No Holi for 150 years...

There is one village in Jharkhand has not celebrated Holi for 150 years, fearing a natural calamity if they do so.

Famine and deaths will follow if they celebrate Holi, believe residents of Durgapur village on the banks of the Khanjo river in Bokaro district, around 170 km from Ranchi.
Since my childhood I have not seen any celebration of Holi in the village. Some people who celebrated the festival some 50 years ago died," 85-year-old villager Maghi Mahto said.

Narrating the incident, he said: "Just after independence a few traders stayed on the day of Holi in our village. Going against our suggestion they celebrated Holi and died within a month. The cattle in their possession also died."
He said the incident reaffirmed the belief of villagers.

Villagers believe that Holi was last celebrated in Durgapur about 150 years ago during the reign of King Durga Prasad Singh.
"When Holi was celebrated in the village, cattle died and no crops grew for three successive years. The fear of famine prevents people from celebrating Holi."

Is It Time to Retrain B-Schools?

JOHN Thain has one. So do Richard Fuld, Stanley O’Neal andVikram Pandit. For that matter, so does John Paulson, the hedge fund kingpin.

Yes, all five have fat bank accounts, even now, and all have made their share of headlines. But these current and former giants of finance also are all card-carrying M.B.A.’s.

The master’s of business administration, a gateway credential throughout corporate America, is especially coveted on Wall Street; in recent years, top business schools have routinely sent more than 40 percent of their graduates into the world of finance.

But with the economy in disarray and so many financial firms in free fall, analysts, and even educators themselves, are wondering if the way business students are taught may have contributed to the most serious economic crisis in decades.

BA's T5 blunder knocks it out of Superbrands top 10

Setbacks for British Airways (BA), including the bungled launch of Terminal 5, have resulted in the airline falling out of the top 10 of the annual Business Superbrands survey for the first time.

The survey of 500 brands is voted on by a panel of 1,500 managers and organised by the Centre for Brand Analysis (CBA). It found the opening of Terminal 5 had severely damaged BA's business reputation and resulted in it dropping 28 places to 36.


Another brand to drop out of the top 10 was BBC Worldwide, which fell from four to 15. The BBC’s commercial arm held the top spot in 2007. The number one position has been retained by Google. Other new entries into the top ten include Sony, Nokia, Michelin and the London Stock Exchange, while Rolls-Royce rose from sixth to second. Business Superbrands Top 10 2009:

Google
Rolls-Royce
Sony
Microsoft
Nokia
GlaxoSmithKline
London Stock Exchange
Michelin
BP
Bupa

Could Cow Urine Cola Make a Splash?

In a country where cows are sacred, drinking their urine is close to godliness. And better yet, it's marketable.

The Indian proprietor behind the idea of a new beverage made from cow's urine says the drink will have many health benefits.(Getty/ABC News)

Along with protecting the bovine beast, the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wants to make a cola from the cow's urine, which they say has curative properties.

"It has been established that cow urine is capable of curing even cancer, so imagine a drink which would not only be tasty but also healthy," Om Prakash, leader of RSS, told ABC News.

So How's It Taste?

The cola concoction is currently undergoing laboratory testing in the northern city of Lucknow. The group hopes it will be launched in the market by the end of this year.

"It won't be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxics or pesticides. What do you get by drinking colas? Nothing. It's all gas, and that too is not good for health," he said.

So ready to have healthy indian colas.....

Google launches AdSense mobile search engine

Google has expanded its advertising offering for publishers with the launch of its AdSense mobile search engine, which enables mobile publishers to embed a Google search box on their site.
The AdSense search product is available for both mobile network operators and mobile website owners, and is being rolled out around the world.

Pepsi-Logo-Redesign-Document-Internet-Hoax--Real-Thing....

The new Pepsi logo conforms to design principles that go back thousands of years, represents the Earth’s gravitational pull and also draws upon the greatest works of art, according to a document posted on the Reddit.com.

The logo is the work of the Arnell Group, run by founder Peter Arnell and owned by Omincom, and reportedly cost more than $1 million to create. Entitled Breathtaking Design Strategy, the document was part of the pitch to Pepsi. It is littered with historical, philosophical, scientific and mathematical ideas dating back to 3000 BC, referencing the Golden Ratio, Feng Shui and Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity.

The presentation goes on to compare “Planet Pepsi” to the Earth’s magnetic pull, with diagrams showing Pepsi as the gravitational force between the end of the aisle and the checkout stand. It explains how “investment in our DNA leads to breakthrough innovation and allows us to move out of the traditional linear system and into the future.” It also discusses how the Mona Lisa, nautilus shells and the Earth’s magnetic field relate to the Pepsi logo.

FutureBrand redesigns Cadbury's Roses packaging

FutureBrand has created a new look for Cadbury's Roses, the chocolate selection brand which is 70 years old this year.Cadbury briefed FutureBrand to make the product appeal to younger consumers without alienating Roses' older core fans.

The design, a simplified version of the current packaging which will be available from the middle of this month, is aimed at women over the age of 35. The blue of the box has been lightened and the drawing of a rose has become more contemporary.

In tribute to the well-remembered 1990s TV ad campaign which was based around using Roses to say "thank you", Futurebrand aimed to re-introduce the specialness of the brand and capture the essence of gifting.

The brand name on the packaging has been made more prominent and will appear as a gift card on the front, so enhancing the gift appeal and stand out. Alan Flude, creative director at FutureBrand, said: "The packaging has not undergone a major re-design for a long time so moving the brand forward and still keeping it friendly and inclusive was a challenge."

So new pack same taste is what's on store now.....