Mumbai: Sixty hours of terror

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mumbai-sixty-hours-of-terror-and-chaos-1041646.html

Brown on Brown – Gordon Brown’s Pre Budget Report

Original story link

Ellie Browne, 24, is a graduate who is temping as a support staff assistant in a school in north London, but is looking to move onto a permanent job.

At the moment I’m staying on friends’ floors while I’m looking for a permanent job, but I expect to be able to start renting a place in the New Year. Temping [in the public sector] has been secure so I don’t have any job worries, and I’ve worked out that I should be able to pay household bills and council tax without too many problems. But I do have to be careful with my money.

I think that if the government needs to increases taxes to prevent our economy sliding further into a recession and avoid job losses, then that’s fair enough. I realise that it means I might have to struggle a bit in a few years time and have less disposable income – but I think I can sacrifice a couple of cocktails for the greater good! It’s a shame that they’re increasing the fuel duty to offset the decrease in VAT, as a decrease in energy prices would have helped everyone.

However overall I think they’re dealing with the situation well and taking positive action. I’m particularly pleased that they’re committed to increasing spending on public services.

Original story link

Andrew Brown, 44, is a farmer specialising in beef, sheep and arable farming in Rutland. He and his father, 73, have managed to keep the business running smoothly despite what he says have been wildly varying fuel costs and burdensome regulation.

The hardest thing about the current economic climate is the uncertainty. Last year fuel prices shot up, and as farmers use a lot of fuel in fertilisers and sprays our production costs soared. This year however, the fuel prices have dropped and everything’s reversed. It makes it so difficult to plan ahead. As a farmer I need to plan years in advance – how much I need to spend and borrow, how many crops I need to plant to meet demand, what price I can sell my products on the futures market. It’s always a gamble – say I sell my wheat at £120 per tonne and it turns out the harvests around the world are so poor that the price I could have commanded goes up to £200 per tonne. I’ll make a loss and there’s nothing I can do about it.

In my opinion the biggest threat to the country, indeed the world, is climate change. The government really needs to improve its environmental policy – it should offer businesses incentives to curb carbon emissions and start taxing air fuel. I’m also in favour of increasing taxes for the higher earners, those making more than £100,000 a year, and investing the extra money in improving public services.

As for me, my overheads are huge so I would like to see the PBR offering more tax breaks for small businesses, especially for building and machinery. I also want the government to do something about cutting red tape – I’m constantly drowning in paperwork and relentless form-filling.

I’m disappointed with the fuel price staying the same, and the increase in NI. It feels like the government are giving with one hand and taking away with another. They seem to be offering a lot of little “sweeteners” to persuade people to vote for them if they call a snap election, but they’re not really achieving anything.

They’ve created a black hole in their finances and now we’re going through a rocky patch there’s nothing to fall back on. Anyone in business knows you have to save for a rainy day, but the politicians have failed to do this, which in my opinion is due to their lack of business knowledge and practical experience.

Bollywood adaptations of Western novels and films – case studies

Sholay

The ultimate Bollywood epic, it drew heavily on the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven, itself a remake of the Japanese classic Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai). Billed as “The Greatest Story Ever Told” it managed to live up to its own hype by becoming a box-office phenomenon and India’s highest-grossing film of all time, earning the equivalent of US$60 million. Initially a commercial flop, word-of-mouth drove cinema-goers back to enjoy this tale of lawless bandits and small time-convicts, making it the biggest hit of Indian cinema to date, with many cinemas playing the film for several years.

Bride and Prejudice

Directed by Gurinder Chadha, the writer/director of Bend It Like Beckham, this was a successful Bollywood-style adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, filmed primarily using English dialogue. Starring supposedly India’s most beautiful woman Aishwarya Rai and Lost’s Naveen Andrews, the 2004 release received mixed reviews, with many critics claiming that although it was a valiant attempt to introduce Bollywood to the Western masses, it was a poor interpretation of the novel and the lead performances lacking in chemistry.

Black

Selected by Time Magazine (Europe) as fifth of the “10 Best Movies of the Year 2005”, this Hindi movie was partly based on Arthur Penn’s 1962 biographical film of Helen Keller, The Miracle Worker. Starring “The Big B” himself, India’s most-loved and prolific actor Amitabh Bachchan, the film won critical acclaim and broke records by winning eleven awards at the Hindi equivalent of the Oscars, the Filmfare Awards.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/bront235-gets-the-bollywood-treatment-1033804.html

Numbers week ending 21st Nov 2008

$20 million

The rumoured cost of the Atlantis Palm Jumeirah resort opening party in Dubai, which was attended by over 2,000 guests including Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue and Dame Shirley Bassey.

2,300

The number of viewer complaints to the BBC about political correspondent John Sergeant’s departure from the talent show Strictly Come Dancing.

12%

The rise in the number of properties repossessed in the third quarter of this year, according to the Council of Mortgage lenders.

10 inches

The height difference between Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and his wife Slavica, who is filing for divorce after 24 years of marriage.

12,000

The number of people listed as members of the BNP after a leaked document was published online. The people named have complained of receiving threatening and abusive phone calls and emails.

Zero

The number of belly buttons possessed by underwear model Karolina Kurkova, who has a smooth indentation on her navel in place of the usual “outie” or “innie”

10,000 rupees

Or £134, the amount charged by a hawker to a visiting Dutch couple for four samosas in India’s Bihar state. After the couple complained to the police, the hawker returned 9,900 of the rupees and has since gone into hiding.

Obituaries week ending 21st Nov 2008

Ya’akov Alperon, the Israeli mafia crime boss, died on Monday when a car bomb exploded in his vehicle in Tel Aviv, aged 53. It is reputed that he served as the head of the third largest crime family in Tel Aviv, the Alperon crime family, for decades.

Boris Fyodorov, the Russian politician and economist, died on Thursday aged 50. He served as Finance Minister of Russia under Boris Yeltsin, advising on economic reform in the final years of the Soviet Union and founded United Financial Group UFG, one of Russia’s top investment banks.

Carole Caldwell Graebner, an American tennis player, died on Wednesday aged 65. The top-ranked U.S. tennis doubles player in 1963, she won doubles titles at the U.S. and Australian championships in the 1960s. She later became a radio and television commentator and served on the U.S. Tennis association by chairing the Fed Cup Committee.

M. N. Nambiar, a veteran South Indian actor renowned for playing villains in

Tamil cinema, died on Wednesday aged 89. He had been in the film industry for over 50 years and completed more than 1000 films, mostly in Tamil but also in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and one English film `Jungle’, directed by William Burke.

Jim Mattox, the former Texas attorney general, died on Thursday aged 65. A Democratic politician, he had served three terms in the U.S. Congress and two terms as the Texas attorney general, but lost a high profile race to become Governor. As the Texas attorney general AG he fought against efforts to spare condemned inmates from the death penalty, and was a regular attendant at executions in Texas, the most active death penalty state in the US.

Debby, the Soviet-born world’s oldest polar bear, died on Monday aged 42. An orphan from the Russian arctic, she arrived in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo and produced six surviving offspring. The Guinness Book of World records named her as the world’s oldest polar bear this August, and she is thought to be the third oldest bear ever recorded for all eight living species of bears.

UK libel tourism

1. Rachel Ehrenfeld, an Israeli-born writer living in the US, was successfully sued in 2004 by Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz in the UK over claims made in her book Funding Evil that he and his family had provided financial support to Islamic terrorist groups. Even thought the book was not published in Britain, bin Mahfouz’s lawyers argued that more than 20 copies of her book had been purchased there online. The judge ruled that she had to pay a judgment of $225,000, apologize for false allegations and destroy existing copies.

1. The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet (executive editor Bent Falbert) was sued by Kaupthing, an investment bank in Iceland, for libel in London over critical articles about the company’s advice to the wealthy about tax shelters this year. The articles were published in an English translation on a Danish Web site that gets some, if minimal, traffic in Britain. They eventually reached an out-of-court settlement, with Ekstra Bladet agreeing to pay the bank “very substantial damages”, and cover “reasonable legal costs”.

1. New-York based Forbes Magazine was successfully sued in 2003 by Russian business tycoon Boris Berezovsky in a British court, over an article on his business activities and his connections with President Yeltsin, alleging that he was involved in the murder of political rivals his connections with President Yeltsin. Forbes agreed to publish a correction, both in the magazine and on its website.

1. Al Arabiya, a satellite television network based in Dubai and broadcasting in Arabic, was successfully sued by a Tunisian businessman over allegations he had ties to terrorist groups. He was awarded $325,000 (£165,000)

1. Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post was sued by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov this year over allegations that he had acted unlawfully in certain business transactions. The newspaper published an apology in its newspaper and online at its website, and agreed to the reading of the Statement in Open Court in order to unequivocally apologise for the false allegations.

1. Deborah Lipstadt was sued by David Irving in 1998 for calling him a Holocaust denier in her book Denying the Holocaust. However the English court found for Lipstadt, concluding that Irving was “an active Holocaust denier” as well as an anti-Semite and racist.

Credit crunch sales

Just outside the entrance to the flagship Marks and Spencers store in Marble Arch there is a Santa accompanied by his festively attired dog, silently dancing away to an unheard soundtrack and attempting to sell the Big Issues to the crowds of shoppers rushing past. The effect is slightly sinister but he’s happy enough to pose for the occasional tourist photo, smiling at the children in pushchairs being rolled into the shop by their bargain-hungry parents.

Inside the store, there is a steady stream of shoppers milling around, but it’s not quite the chaos you might expect. If it weren’t for the lurid green and red signs emblazoned all over the shop floor screaming “ONE DAY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR TODAY ONLY” and the eye-wateringly long queues at the check-out tills, you would scarcely know that one of the UK’s leading retailers had slashed a fifth off all its prices. A large number of punters seem to be here out of mild curiosity rather than to indulge in a spending frenzy, many having passed smiling M&S promoters handing out flyers on Oxford Street. There is the occasional customer laden down with baskets overflowing with shopping, but the number of shoppers exiting clutching purchases just about equals the number of those leaving empty-handed.

Most of the crowd here seem to be the retired, parents out for the day with their children or workers on their lunch break, looking for a new work shirt or picking up a couple of gifts for Christmas, rather than the crazed sale-hungry shoppers of previous prosperous times. Marks and Spencers are clearly pulling out all the stops to promote the sale, with extra staff on hand to assist customers and samples of liquor and wine freely distributed in the food hall, yet the economic downturn seems to have dampened the size of the sales crowd you would normally expect in the run up to Christmas.

Leaving the store, the dancing Santa is still at his post, but he’s distinctly a little less cheerful and energetic. Like the retailer he’s positioned outside, it seems like he’s simply just getting tired.

Vox pops

Victoria, 23, economics student, lives in Italy

I come to London a couple of times a year with family to do some shopping. Today my mother and I decided to come to M&S to have a look around, and we didn’t realise the M&S sale was on until we got here. It’s really great, especially as it’s coming up to Christmas.

For a European it’s strange to come to London and find that it’s almost cheaper to shop here than back home. I’ve found so many things today and the prices here are so good that I’ve filled my entire suitcase with shopping to take home!

Paul, 76, retired, lives in Essex

My daughter’s shopping at M&S today because of the sale. I decided to sit and wait for her outside as she can take a long time and I don’t have the energy to shop for hours! She’s a very keen shopper and I don’t think the economic downturn has had much of an effect on her – I think we’ll be heading to a couple more shops after she finally finishes here.

Luckily my family and I haven’t been affected too badly by economic changes. My wife and daughter certainly haven’t changed their shopping habits, we all just plod on the same as usual.

Candace, 30, US-born recruiter, lives in London

I’m here with my family. We normally like shopping in M&S anyway but we’ve come here today especially for the sale. On our way here I saw some flyers being handed out in the streets for other shops, so we might head to them next.

I would have bought a few little things for myself today in M&S but I couldn’t face the long queues at the tills. It’s a bit crowded in there – I feel bad for the parents with their kids in strollers, they’re getting crushed.

My family are doing really well though and found lots of bargains, especially some great men’s clothes. Most of the shopping we’ve done this week is for Christmas, which we’ll take back home with us to Chicago when we go back for the holidays.

Renata, 58, works in finance, lives in Germany

I’m on holiday in London mainly to meet up with friends and do some sight-seeing. But when I heard about the M&S sale when I was watching TV in my hotel room this morning I thought I’d come down and have a look. I really like M&S and come here often to do my shopping, but today I haven’t really bought anything as it’s been a bit busy for me. But the prices are really good! I might do some more shopping later – the pound is so weak against the Euro at the moment so it makes sense for me to do some of my Christmas shopping in London.

Annette, 46, credit controller, lives in London

I had the afternoon off work so I thought I’d do some shopping with my friend. At work this morning my colleagues told me about the M&S sale so I thought I’d definitely come and check it out. I love M&S, I like coming here to shop, the clothes are great and I like going to the café afterwards to take a break. But I’m not planning on buying too much in the sale – I’ve already done a lot of shopping in Primark today!

As for the state of the economy, I’m taking it all in my stride. I haven’t really thought about Christmas shopping but I’m not going to hold back – I’ll stop shopping if and when I run out of money!

Richard, 79, retired, lives in London.

I really like shopping at M&S, and I was planning to come shopping here today even without hearing about the sale. I think the quality of their merchandise has improved greatly in recent times, especially the men’s clothes. They have really good luxury labels.

I haven’t bought anything today, but only because I didn’t see anything that caught my eye. I haven’t personally been too badly affected by the economic downturn so my shopping habits haven’t changed much. I used to work in retail at John Lewis so I hate to see the high street retailers struggling. I want to see the shops doing well, so I’ll continue to keep shopping to support them.

Vinati, 40, not working, lives in London.

I’m taking a break from work at the moment, but because I wanted to spend more time with my family, not because of the current economic climate. My husband is supporting us but I’m still trying to be careful with money and not go too crazy with shopping. I heard about the M&S sale today and thought I’d come and have a look, maybe see if I can find any good bargains for Christmas. But I’ve already bought a few things from other shops today so maybe I’ll just be window-shopping.