen sports events and live concerts.

The megaplex will also have live band performances and also cater to luxury segment by opening exclusive ‘Ebony Lounges’ theatres.

With this deal, Adlabs would further strengthen its position in exhibition space as it is already the largest cinema chain in India. Earlier also, it has brought novel concepts like IMAX and 6D theatres into India.

Adlabs is also planning to open 10 more such megaplexes in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Adlabs to build India’s largest multiplex at Phoenix Market City - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

Friday, July 11, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Vijay Mallya to build a 37 storey home in Bangalore

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 05:13 AM CDT

Following the plans of Mukesh Ambani’s Antilla, Vijay Mallya is planning to build one of his own in Bangalore on Vittal Mallya Road, adjacent to UB City.

The Kingfisher giant is planning an over 30 storey building on a 4 acre property that would even have a helipad, according to TOI.

Vijay Mallya currently has 26 residences around the world. His main home is in Sausalito, California built on an area of 11000 square feet.

Apart from this he owns a castle in Scotland, homes in Monaco, Trump Plaza in New York City, the Northern California region of Napa Valley, South Africa and five Indian cities including New Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore.

Vijay Mallya to build a 37 storey home in Bangalore - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

Sony Ericsson plans to buy Spice Mobile, overtake Samsung Mobile

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 12:49 AM CDT

After exiting its cellular phone service biz under Spice Communications, BK Modi is considering exiting Spice Mobile, its mobile phone manufacturing business.

It is reported that world's third-largest handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson may buy out a majority stake in Spice Mobile. The issue remains only of valuation as BK Modi is demanding Rs.80-100 per share much higher than current market price of Rs.25.

If Sony Ericsson materialises the deal than it may again become the second largest handset player in India just behind Nokia. It would also get in hand a good portfolio of cheap handsets and dual mode CDMA+GSM handsets, much suitable for Indian markets.

It make sense for Spice Mobile also to exist this business as it is a very capital intensive and competitive biz with large multinationals operating in it. So, it would not be very feasible for a local player to carry on the operations profitably. via

Sony Ericsson plans to buy Spice Mobile, overtake Samsung Mobile - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

WORLD OF SCIENCE

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Friday, August 8, 2008

education link

Thursday, July 31, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Sunday, July 13, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Saturday, July 12, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

Friday, July 11, 2008

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

India Inc. at Digital Inspiration

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