Peering Inside

[Sport: Cricket] IPL 4 squad analysis following auction (8 & 9 January 2011)

2011-01-09T18:04:00.000+02:00

So the player auctions for the IPL 2011 season (and beyond) have come to pass and most teams have had a total revamp. The only team which will have a retained a major contingent of their squad is the Chennai Super Kings and they have been contenders in all 3 seasons since tournament inception (so it makes perfect sense for them to retain the look of their squad).

Some teams have chosen not to retain even a single player and gone with fresh line ups! Two new franchises have entered the fray in the form of Kochi and Pune taking the total number of teams to ten. Not long ago there were only 7 teams whose participation was without doubt, this after the banning of two existing franchises by the BCCI (Rajasthan & Punjab) and ownership squabbles within the Kochi franchise threatened it to become a non-starter. Rajasthan and Punjab decided to take the BCCI to task and the higher powers of the land ruled in their favour thus entitling them to compete and effectively 'unbanning' them.

So the player auction (which had been postponed due to the team uncertainty) could go ahead on 8 & 9 January 2011. It appears the Kochi franchise have not had time to finalise their team name and logo but that did not stop them from being one of the more active parties on the auction floor.

Now the question is, which team(s) emerged from the auction with the best players and which is the most balanced squad? Its pretty obvious that simply rating the players based on how much the final bid they were sold for at the auction is not the way to go because of the nature of auctions. There have been loads of media content on who fetched the largest sums, who were the 'steals' and who went unsold against the predictions but not much to evaluate the various team strengths based on player ability and squad completeness, that is what I have attempted to do.

The Squad composition table is available as a pdf download available here.

Scoring Methodology
Each player has been assigned a 'Quality/Ability' score (based on performance at domestic and international level and prior IPL seasons). Scoring of players will always be subjective and the scores presented are my personal view. These individual ratings are then used to determine an overall score for each team based on player quality.

A second score is computed based to indicate the 'Completeness of the squad' which essentially takes into account the number of players already signed up (and bearing in mind that those signed on outside the auction are generally not going to be of the same caliber as they have not represented India at international level). The squad completeness also takes into account the number of Indian players vs the international players in the squad (this rating is preferential towards Indian players due to the limit of 4 internationals in the starting line-up for each match).

Team Ratings summary pdf download available here.

Both these scores are then used to derive an overall team score based on the squad profiles after the auction. The table above indicates a few surprising findings alongside the more expected results, there is little to separate the leading 5 scores but the top 3 sides are Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi respectively whilst the three weakest teams are Punjab, Kolkata (in spite of their big money signings!) and Rajasthan.

Rajasthan appear to be the side with the biggest concern here, they have the fewest number of players in their squad (less than half that of Chennai, Delhi or Kochi) and despite this only manage to obtain a mediocre player quality score (this can only go down with signings after the auction). While they may be able to improve their squad completeness score with some 'Asnodkar' type signings their quality score will take a hit and thus their overall team score will likely remain at the bottom of the rankings. One might say that they pulled off the unexpected with an average squad in the inaugural season but I think they will struggle to repeat a similar feat again.

A table of detailed team ratings by individual player ratings is available as a pdf download available here.

The complete spreadsheet is also available (xlsx format) here.

2010 World Cup Rankings

2010-08-04T11:44:00.001+02:00

These are the tournament rankings from the World cup (from FIFA). Unsurprisingly the top 4 on the list were also the best four finishers in the competition. It's also worth noting that all 5 South American teams finished in the top 10.

1- Spain	17- Ivory Coast
2- Netherlands	18- Slovenia
3- Germany	19- Switzerland
4- Uruguay	20- South Africa
5- Argentina	21- Australia
6- Brazil	22- New Zealand
7- Ghana	23- Serbia
8- Paraguay	24- Denmark
9- Japan	25- Greece
10- Chile	26- Italy
11- Portugal	27- Nigeria
12- USA	28- Algeria
13- England	29- France
14- Mexico	30- Honduras
15- South Korea	31- Cameroon
16- Slovakia	32- North Korea

Match 2 Review - France v Uruguay

2010-06-12T12:20:00.000+02:00

France 0 - 0 Uruguay [Full-Time]

This was a dull affair in comparison to the opening match. Both sides did not play to their potential and it was a very stop-start affair. The Japanese referee officiating was conned by a number of dives from the Uruguayans and constantly had his whistle in his mouth. The biggest moment of the match was the sending off of Lodeiro for his second bookable offence, he had only come on in the second half.

The goal keepers in this match were far more assured and reinforced my initial opinion that the Mexican keeper Perez seems below par. The infamous Jabulani ball almost caused an embarrassment for French keeper Hugo Lloris as it skipped of the surface and out of grasp of his outstretched gloves, he was able to parry it and then collect it on second attempt without any damage done.

The playing surface, rated as the best in the country by Fifa, appeared quite slippery as there were numerous instances or the players losing their feet (even the ref nearly wiped on one occasion). This was probably down to the 'due' factor which is commonly referred to in cricket matches under lights. The match kicked off at 8:30pm and so it appears they was a fair amount of due on the surface and other teams playing the late fixture will have to take note and maybe adjust their footwear to handle the conditions.

Nothing much else to write home about, the French team is made up of quite a few stars and on their day they have the potential to overcome any opponent. The Uruguay side have got a good striking force but overall (from their first performance) don't match the caliber of the Mexican side. The next match between SA v Uruguay and France v Mexico will be crucial to the outcome of this group, for now its all square at 1 point a piece.

Match 1 Review - South Africa v Mexico

2010-06-11T18:07:00.000+02:00

South Africa 1 - 1 Mexico [Full-Time]

The first match of the world cup did not disappoint! South Africa put on a good show against a very strong opponent. The Mexicans once again did not make the most of their opportunities in front of goal verifying previous speculation that they are not the most clinical finishers (think back to the friendly against England). Their most lethal player was Giovani Dos Santos (No. 17), a very skillful attacking midfielder who can skip past defenders with ease... reminiscent of Ronaldinho... even his hairstyle :)

The media were talking up the home support being SA's 12th player but if anything I think it was Jabulani (the ball!) which earned that title. There were countless crosses to Aguilar, who in the first half frequently found himself in acres of space down the right side, which were 'overhit'. I think that this was probably due to the lightness of the ball resulting in increased flight. Both sides sent shots from free kicks well over the crossbar. There were also instances when the ball bounced over the heads of players attempting to control a ball on the bounce.

South Africa's best player (despite the spectacular goal from Tshabalala) was Itumeleng Khune, the goal keeper. It was he who kept SA in the game through the jittery start when Bafana Bafana couldn't even string 3 passes together. Had Mexico gone ahead in the first 10 minutes then there would be no coming back. It was Tshabalala who received the Man of the Match award though, for his stunning strike which couldn't have been better placed, landing perfectly in the top right corner of the goal.

The second half was a much improved performance by SA, coach Carlos made a vital substitution, taking Twala off for Masilela, which closed that gaping hole in the left of defence. Bafana Bafana impressed with their quick short passes to shake off their markers and exposed the Mexican defence on more than one occasion. Indeed they had two goal scoring chances which they could have (and probably should have) made more of. But they were not able to hold on to their lead having left 3 Mexicans unmarked on the receiving end of a cross. The ball fell to Marquez who made no mistake with his finish.

Which brings me to the weakest player in the Mexican team. This accolade goes to Oscar Perez, the goal keeper, who looked (atleast from first impressions) far from assured dealing any aerial deliveries, and he was unable to hold on to any ball hit with any kind of venom. Perez also had his upright to thank when he found himself totally flat footed when Mphela slid the ball to his right. We'll have to see if the more renowned keepers (i.e. Casillas, Julio Ceasar, Buffon...) also struggle to hold on to shots and crosses. One thing's for sure, Khune looked more impressive than Perez in this game.

It was pretty obvious that Mexico were the superior side in ability and quality (a fact confirmed with a glance at the Fifa rankings which has Mexico ranked 17th and South Africa in 83rd). South Africa would have accepted the outcome of a draw if offered before the game and that's what they got, so they wouldn't be disheartened and on balance one could say that a draw was a fair result based on proceedings.

Eyes now turn to the second Group A match of the day, between France and Uruguay, due to kick off at 8:30pm in Cape Town. Both South African and Mexican camps will feel that a place in the next round is still within their grasp.

[Photos are courtesy of Getty Images and Fifa.com]

The FIFA World Cup™ Kick-off Celebration Concert

2010-06-11T10:51:00.000+02:00

So the concert happened last night... Wow... It was really well organised... Artists from South Africa, the rest of Africa, Columbia and the US got the whole vibe going. None more so than the Black Eyed Peas who had the entire crowd jumping when they performed "Tonight's gonna be a good night" and Shakira warmed up the chilly evening with her performances capped with the official world cup song... (Waka Waka... or something... its a cool song... grew on me). K'naan also performed what has been selected as Coke's world cup anthem (and you know anything they choose will be big) "Wave your flag" and had the crowd waving passionately for their countries.

The local acts did not disappoint either... amongst them the Parlotones, the Blk Jks (Blackjacks lol), the Soweto Gospel choir and Freshlyground... some performing with Shakira and Alicia Keys...

Some of the other African artists/and Juanes perhaps didn't get the crowd going as much as they were probably an unknown entity to most present but I'm sure their performances were much appreciated by their fans following the broadcast on TV...

Overall a really classy stage presentation and also broadcast in HD... Well done to all involved... Its just the beginning...

Thoughts on the lead up to the opening game of the World cup... under 2 days to go!

2010-06-09T20:43:00.000+02:00

So as Wednesday evening comes to pass there is just one day to go before the Football World Cup commences. There is definitely no shortage of support and encouragement for the host nation. A massive event was organised by a couple of radio stations and at noon today there was a parade through the streets of Sandton with the team in an open-top a bus. Thousands of fans turned out, and throughout the country people were hooting and blowing on their vuvuzelas at noon (though I didn't quite understand what that achieved... perhaps to spread the excitement).

However... one must ask the question... why is there a celebratory event involving the team 2 days before the tournament commences? The first match against Mexico is a test for the team, so one has to ask if they aren't better off either training/resting and remaining focussed for the big challenge that lies ahead? Usually a student who's about to sit for a major exam avoids external distractions in the lead up to the day of assessment and spends time concentrating on how best to prepare for it.

These sentiments were echoed by the coach Carlos Alberto Perreira when interviewed by Supersport on the bus. Let me just say that if there's one guy I support in the Bafana Bafana setup it is Carlos, his recent press statements have been awesome, just shows the man has vast experience and understands football. Whatever happens in the tournament I sincerely hope that he does not criticised for the teams performance cause it is clear that he has done his part. This is what he had to say about the parade, "I have mixed feelings... It is the first time I've ever seen a parade before a match..." (and he's from Brazil!). On being asked if the whole team would be coming for the parade he responded, "No, it is not advisable to have the whole team two days before a big game like this... Where is the football in this, tell me?" And like I said previously I couldn't agree with him more, he was the only person interviewed whose words showed that he was grounded and could see the bigger picture unlike everyone else who was just swept away in the excitement. I'm glad he's the coach.

The parade was a good idea... for the public to celebrate the world cup coming... but I can't help feeling that a significant contingent of the population aren't really excited for the football, and that's what this is all about... the Football world cup, not the opening ceremony or the parades. I fear that its going to be a huge anti-climax for them once the games begin.

I also worry for those who have unrealistic expectations for the Bafana side, the fact is they are in a really challenging group. Both France and Uruguay are previous winners of the tournament, Mexico has advanced past the group stage in the last four world cups and have looked very impressive in the friendly matches against England, Netherlands and Italy prior to their arrival. In fact I reckon that Mexico and not France will top Group A.

My aspirations for Bafana are much more realistic, they're guaranteed three matches and they can do the nation proud by playing good football and scoring goals, they've only ever won a match once before in a world cup (beating Slovenia 1- 0 in 2002), if they manage 1 victory and 2 draws to put them second in the group this time round that'll be a massive feat.

To be selected to represent your country is a rare privilege, to do so at a World Cup hosted in your own country... now that's a 'Once in a Lifetime' opportunity, I just hope the boys realise this and perform to the best of their ability.

Ayeye Bafana Ayeye!

What motivates you?

2010-06-09T13:51:00.000+02:00

This is an amazing clip... The message is quite profound (took me a while to digest) and the presentation is exquisite... I wish textbooks came in audio with comics strips like that :)

Google Streetview in South Africa

2010-06-09T10:45:00.000+02:00

Google has launched Street View in South Africa (atleast in some of the major cities).

So what exactly is Street View and how do you get to explore it?

> Street View is a layer in Google Earth which goes down to street level to show an image of how the street would look if you were standing at that spot and looking around (i.e. how it'd appear to the man on the street).

> To access street view open Google Earth (if you don't have Google Earth you can download it here) and make sure the street view label in the bottom left of the screen is selected as illustrated in the screenshot.

When this is done you'll notice several camera icons appear when you zoom into the map, click on the one at the address you which to view and then select 'show full screen'.

Upon doing this you'll can click on what appears to be a blurry sphere and it'll take you to the Street View. A sample of the Brooklyn Circle in Pretoria is shown below...

Heineken Makarapa Advert!!!

2010-06-05T00:31:00.000+02:00

Too coooool :D

FIFA world cup tickets.. are there any left? Status as of 13 May 2010

2010-05-13T15:25:00.000+02:00

So a glance at the availability of tickets on the FIFA site indicates the following:

There are no tickets available in the following venues (unless there are cancellations from from foreign FA allocations):

- Johannesburg (Soccer City)
- Johannesburg (Ellis Park)
______________________________________________________

There are very few tickets available in the following venues:

- Pretoria:
Category 1
Match 38 - USA v Algeria

- Durban:
Category 1
Match 25 - Netherlands v Japan
Match 35 - Nigeria v South Korea
Match 53 - Netherlands v Paraguay (my prediction)

- Cape Town:
Category 1
Match 11 - Italy v Paraguay
Match 30 - Portugal v North Korea
______________________________________________________

There are still tickets available in various categories for certain matches at the following venues:

- Rustenburg:
Category 1
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 24 - Ghana v Australia
Match 33 - Mexico v Uruguay
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

Category 2
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

Category 3
Match 12 - New Zealand v Slovakia
Match 43 - Denmark v Japan

- Port Elizabeth:
Category 1 & 2
Match 4 - South Korea v Greece
Match 13 - Ivory Coast v Portugal
Match 21 - Germany v Serbia
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland
Match 37 - Slovenia v England
Match 49 - France v Nigeria (my prediction)
Match 57 - Netherlands v Brazil (my prediction)
Match 63 - Losers final

Category 3
Match 4 - South Korea v Greece
Match 21 - Germany v Serbia
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland
Match 49 - France v Nigeria (my prediction)
Match 63 - Losers final

Category 4
Match 31 - Chile v Switzerland

- Polokwane:
Category 1
Match 6 - Algeria v Slovenia
Match 18 - France v Mexico
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

Category 2 & 3
Match 6 - Algeria v Slovenia
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

Category 4
Match 42 - Paraguay v New Zealand

- Nelspruit:
Category 1, 2 & 3
Match 15 - Honduras v Chile
Match 28 - Italy v New Zealand
Match 40 - Australia v Serbia
Match 46 - South Korea v Ivory Coast

Category 4
Match 15 - Honduras v Chile
Match 40 - Australia v Serbia
______________________________________________________

For the latest info consult the FIFA site.

How fast is Google Chrome? Faster than sound... lightning?

2010-05-06T11:54:00.000+02:00

Speed tests with a difference... Really creative clip... :)

KLM Economy comfort

2010-04-29T14:31:00.000+02:00

Figure this out!

[Aviation] Jet Airways expands international network... to introduce direct flights to South Africa!

2010-02-18T15:00:00.000+02:00

Yes you heard right, its finally been confirmed, Jet airways will commence daily direct flights between Mumbai and Johannesburg from mid April 2010.

Flight 9W 242 which is the incoming flight will depart from Mumbai @ 2.05am and will arrive in Johannesburg at 7:35am, the return leg will depart Johannesburg at 11am and arrive in Mumbai at 11:30pm.

Jet airways currently flies to numerous destinations in the Arabian Gulf as well as New York, Toronto, Brussels, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Kuala Lampur (naturally flights originate in India, most from Mumbai).

[Aviation] - Airbus A380 now flies to Johannesburg, courtesy of Air France

2010-02-18T12:35:00.000+02:00

Airbus have now delivered a total of 26 A380s to Singapore Airlines (10), Emirates (8), Qantas (6) and Air France (2).

Air France is the first European carrier to take delivery of the A380. The first aircraft was drafted into its Paris - New York route, and the second will serve the Paris - Johannesburg route! Air France have been operating Boeing 777s on this route 10 times a week but have decided to add a couple of the Airbus A380s and reduce the number of flights to 7 a week come the end of March (made possible because of the increased capacity of the A380). The first Air France A380 flight to Johannesburg landed today morning!

So if you're planning to fly between France and South Africa you know which flight to look out for. A clip of the Air France A380 interior is included, keep in mind that you'll only be able to experience the luxurious amenities if you fly First class :)

[Aviation] Boeing readies latest models to take flight

2010-02-12T13:44:00.000+02:00

As a matter of fact, they're already in the air undergoing a barrage of tests. Which models I hear you ask, well one which you may have guessed is the much publicised (probably more because of its delays than any other single factor) is the so called Dreamliner, the new Boeing 787. The mid-sized aircraft initially famed for racking up orders faster than any previous wide body airliner, a figure which is currently over 850, became a victim of its own ambition. At a time when the super jumbo from Airbus was encountering heavy delays that resulted in lose of face and shriveling up of fresh orders, Boeing confidently stated there were no such hiccups with their Boeing 787 progress only to concede later, more than once, that they too weren't as infallible as they led themselves to believe. The resultant delays meant that the aircraft's maiden flight took place more than 2 years later than originally intended!

In fact that maiden flight happened quite recently, it was 15 December 2009 when the first of the 787s eventually took to the air. Any number of expectant airliner personnel would have breathed a sigh of relief to see it in the air, and thats discounting the hoards of Boeing staff who came out to witness the big moment. But the wait is not over, with the first delivery only expected at the end of 2010 following the testing phase.

So what's so great about the 787, well it is built from lighter composite materials which should improve fuel consumption figures. Why is this is a big deal one might ask, the answer is because over the past decade the average percentage of the total running costs reported by airlines indicate that the cost of fuel which used to be around 10 - 15% has escalated to about 30% of the total operational cost! Alright good for them, but set aside the profit margins, what do we as passengers have to look forward to? Will it have a lie flat configuration in economy, unfortunately the seats appear to be pretty much the same as what we're used to (yup, knee breaking, spine crushing... its all the same). There will however be a feature which will allow you to dim the windows (referred to as electro-chromic) with the touch of a button, thereby eliminating the need for a window blind. Its cool but not exactly mind blowing, the clip below shows a demo.

While all the hype has been over the 787 the 'new' 747-8 took flight on 9 February 2010. It looks pretty much the same as the 747 which has been around for four decades but now it features redesigned wings and new engines as its major modifications in an effort to drive down the fuel consumption. You might also notice from the picture the lack of windows along the side of the aircraft, there are only three, that's because this is a freighter aircraft. The passenger variant of the 747-8 to be christened 'Intercontinental' will follow later in the year. Boeing will indeed be able to carve out a market share for the latest 747 as there hasn't been any alternative for large cargo aircraft since the old 747. The A380 freighter variant is suspended for the moment while they try to get production figures of the passenger edition up to the desired figures. So it appears the cargo carriers are queuing up in anticipation to rid their old jumbo fleets in favour of the more economical 747-8.

One thing's for sure, Boeing and Airbus are going to be really busy for the next couple of years churning out aircraft to meet the backlog, lets hope they don't incur any further mishaps.

[Sport - Football] Phase 4 set to commence... Fifa World Cup 2010 Ticket sales

2010-02-08T15:41:00.000+02:00

The fourth ticket sales phases kicks off on 9 February 2010 at 1:00pm South African time (GMT +2). In this phase tickets will be allocated on a 'first come, first served, subject to availability' basis so don't delay your application! 400 000 seats will be on sale in this phase, though not all the matches will be available in this phase, those listed below are excluded, possibly due to high demand in previous phases:

Match 5 - England vs USA
Match 11 - Italy vs Paraguay
Match 37 - England vs Slovenia
Match 45 - Brazil vs Portugal
Match 54 - 1G vs 2H - Round of 16 fixture (likely Brazil vs Chile)
Match 56 - 1H vs 2G - Round of 16 fixture (likely Spain vs Portugal/Ivory Coast)
Match 59 - Quarter-final fixture (possibly Argentina vs Germany)
Match 60 - Quarter-final fixture (possibly Italy vs Spain)
Match 61 - Semi-final fixture (possibly England vs Brazil)
Match 62 - Semi-final fixture (possibly Germany vs Spain)
Match 64 - Final

Thus far apparently about 2 million of the 3 million odd tickets have already been sold. Aside from the host nation the most ticket applications have been received from the following countries:

1 - USA
2 - UK
3 - Australia
4 - Mexico
5 - Germany
6 - Brazil

[Sport - Cycling] Lance Armstrong's doing the ARGUS this year!!!!

2010-02-04T11:56:00.000+02:00

This showed up on Lance's twitter feed yesterday, "Hey South Africa! Excited to come down in March. Bringing your man Daryl Impey with me. And yes, we're racing The Argus.... "

Daryl Impey is a 25-year old South African cyclist who has signed for Armstrong's Radioshack team.

For those of you who don't know the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour is an annual 109 km cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa. This year the main race will be held on Sunday, 14 March and entries are still open of international riders. With approximately 40,000 cyclists taking part, it is the world's largest individually timed cycle race, and is the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike Series.

Photos taken from lancearmstrong.com and livestrong.com.

[Aviation] Air New Zealand to launch innovative flight seat options... in Economy!

2010-01-26T11:43:00.000+02:00

Seating in Economy class on airplanes haven't changed for decades. Over time many airlines have introduced much improved solutions on First and Business class, Singapore airlines offers private suites with a bed on First class on their latest Airbus A380 fleet and Emirates offers showers(!) to First class passengers on their A380s (though limited to about 2 minutes). Now I've flown on an Emirates A380 (in Economy class, naturally) and let me tell you, as far as the seating goes it was just as cramped as any 30 year old airplane configuration.

So I was pleasantly surprised to read an article which stated that Air New Zealand plans to launch 'couples beds' in economy class. About time an innovation or two filtered down to Economy class, and hats off to Air New Zealand for initiating it. See for yourself in the clip below, the economy seating is towards the end. It'll be awesome for off peak flights, a bed for the price of a basic Economy seat.

Content obtained from futuretakingflight.com/

[Sport - Cricket] Why is Pakistan upset with the recent IPL auctions???

2010-01-21T19:09:00.000+02:00

Cricketing media have released articles recently with titles like "PCB 'highly disappointed' by IPL snub" and "Pak players to avoid IPL, outrage continues" due to the fact that none of the Pakistani players were bid for in the recent IPL player auction. Do they have a point??? No they don't, and this is why...

May it be said that the Pakistani cricketing officials missed the original deadline to issue their players with clearance documentation for the IPL and only managed to provide this after special measures were taken afterwards.

This naturally would not instill confidence into the various IPL teams who are naturally looking to obtain players with the ability to strengthen their squads and crucially players who will be available for participation as many matches of the tournament as possible.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist/stock broker to realise that there are risks with availability of Pakistani players which are outside the players' and teams control. Indeed last year the PCB/Pakistani government decided to prevent their players from partaking in the IPL due to 'security concerns' (note it wasn't terrorists from India who had attacked Pakistan, so this was rather ridiculous!) and so the IPL franchises had to suffer due to unavailability.

In my opinion this was most evident with the Kolkota Knight Riders (who finished bottom in season 2 of the IPL) whose owner Sharukh Khan, was initially very keen on the Pakistani players and had the most number in his squad of any of the IPL teams. Do you blame him for not bidding for any of them this time round!!!

And the other complaint from the Pakistan corner is that they find it hard to fathom how the IPL franchises could decide that not one of the Pakistanis were good enough to partake in the IPL. This is also ludicrous as once again it can be shown that player availability in the tournament where the number of international players in a squad is capped is key. KKR bought out (effectively released) Ricky Ponting so as to be able to obtain another player (they ended up getting Shane Bond), was it because Ponting is not good enough, or could it have due to his unavailability for the majority of the past two seasons? You decide.

I agree it is a pity about Pakistan who have a strong cricketing heritage, however, one must note that the IPL was not the cause of their troubles. The damn terrorist plot to assassinate the Sri Lankan cricketers was the cause! If only the politicians and PCB would realise that stop complaining about India and resolve their domestic security issues which would allow international cricket tours to go ahead in Pakistan.

As far as the IPL goes, it may not occur to the Pakistani authorities but the IPL had to be moved out of India last year due to security concerns (admittedly the concurrent national elections impacted as sufficient security personnel were not available to safely manage both events), but the whole reason of insecurity was sparked because of, yup you guessed it, terrorist attacks emanating from Pakistan.

Why then is there such disbelief to find out that, all things considered, the IPL and/or IPL franchises are not keen to have Pakistani players partaking just yet?

[Sport - Football] FIFA World Cup 2010 Groups

2009-12-05T06:41:00.000+02:00

The graphic says it all... These are the groups of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Phase 3 of ticket sales goes on sale today. The match schedule (downloadable pdf) is available here (all information in this post has been obtained from the official FIFA website).

[Sport - Soccer] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

2009-11-19T19:55:00.000+02:00

Its been decided, the playoffs are over! All 32 nations which will compete in the FIFA 2010 World Cup have been determined. In just over 200 days the teams listed below will converge in South Africa for the much anticipated contest. (Click on image to enlarge).

There were a few upsets in the playoffs. Pity Gus Hiddink could not manage to get the very talented Russian side through the play-offs, Slovenia qualified at their expense. The other major upset (this one I was happy about) was that the Algerians beat the much fancied Egyptian side (while Egypt is a good side they've always been a bunch of faking divers and I hate them for that). The Greeks (in my opinion the dullest side in world football) managed to get past Ukraine by a single goal, sigh. But undoubtedly the Republic of Ireland with the unluckiest team (the irony) when it came to the failing to make it right at the very end. The saddest thing was that they were leading the much fancied French side in Paris until Thierry Henry blatantly handled the ball in the penalty area (twice!) to keep it in play and then crossed it in to what resulted in the goal which France drew level and enabled them to go through on aggregate.

The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

[Sport] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 15 November 2009)

2009-11-15T23:30:00.000+02:00

With only 6 more spots to be filled the following from the following playoffs the team lineup is looking concrete. Thankfully the major African teams have qualified this time round, its hard to determine the African qualifiers due to a high level of inconsistency (at the 2006 World Cup in Germany the African qualifiers were drastically different to the 2002 World Cup in Korea & Japan). The following teams still have a chance of making it:

Africa
Egypt / Algeria

South/Central America
Uruguay / Costa Rica

Europe
Ireland / France +
Portugal / Bosnia-Herzegovina +
Greece / Ukraine +
Russia / Slovenia

The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

[Sport] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 14 October 2009)

2009-10-15T23:08:00.001+02:00

Just 9 spots left! The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

[Sport] FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 10 October 2009)

2009-10-11T10:48:00.000+02:00

Africa
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- South Africa (Hosts)

Asia
- Japan
- South Korea
- North Korea
- Australia

Europe
- Spain
- England
- Holland
- Denmark
- Germany
- Serbia
- Italy

South America
- Brazil
- Paraguay
- Chile

North, Central America & Caribbean
- USA
- Mexico

13 spots are yet to be decided. The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

[Format] Post titles to get labels

2009-10-02T14:23:00.000+02:00

As of October 2009 'Peering Inside' will adopt a labelling system in an attempt to reduce some of the chaos brought about by the random nature of the topics posted on the blog. A word/short phrase enclosed in square brackets will included with the title to indicate the category of the post.

Typical classifications will be:
[Academic]
[Automotive]
[Finance]
[Internet apps]
[Software]
[Sport]
[Technology]
[Transportation]

[Business] When will IKEA open stores in South Africa???

2009-09-30T15:32:00.000+02:00

In case you haven't heard the name IKEA (which is possible if you live in South Africa) let me give you a brief background. IKEA is a retailer with Swedish roots, which pioneered flat-pack design furniture at affordable prices, and is now the world's largest furniture retailer. Now, you may ask what the big deal is about a furniture store, after all we have our fair share of those but the thing is until you've been to an IKEA store you won't realise how innovative, competitive and just how much better they are than any old South African furniture store.

How are they different? To start off... they've got variety (to give you an indication the average IKEA store size is over 25000m sq), their products are designed to be practical solutions for everyday usage, and they are "flat packaged" in ingenious ways to make transporting easier, all this while maintaining competitive pricing made possible by large scale production.

Now isn't it a pity that there are no IKEA stores in South Africa, they've got stores in just about every other country that's worth having a presence in. There is a huge potential for a opening a few IKEA stores in South Afica particularly in the booming Gauteng metropolis where a the majority of the country's working class flock to for well paid employment. The densely populated locale with numerous first time home owners presents a massive opportunity for a successful store offering. The cities of Cape Town and Durban would also be prime locations for stores (not to mention that the stores imported products would have to enter the country somewhere along the coast so having a store nearby would be convenient).

Its a pity that someone who has the ability to make the above a reality may never get to read this post, the result being a lose-lose situation for both the South African public and IKEA.

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 11 September 2009)

2009-09-11T11:23:00.000+02:00

Africa
- Ghana
- South Africa (Hosts)

Asia
- Japan
- South Korea
- North Korea
- Australia

Europe
- Spain
- England
- Holland

South America
- Brazil
- Paraguay

With 3 more teams qualifying there are now 21 remaining spots. The above information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualifiers (as of 7 September 2009)

2009-09-07T13:03:00.000+02:00

The following 8 countries have already confirmed their places in the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.

- South Africa (Hosts)
- Ghana (Africa)
- Netherlands (Europe)
- Brazil (South America)
- Australia (Asia)
- Japan (Asia)
- South Korea (Asia)
- North Korea (Asia)

Most regions' qualifiers are yet to be completed and the remaining 24 slots are still up for grabs.

Information and world cup logo were obtained from the Official FIFA website.

The Confederations Cup Experience

2009-07-06T14:21:00.000+02:00

So the regional champs have departed following the confederations cup. It was a tournament that will probably be remembered most for the rise to prominence of the USA who made it to the final, and though they ended up losing to Brazil they displayed a quality of play and ability to score against highly rated opponents. This will help shed the 'technically inferior' tag they have held for having an easier qualification route to the world cups(than teams in the more competitive European and South American regions) perhaps hinting that they didn't really deserve to participate.

The football which was generally of a very high standard (with the exception of New Zealand perhaps who made it pretty obvious that they were a class below the rest). The hosts, South Africa, were fortunate to qualify for the semi-finals by getting through on goal difference in what was the weaker of the two groups. Bafana Bafana's biggest weakness remains their inability to convert goal scoring opportunities the way their more illustrious opponents can. South Africa don't look likely to progress far in the World cup to be held next year.

What about the tournament organisation? As a direct witness to this (being a spectator at 3 of the matches including the final) I can say that it was generally acceptable though level of organisation did defer by stadium. The efforts of the organisers to improve on the existing methods of parking when attending sports events locally has to be commended. So called 'Park-and-Ride' locations were allocated in the vicinity of the stadiums. A spectator would thus arrive and park his/her car at the designated area and then take a bus ride (free of charge) to the stadium (in Pretoria the bus convoy was actually given a police motorbike escort, enabling the buses to travel to the stadium without having to stop at the traffic lights). After the matches there was expectedly a delay in leaving the parking area due to the large number of cars exiting but on one occasion the cops actually blocked off traffic from other directions to increase flow of the spectators leaving which helped quite a bit.

Kickoff for the matches were either at 4pm or 8:30pm local time. It has to be said that the June-July period is the winter season (this being the Southern Hemisphere) and some of the late matches were extremely cold. At the final in Johannesburg I was seated high up in the stands behind the goal post on what was a rather chilly evening and the gusts of icy wind left me shivering despite having a jacket, scarf and beanie! I was left wishing I had brought a blanket along like some of the spectators sitting around me (will remember that for next year :).

Don't think the organisers could have done much about the weather aside from holding the matches earlier in the day but there are probably issues with TV viewership in timezones behind South Africa (GMT +2) that led to the matches being held when they were.

IPL Gauteng Fixtures

2009-04-23T17:33:00.001+02:00

Click on graphic to enlarge. Some of the Wanderers matches are now available for sale!

IPL Season 2

2009-04-03T09:46:00.006+02:00

Didn't feel like posting anything in the first quarter of 2009 but can't afford to anymore... There's just too much happening :)

Starting of with the IPL which is now being hosted in South Africa! (Bloody Pakistani terrorists!) ... Should it now be called SAPL??? The answer, no! cause everything is still run by the Indians (aka BCCI) and they're getting all the money! But for those of us based in SA, hooooray... and for those of us based in a city with a match venue an even bigger yippppeeeee...

Anyways... here's the ticket pricing for the various venues... (click on image to enlarge).

TomTom maps in South Africa now have 'Safety Camera indications'

2009-01-05T15:20:00.002+02:00

TomTom has now provided the 'safety camera' service for South African roads... What this means is drivers' can be alerted when approaching locations of speed cameras :)

This update is available as a free download till then end of January 2009, New models will come with the service pre-installed and 1 free up date will be available via HOME. Further updates will be available on a subscription basis at a cost of 399 Rand per year.

India 4 - 0 England

2008-11-24T20:34:00.003+02:00

Sounds like a football scoreline doesn't it... if only... Its the status of the current ODI cricket series in India between the two countries, and despite the fact the latter 2 of the matches' outcomes were determined by Messrs. Duckworth and Lewis, it has still been a pretty clinical display by the youthful Indian side. Being 4 - 0 up in a 7 match series with the trophy in the bag this team finds itself in a position that not many of its predecessors have been in, able to change the team line up for the next 3 games and give the rest of the squad a chance to shine. I'll probably jinx them with this article and so don't be surprised if England pull one back in the next match. This Indian side has something that was seriously lacking in those of the last decade and a half... depth... and a dynamic captain who's able to put it to good use. Well done boys :)

Group Stage Fixtures - Confederations Cup 2009

2008-11-23T11:35:00.003+02:00

Obtained from the official fifa site.

Conferderations Cup Participants

2008-11-18T12:09:00.003+02:00

Oh by the way... In case you didn't know these are the teams competing in the Confederations Cup, South Africa 2009

1 - South Africa (Host)
2 - Italy (Reigning World Cup holder)

Regional champs
3 - Brazil
4 - USA
5 - Spain
6 - Iraq
7 - New Zealand
8 - Egypt

How to get tickets for the FIFA Confederations Cup (14 -28 June 2009)

2008-11-18T10:48:00.007+02:00

Pre-sales ticket applications are now open to VISA customers! All the dates, venues and ticket pricing have been released. The actual draw, which will determine which teams are pit against each other (and where), will happen in a couple of days on the 22nd of November. Be sure to check where your favourite team(s) (be it Brazil, Italy, Spain, South Africa or one of the others) are playing. So you wanna buy tickets? Here's how...

Step 1 - Register on Fifa.com
Step 2 - Check pricing, dates (times also cause some of the matches are on weekdays) and venues.
Step 3 - Proceed to use your VISA card (which has been enabled for electronic transactions) and apply/purchase for the tickets online.
NOTE: There are discounted tickets for South African Residents (Category 4) and tickets are available on a first come first serve basis naturally :)

Step 2 can be accomplished partially by reading this article and fully by reading the next article which will be posted on November 22 following the draw.

All data below has been obtained from the official FIFA site.

FIXTURES (click on images to enlarge)

TICKET PRICING
Venue Specific

Individual Matches

The ushering out of the previous generation...

2008-11-07T15:11:00.007+02:00

Anil Kumble called it quits after the recent test in Delhi. One would have expected him to play out the last test of the series against Australia currently on the go but it appears the injury to his hand he picked up in the last test would hamper his fielding ability [the little he has :D ] and he decided to call it a day. Not a bad effort with 619 test wickets since his tenure begun in 1992. Its Amazing actually... He's India's top wicket taker by far, just to add some perspective he's got more wickets than the combined efforts (to date) of Zaheer Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Agit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag! Aai Gaa Anil Bhai!

Speaking of records, Sachin Tendulkar has eclipsed 12,000 test runs in the series against Australia on the go. Yup, that makes him the highest run getter of all time worldwide and he's also racked up over 40 centuries and 50 fifties in his test career... phenomenal. Sachin's not done :) no sign of retirement for India's most revered son just yet.

Sourav Ganguly who had previously stated that this would be his last series is also stepping down after a long and illustrious career.

The trio above along with Laxman who is playing in his 100th test were honoured for their achievements yesterday.

[Images Courtesy: cricinfo.com]

What happened to the airlines!

2008-11-07T12:00:00.005+02:00

The indian aviation sector which was booming just a year or two ago is now in the doldrums. Many domestic airlines have been cancelling/postponing inducting new aircraft orders and there are signs of releasing pilots and crew. The two big rivals, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are rethinking their routes and international strategies and have even formed an alliance on their ground services to reduce costs. Rising fuel costs are a killer to the airlines especially in India where jet fuel tax is the highest in the world at up to 40%, this is the main reason for the dismal performance in recent times. The resulting ticket price hikes coupled with the global credit crunch have had the effect of declining load factors reported across the aviation industry world wide. Lower revenues and higher operating costs result in reduced profit margins for some... and losses for others.

Normal programming has resumed...

2008-11-07T11:25:00.003+02:00

The month of November (what's left of it rather) has been declared blogging month here on 'Peering Inside', look out for regular posts on whats caught our attention while we were off. Your comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome as usual...

Beijing Extravaganza!

2008-08-27T09:32:00.016+02:00

The 2008 Olympics have just concluded in China and despite signs of protest prior to the games the events were hugely successful and very impressively staged.

So what or who rather will these Olympics be remembered? If I were to choose my top 3 performers of this Olympics they would be:

-1- In first place the fastest man ever on track even though it appears he isn't even straining himself, Usain Bolt, the star performer and joker on the track will undoubtedly be the name most people will remember from the Olympics. He took 3 golds and all 3 in world record time for the 100m(9.69s), 200m(19.30s) and 4x100m relay (37.10s).

Bolt became the first sprinter to break both 100 & 200m records at the same Olympics and it was also the first gold Jamaica have claimed in the Olympic 100m competition.
Following his victories, Bolt donated $50,000 to the children of the Sichuan province of China in aid of those harmed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

-2- Micheal Phelps is the next best thing to a dolphin in the pool claiming 8 Gold medals in swimming competition 7 of which were new World records and the other an Olympic record!!!

A truely exceptional feat as he was virtually competing day in and day out and to sustain his stroke through so many events is simply incomprehensible, he becomes the first Olympian ever to capture 8 Gold medals in a single competition.

-3- Team China The entire Chinese squad produced an astonishing effort in their home Olympics to ensure they finished with a 100 medals comfortably topping the standings with their 51 Gold medals. Now I can't say for sure but I serious doubt that any nation in history has been able to claim over 50 Gold medals in a single competition in Olympic history.

Looking at the results from the past 4 competitions a clear picture can be formed of China's improvement to their current feat. Plainly since Atlanta in 1996 China has progressively risen up the rankings from fourth to first in Beijing. Though the USA still had the most medals overall they were clearly No.2 in Beijing losing out to China overall in number of Golds won and Jamaica in the most hyped track events on which the US have traditionally held a foothold.

NeoConnect Package Details

2008-05-29T17:39:00.005+02:00

The packages and options are rather clearer now, indeed the service is offered as a 24 month contract, pricing includes cost of the 'phone' equipment, if the customer decides to discontinue the subscription then the payment will become R89 a month (this is for the hardware). The table below details the key aspects of the packages.

Apparently Neotel intends to double their base stations around Gauteng in the next month, current coverage includes the following areas Joburg CBD, Sandton, Rosebank, Randburg, Bedfordview, Menlo Park, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria CBD, Hatfield. It is quite odd that Neotel hasn't released a coverage map so those who would like to check if their residence has reception can do so. At the moment the only way to find out is through the Neotel call center (0800 333 636) or by email if you're lucky (consumers@neotel.co.za).

Brace yourself, Neotel is arriving...

2008-04-29T11:57:00.003+02:00

Finally after years of waiting it appears that Neotel are gearing up for a public internet consumer service offering in May. This along with recent statements that they now have access to the SAT-3 undersea cable are very promising indeed.

Details of the first consumer offering titled NeoConnect Prime have surfaced and initial impressions are that Telkom and the Mobile operators will have to make changes to their packages or else watch as they lose many potential and existing customers. Word on the street is that Telkom is planning to reduce adsl tariffs, we'll have to wait and see.

Neotel haven't advertised their consumer launch in the common print/television media as yet so it may be a while yet before the public are able to sign up. One would hope that by the end of May they sort all the initial admin issues and have a proper launch in the proposed regions (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape town and Durban) with the entire range of bundled options.

One thing that hasn't been indicated is if the service is provided as a contract for a fixed period (most related offerings are 2 year contracts), it may be safely assumed that the service will be a contract offering as the 'phone' equipment will be provided 'free of charge'.

The internet/broadband landscape in South Africa is about to undergo a radical upgrade with respect to performance, quality and cost. With Neotel and NeoConnect soon to become more than just names and various WiMax services set to come alive later this year Telkom will be dealt a knockout punch, one which will have them reduce their tariffs if they are to regain consciousness.

Remember you read it first right here... priceless information that'll save you loads...

IPL team websites

2008-04-16T10:34:00.002+02:00

The IPL begins this week and while I struggled to find a good tournament website, (the 'official' one hasn't been updated) the team websites are quite impressive. Seems most of the teams gear is provided by either Adidas or Reebok. Below find links to the team websites:

Bangalore Royal Challengers
Chennai Super Kings
Deccan Chargers
Delhi Daredevils
Kings XI Punjab
Kolkata Knigtriders
Mumbai Indians
Rajasthan Royals

Indian Owned - Jaguar... Land Rover

2008-03-27T17:09:00.004+02:00

That's right, the deal was formally announced yesterday, 26 March 2008, that Tata Motors of India has acquired British marques Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Ford put up the two brands for sale so as to focus on its core business of making general purpose vehicles for its primarily US market. Ford continues to own Swedish marque Volvo and a significant stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda.

Will Tata be able to do what Ford failed to and promote the brands to be profitable and competitive with their very successful German rivals? Time will tell... Its clear that it will be an uphill battle, Jaguar is unprofitable and Land Rover just managed to reach profitability in the past year, but if anyone can change things its got to be Tata.

Tata have pledged to retain production plants in the UK along with company staff and also have agreed to continue with the 5 year plans drafted by JLR (Jaguar, Land Rover) which run till 2011. My guess is that turnaround won't happen overnight, but in time the acquisitions may pay off. This is the motor industry and success of a company is mainly down to sales, and sales are driven by the product offering. If you can offer a product which is superior to the competition at the same price then the trajectory of the sales figures will gather vertical momentum.

A vehicle offering is judged by a number of categories, some of the key ones are:

> Performance
> Technology
> Design
> Reliability
> Value Retention
> Environmental Friendliness (increasingly important)
> Brand Name

On pondering over these areas its evident why Jaguar is not profitable.

> Performance have not been on par with German offerings.
> Technologically incomparable to German rivals (resulting in lower engine outputs, higher fuel consumption and interior gadgetry that's outdated).
> Design has not been bad but the classic trends have not been to everyone's tastes.
> Reliability hasn't been in the same league as the Germans/Japs.
> Value Retention the above factors result in the 2nd hand value dropping more than other marques.
> Jaguar do not make hybrid or smaller engined cars, and this is bad when it comes to the 'Enviro' rating.
> The Jaguar marque does have a history of producing luxury cars so this is one area they aren't suffering.

So Tata and Jaguar have quite a bit to do, some encouraging signs are that the latest offerings from Jaguar have modern appealing designs and appear to have improved in interior technology spec. The alliance with Tata may also help Jaguar when the new emissions laws get imposed in the west as Tata makes many small engined vehicles (the Tata Nano is the latest example) and if these are exported to the west then the overall 'Enviro' score may meet the requirements (other marques already use this technique to avoid penalties on their Luxury brands).

From this it can be seen that all is not gloomy and hence the reason for my quiet optimism. Either way it should be interesting to see if Tata's bold move pans out to be the stupid decision that'll have all the critics saying 'I told u so, anyone could have predicted it' or one that leaves them speechless.

IPL... Going once, Going twice, Sold to the highest bidder...

2008-03-11T14:19:00.004+02:00

If you haven't heard of the IPL cricket league as yet then where the hell have you been :) The first round of bidding and preliminary team analysis have been done extensively by various sources including our very own rambler Iby.

The second phase of bidding is now happening and the team squads are beginning to take shape. How they've come up with some of the names I haven't the slightest, but here they are:

Jet airways to SA in April '08? Not Anymore!

2008-02-28T09:39:00.005+02:00

Jet Airways has scrapped its plans to launch a Mumbai-Johannesburg flight from April in favour of more lucrative destinations.

Provisional schedules had indicated Jet Airways would launch direct flights between Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo Intl Airport) to Mumbai from April this year on a 3x weekly service however the airline has now postponed its planned operations to South Africa indefinitely in favour of more profitable routes to destinations such as the US and China.

Global MBA rankings

2008-02-06T04:59:00.000+02:00

The 2008 Financial times rankings of global MBA institutions is out.

The top 5 institutions don't raise any eyebrows, ranked as follows:

1> University of Pennsylvania: Wharton - USA
2> London Business School - UK
3> Columbia Business School - USA
4> Stanford University GSB - USA
5> Harvard Business School - USA

----------------------------
Other noteworthy institutions were:

20> Indian School of Business - India
71> University of Cape Town GSB - South Africa

The only representative from Africa is the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business - South Africa which is ranked 71st (lower than the rank they obtained last year around the 57 mark), a credible achievement nonetheless. UCT GSB is also rated 2nd best in terms of value for money of the course, now thats definitely a major draw card.

The sole Indian institution in the top 100 is the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad) coming in at a very praiseworthy rank of number 20, but for me the most astonishing thing about the results is that the weighted salary (average alumni salary today) which is topped by the Indian School of Business!!! I was expecting the exact opposite. However it appears that ISB is quite expensive and is comparable to the US institutions (which are undoubtedly the most expensive) in terms of value for money rank.

UCT GSB also beats many top rated business schools in the weighted salary category, their graduates are paid 11th best according to the findings! Indeed, go have a look for yourself, go to the FT page and sort by the weighted salary column (click on the column heading to sort by that respective category).

Well well well... Some things aren't the way they seem after all... I attribute this to the higher demand for graduates from these institutions as they are so much better than their peers from the local region (India and South Africa only have one institution ranked in the top 100 as opposed to countries like USA with many more).

Its all about the Money !

2008-02-01T04:12:00.000+02:00

The number of announcements of retirees from international cricket has be baffling of late. Big names Shaun Pollock, Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Tait, Boeta Dippenaar... and i'm thinking theres more to come in the next couple of months...

True some of the guys have past their peak and are now going down hill, but personally I think the fact that there is sound (very sound) source of income in store from the IPL (Indian Premier League) tournament that has been announced recently has made the decision to call it quits much easier to bare. Not only do will they get a much more relaxed schedule (IPL is a Pro20 match format) but the pressure of playing at international level will be another weight lifted off their shoulders.

So, for the more mature players and those who have never been assured a place in their national side the IPL may prove to be a new gold mine, indeed players will probably earn more playing in the IPL than from their international contracts... Hence the drop out... Shane Bond and others banded following their participation in the ICL rebel league also don't seem too perturbed.

Other stars who openly say their least favourite stadiums to play at are in India (eg Jacque Kallis) are all part of the IPL setup! The reason is simple... Its all about the money!

Jet airways global expansion goals for 2008

2008-01-28T02:49:00.000+02:00

This piece is credited to a recent article from TravelBizMonitor.

Recent International routes opened
- Belgium
- USA (NY)
- Canada
- The following destinations in the Gulf region
+ Bahrain
+ Kuwait
+ Doha
+ Muscat

Planned new routes for 2008
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Zurich
- Milan
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Vancouver
- Tel Aviv
- Johannesburg
- Shanghai
- Saudi Arabia
- Hong Kong
- Iran

The first phase which will completed by mid-2008 will be to connect to more European and American cities. And presumably the 2nd half of the year flights to new Asian and African (i.e. Johannesburg, South Africa) will be launched. Flights will be launched inline with the delivery of new aircraft on order.

Airline Update (India)

2007-12-31T08:30:00.000+02:00

As the year draws to a close, its now apparent that it will be remembered as an year of consolidation and international expansion dreams kicking off for some.

Kingfisher and Deccan have merged and will retain the Kingfisher name (their current 46% stake will be increased to 51%). This is the third deal of this nature after the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines (now just Air India) and Jet airways acquiring Sahara (now known as Jetlite).

Jet airways has kicked of its international operations successfully and has been adding new routes and destinations as its fleet receives new members. An exclusive lounge for their more privileged passengers has be unveiled at their European hub, Brussels. Code sharing with other international airlines are taking shape and it all looks a rosy picture going into the new year for them.

Air India following their merger is being inducted into the Star Alliance, which is the world's biggest airline alliance, now with 19 existing partner airlines. Full alliance benefits will probably arrive in 2009. Air India is poised to make a fresh order for extra widebody aircraft (possibly including the new Airbus A380) as it begins inception of the new Boeing aircraft from its last order (deliveries from this order are set to continue for the next 2 to 3 years). The airline is also planning to establish a European hub either at Munich, Germany or Vienna, Austria.

With Kingfisher also set to start flying outside India's borders by the end of 2008 it appears that the Indian players are beginning to compete on a global stage with services that are truly world class. Its clear they don't simply intend to match services of their international counterparts but to exceed them! An exciting year to look forward to from this perspective, compliments of the season and a Happy New Year to all, wishing you good health and success in the year ahead.

Tata motors set to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford

2007-12-31T01:05:00.000+02:00

Tata has emerged as the clear front runner to acquire the classic english marques from ailing Ford which is looking to curb losses by releasing the loss making brands. Ford however decided to retain Volvo for the present.

Two other companies have also showed keen interest, one of them Mahindra & Mahindra also of Indian origin, although Tata is the clear favourite after receiving approval from the unions in the UK.

So, what does Tata stand to gain from the deal?
In the long run, acquiring the two marques will improve Tata’s own offerings due to knowledge gained and share of expertise. In the meantime if they feel they can restore profitability of Jaguar it will be a bonus.
Jaguar and Land Rover also stand to gain cause they will be in the hands of a really large firm which has a lot of financial resources and so they have their best shot of success (i.e. retaining the objectives of their branding and remaining in existence!)

Its a risk for Tata, but we’ll never know what could have been if they don’t try, so Tata deserves credit for their bold moves; and 10 years from now it’ll be interesting to see what came of this deal, if the marques are still under Tata, and the progress that Tata has made in the other vehicle classes with it’s own offerings.

Airline update...

2007-10-30T09:00:00.000+02:00

Yes yes... after a long break we're back... and in due time to announce (though by now its just old news... but I think its stature is such that it deserves a mention) that the first Airbus A380 has been delivered to Singapore Airlines who promptly put it to use on their Sydney route. And they've ordered it with a really spruced up interior...

In the meantime Jet Airways of India has been launching new routes on as it looks to expand its international operations to the West. The carrier currently operates flights to New York(both JFK and Newark) and Toronto, Canada from 3 Indian cities (New Delhi, Mumbai & Chennai). All flights have a stop at Brussels, Belgium which is the airliners hub in Europe. Within the past week an exclusive lounge was unveiled at the Brussels airport for Jet Airways' First and Premiere Class passengers.

Other routes in the pipeline are Shanghai(China), San Francisco (US) and Johannesburg (South Africa) pending delivery of new widebody aircraft orders from both Boeing and Airbus.

The airline is also waiting for approval from the Indian government to fly to several locations in the Gulf region which is a popular destination for Indian nationals.

Victory to Team India...

2007-08-06T11:21:00.001+02:00

At Trent Bridge, Nottingham! Not often you hear that... And convincingly too, by a margin of 7 wickets... match scorecard

Cricinfo adds...
'The victory means India have now won at least one Test in ten of their last 12 tours, but have only won two of those series against a team other than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. With the last Test at The Oval - a venue which has traditionally produced belters - India have an excellent opportunity to go on and get that rare overseas series victory.'

The next step will be to maintain it... consistency doesn't come easily...

A decent effort to shrug off their poor touring record which has been the main stumbling block in the overall rankings for the subcontinent.

The match photos... Zaheer Khan, Man of the match took a fiver in the 2nd innings.
A rare sight in the past, Sourav and Sachin actually running between the wickets in a Test!
Livewire DK (Dinesh Karthik) celebrates a catch...

Images courtesy: Cricinfo.com

Back to the airlines...

2007-08-06T01:17:00.000+02:00

Just an alert to South African residents that Indian carrier Jet airways plans to fly to Johannesburg as of November this year. Times of India article

Kingfisher (International Ops)

2007-06-07T01:58:00.000+02:00

Yes indeed… Kingfisher have big plans… Plans to become an international carrier between the lucrative western markets to the subcontinent. According to Indian law an airline can only apply to operate internationally after a proven 5 year domestic track record and a fleet of over 20 aircraft. Kingfisher is so keen to get started as soon as their widebody orders come through that they have been considering all alternatives to begin international operations asap… They’ve contemplated starting a US based airline by the same name (such restrictions to establish an international airline don’t exist in the US) and most recently they acquired a 23% stake in their domestic counterpart Deccan airways, this gives them majority stake in Deccan and ticket fares will most probably go up to prevent further losses for Deccan… However since Deccan was established before Kingfisher this now means that they should be able to commence international operations within 6 months if all goes to plan.

Kingfisher really mean business… they’ve got 5 airbus A380 on order (with the option of 5 more)… yes, that’s the super jumbo that’ll be the largest passenger aircraft when it is released. Recently they had one flown to India to commemorate their 2nd Anniversary since the airline started. However due to the production delays and issues experienced with this new Airbus model Kingfisher can only expect to take delivery of theirs’ after 2011. They indeed to begin international operations with the A340 aircrafts they have on order which should be ready much sooner. Latest info is that Kingfisher is set to make another widebody aircraft order (most prob Airbus A340-600) at the Paris Air Show in a couple of weeks. Kingfisher intend to offer top class service building on the reputation they have set on their domestic offerings and plan to employ an entirely international flight crew sourced from the US and Eastern Europe… They became only the second airline to be a sponsor in Formula 1 when they signed a deal to sponsor the Toyota F1 team for the 2007 season (and building on this they indeed to provide live F1 coverage on their flights! )

When they do receive their new aircraft they intend to launch non-stop flights from India to the US (one probable route is Bangalore – San Francisco) as the latest aircraft are able to have much longer fuel ranges than previous generation models.

Kingfisher Airlines

2007-05-22T01:05:00.000+02:00

Let's kick off with Kingfisher my personal choice for air travel in india... Why? I hear u ask, the answers are pretty simple.

The one time I was able travel on Kingfisher (on a standard economy class ticket) I was whisked from the airport entrance by a dude in a red blazer to their counter, he even pushed my trolley for me (this was in India!) after a prompt check-in procedure I could spend a few more precious moments bidding farewell to loved ones before I had to go through the gates (quite a contrast to the usual where one has to wait in a queue hoping that you won't have issues with luggage weight and that sort of thing).

Secondly Kingfisher which was launched in just 2005 only purchases new aircraft and this means you get to travel in a fleet that is still very new (they're still to receive the bulk of their orders). Kingfisher were the first domestic Indian airliner to launch a First class service and their aircraft are well-specced with in-flight entertainment options even for the economy (Kingfisher) class. Services such as personalized video screens and headphones broadcasting 5 video channels of the trendy FUN TV and the exclusive Kingfisher Radio - 10 channels of chartbusting music from across the globe, and individual moving map on the personalized video screen which continually keeps track of your aircraft's altitude and speed, as well as flight time remaining to keep you on top of things at all times are noteworthy for a domestic flight in any country (so in India, they're damn impressive).

In addition the luggage restrictions are reasonable, the onboard cuisine is more than satisfactory, the crew are professional (..and good looking ;) and the ticket prices are comparable to other carriers. These are the factors that draw me when I'm trying decide which flight to choose. Ahh... Go Ahead and 'Fly the Good Times' :)

About Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines is India's first and only private airline to receive the prestigious, 'Best New Airline of the Year' award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region from Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Kingfisher Airlines has also been voted as the 3rd Most Successful Brand Launch of the Year 2005, in the annual Brand Derby Survey conducted by India's leading business daily-Business Standard. In another Survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com, Kingfisher Airlines was voted as the 8th Buzziest Brand of 2006 amongst 2000 leading national and international brands. Kingfisher Airlines has also bagged the "Service Excellence for a New Airline" award from Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor.

Another addition to the list of laurels is the "Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine" award from Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA). In a survey conducted by IMB for the Times of India, 46% of the participants voted Kingfisher Airlines 'The Best Airline" and "India's Favourite Carrier". Kingfisher Airlines has also won the “Brand Leadership Award” in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines. Lastly Kingfisher Airlines won the Economic Times Avaya Award for Excellence in “Customer Responsiveness” for 2006. The Award is highly acclaimed and is presented by India’s largest selling Economic daily, “Economic Times. For more information on Kingfisher Airlines log on to flykingfisher.com. Fly the Good Times with Kingfisher Airlines.

[Airbus photo obtained from airliners.net]

The (new) Indian aviation industry...

2007-05-21T01:00:00.000+02:00

And keeping in line with my new theme of providing interesting stuff that I think might interest you; I've decided to post a few items on the recent boom in the air travel industry in the motherland.

Here's a quick question to get you thinking:

Q: How many domestic airline carriers are in operation in India today? Care to name them...

A: I only realised the scale of growth on my recent visits in 2005 and 2006. A quick check on Wikipedia reveals the following list:
* 1 Air Sahara (now taken over by Jet Airways and soon to be rebadged 'JetLite')
* 2 Jet Airways
* 3 Air India Express
* 4 Alliance Air
* 5 Paramount Airways
* 6 Indus Airways
* 7 Air Deccan
* 8 Go Air
* 9 IndiGo Airlines
*10 Kingfisher Airlines
*11 Spicejet
*12 Jagson Airlines

Yes that's 12 domestic carriers in operation today. Just four years ago, before India liberalised aviation, there were only three main domestic airlines!

Here's a piece I read somewhere on the net... 'During the financial year 2005 - 06, India's civil aviation industry achieved the biggest ever growth in aircraft movement and passenger traffic. Passenger traffic in the domestic airports increased by 22.3 per cent to 59.54 million, while aircraft movement increased by 14.2 per cent to 730 000.'

India is now the fastest growing aviation market in the world according to a recent article by the BBC.

The next couple of posts will take a closer look at specific airlines that have been making the headlines of late.

iGoogle

2007-05-14T11:58:00.000+02:00

Ever heard of iGoogle? Browse to google.com and have a look on the top right hand corner, you'll probably see a link that plainly reads 'iGoogle'.

iGoogle which was previously known as 'Personalized google homepage' is a way to customise your google page with all sorts of information that you frequently access on the net (by clicking on 'personalised home' once in iGoogle). From your mail, news, sport and even weather; all these can be added in the form of 'gadgets' to your personal iGoogle. You'll have to sign in with your gmail login (whats that... you don't have a gmail account?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN all this time! Tsk tsk) and then you can search from hundreds (probably thousands of gadgets). Probably a good idea to save your login details (if you're using a private connection) and set your iGoogle as your homepage :)

Go ahead, try it out if you haven't already done so and if you're a regular on the net then you'll surely find it worthwhile.

Zamzar???

2007-05-11T02:31:00.000+02:00

Zamzar is a free online file conversion site... and its brilliant. No need to register on the site, no cost involved and its legal; its plain, simple to use and very handy indeed!

Convert document, image, audio or video files (up to a size of 100MB) to another format. For example you can convert a Microsoft Word document (including the new 'docx' MS Word 2007 format) to 'pdf'; or a '3gp' (popular cellphone recording format) file to 'mpg' format. See the full list of available conversion formats here.

New Indian cricket kit on sale now...

2007-05-11T02:24:00.000+02:00

The latest ODI kit for the 2007/08 season of team India by Nike is available on Amazon for $99 and from Cricshop (by cricinfo) for 40 pounds.

How safe is your car ???

2007-05-11T01:14:00.000+02:00

Ever wondered how safe you and your loved ones would be in the event of a motor accident. Do various makes of vehicles offer various levels of safety and if so is the difference really tangible? The short answer to this question is YES! In fact, its so important there's an institute whose sole purpose is to assess the safety of new cars. You might have heard of it, Euro NCAP (thats pronounced 'n~cap'), based in Brussels, Belgium. They've come up with a system of rating cars according to how safe they are. There are various tests conducted (for example a frontal head on collision into a cement block at 64 km/h), more detail on this as well as test results for specific car models are available at www.euroncap.com. Oh, also note that your car's model (ie year of manufacture) will most likely have a different rating to a different generation of the same make (as in when a new model is introduced with a new shape this car's safety rating will usually be different to the previous model) with safety standards improving with newer models generally. So make sure you check the correct period of your model.

Presenting...

2007-05-11T01:03:00.000+02:00

I've had an idea... my next goal is to create informative posts that YOU might be interested in, things that you're not really sure about, perhaps don't know where to look... well I'll try give u a map :)

Yawn... Is it over yet... CWC 2007

2007-05-10T00:02:00.000+02:00

Hmmm... So its finally done... actually it was over a while back, just didn't bother to report on it.

The final was a sad tale which will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, which is unfortunate as both sides who contested it clearly deserved a grand showdown. The first of the disruptions was the weather, the taps were opened and showers rained down and resulted in a much delayed start and a shortening of the match to 38 overs a side.

Hardly an ideal start, but Adam Gilchrist didn't seem to care; he set about destroying the SL bowling attack and managed a blistering century (he really seems to be the guy for the big occasion, he's played in the last 3 world cup finals and has been resoundingly successful on each occasion), there were other noteworthy contributions from the Aussie top order including Mattie Hayden and Ricky Ponting. None of the SL bowlers had any figures of credibility.

The Sri Lankans faced with a mammoth target of 282 in 38 overs had to be aggressive from the start, after an early loss there was a phase when SL were still in the chase while Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara were together, but when that partnership was broken one felt the game slipped out of reach for SL. This combined with other factors such as rain, bad light, pathetic umpiring made the latter stages of this game a sad affair.

Eventually after a few incidents that I'd rather not mention and the second innings being further shortened to 36 overs Australia came out victors by 50 odd runs. The presentation and closing ceremony were conducted in the dark with makeshift spot lights and all that can be said is that the competition should have ended much earlier.

Player of the Tournament was Glenn McGrath, one of the legends who went out in style. Perhaps its worthwhile dwelling on the fact that this tournament presented an opportunity to see many of the retiring greats, complete their ODI careers. So thanks to McGrath, Lara, Kumble and Inzamam-ul-Haq as well as the late Bob Woolmer for their part in making the modern game what it is today.

Oh... and I know I won't forget Leverock’s stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa, just about Bermuda’s only memorable performance during a pitiful World Cup campaign. India showed just who was boss with a 257-run walloping. It was the largest margin in one-day history.

[Information source: cricinfo.com]

Brave Cricket... My foot!

2007-04-27T04:39:00.000+02:00

A fine line between bravery and stupidity; thats a lesson the Proteas will take back from this latest semi-final embarrassment. Looking to erase the 'chokers' tag applied to them SA managed a feat not seen thus far, their lowest world cup score.

South Africa's top order crumbled to a poultry 27-5 thanks mainly to unnecessary rash shots early on; Smith charging down the wicket only to be beaten by a swinging delivery which had him bowled and Kallis uncharacteristically swinging at a widish one managed to find the edge. (See graphic, content obtained from www.cricinfo.com)
Australia needing just 153 runs for victory never looked in trouble despite losing Gilchrist early. Micheal Clarke played a fine knock of 60 odd to see his side through, the Aussie tail has yet to bat in this world cup!to go

Cricket update

2007-04-16T11:55:00.000+02:00

And South Africa have continued their below par performance on the field, going down to New Zealand by 5 wickets; later Greame Smith attributed the loss to the toss and the pitch conditions early on... tsk tsk. He might have had a point, I'm sure Kallis (see adjacent graphic) would agree... but that was no excuse for Gibbs (fabulous dive, but the catch didn't stick) and co. to put a below par display in the outfield.

The Irish have hit back, beating Bangladesh comprehensively by 67 runs. Bangladesh once again batted with their do-or-die, now-or-never attitude and lost wickets going for aggressive strokes when they weren't really called for. If it all works on the day they can take on the top sides but if it doesn't they appear very amateur indeed. With experience they should become a more accomplished force, time will tell. Credit to the Irish (players and fans) who have a passion for the game and their country and aren't intimidated by the fact that they're playing amongst the top sides in the world.

[Images source - www.cricinfo.com]

World Car of the Year 2007

2007-04-12T21:07:00.000+02:00

And the winner is... the hush is as profound as the sound (or lack of for that matter) of the running engine of the luxurious Lexus LS460.

The flagship Lexus model was chosen by a panel of 45 journalist-judges from around the world.

The World Car of the Year assessment process considered the requirements of consumers the world over and began with individual jurors evaluating and rating the contestants against a variety of standardised categories. Such attributes as styling, build quality, safety and performance were assessed to form a top ten shortlist in January.

The LS460 impressed the panel of judges with such world firsts as its automatic parking system and 8-speed automatic transmission as well as its peerless build quality and capable performance.

[Selected content attributed to http://www.cartoday.com/]

Who would have guessed!

2007-04-08T13:37:00.000+02:00

The biggest upset thus far has been pulled off again by Bangladesh who beat South Africa (currently ranked no. 1 ODI team in the world) by 67 runs yesterday. The Bangladeshi side who were largely responsible for Team India's exit it the first round of the competition appeared to have lost their touch with a couple of very average performances to follow up in the beginning of the Super 8; but they found their super form again with a sterling performance against SA, it was their first victory against the south african side in 9 encounters. Their care free attitude of play showed once again that if luck's on their side they can outplay the very best teams in the world.

To the Super 8s

2007-03-30T19:54:00.000+02:00

The 2nd Stage of the CWC competition has commenced and India have completed their dismal showing and flown back home. The game's super power (the way I see it Australia and India are the biggest teams in world cricket today) have put up their worst display in a world cup to date. Big loses result from their exit running into millions in forfeited Caribbean travel packages as well as a predictable drop in the television audience from the massive subcontinental market.

Oh well... Tough! The competition goes on... and for minnows Ireland and Bangladesh and their fans things could not be rosier... As I post this blog Ireland is facing England in their fist Super 8 encounter, a distinguished achievement and hopefully this will promote the game in the Irish Republic and they will develop into a fully fledged cricketing force. Fans who at the start of the tournament foresaw a tie between the rivals India and Pakistan will be treated to a spectacle of Ireland v Bangladesh!

The teams from the Southern Hemisphere exhibit none of the inconsistencies their counterparts from the subcontinent suffered, Australia are looking ominous and their squad looks to be back in good shape with the return of Symonds from injury. This produced one of the best matches thus far when they defeated South Africa in their final first round match. South Africa look in good knick although the Caribbean pitches have exposed that perhaps they are lacking slightly in variety in the bowling department. My personal favourite of mine, Shaun Pollock hasn't been the force he normally is; though I believe he will prove himself in the second half of the tournament. These two along with the All blacks are looking to be the teams to beat in this competition, New Zealand look quite strong out on the field with strength in their allrounder department. Sri Lanka is the only major South Asian team left and are doing a reasonable job thus far, their bowling looks to be well organised array of weapons with ample ammunition in the form of experience, capable of being deployed on any type of track at the various battle grounds.

Cricket World Cup 2007

2007-03-19T13:07:00.000+02:00

Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the latest edition of the world cup is that the Irish are through to the Super 8s level, a feat that would have been laughed at by most had it been ventured prior to the commencing of the tournament. The big guns from the subcontinent managed to prove once more that consistency is one aspect of the game thats missing from their Caribbean luggage, perhaps all the holiday gear took up all the available compartments. Pakistan gifted the Irish with their passport to the next round on St. Patrick's Day (miracles do happen, if you were an unbeliever then here's your example). India managed to perform worse than Bangladesh in all areas of play and went down to the youngsters in their first match of the tournament, its going to be an uphill battle here on for the biggest side in world cricket to make it past the first round. The Australians are proving strong despite a few injury scares coming into the tournament, an indication of the depth of their squad. The South Africans set about shattering records to show their intent, Herschelle Gibbs becoming the first man in International Cricket to hit a 6 of every ball of an over and Mark Boucher scoring the fastest 50 in a World Cup.

All the action was accompanied by the tragic news of the passing of Bob Woolmer, coach of the Pakistan side and ex-coach of South Africa, just a day after Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament.