EDUCATION EVENTS MUSIC PRINTING PUBLISHING PUBLICATIONS RADIO TELEVISION WELFARE

   
f o r    m a n a g i n g    t o m o r r o w
SEARCH
 
 
NOVEMBER 5, 2006
 Cover Story
 Editorial
 Features
 Trends
 Bookend
 Money
 BT Special
 Back of the Book
 Columns
 Careers
 People

The Building Boom
Is an asset price bubble building up in the real estate market? Flats in posh Mumbai areas sell at the rate of Rs 50,000-70,000 a sq. ft. and housing plots in Gurgaon are going for Rs 1 lakh a sq. yard. This may sound like music to those who have been clinging on to their assets, it portends danger to buyers. The high real estate prices keep the majority out of the housing market and make the dream of owning a house more distant.


The Learning Curve
India's investment in education-as a percentage of GDP-is lower than not just of countries in the West but also some of the emerging economies, including China. The percentage of population in the relevant age group enrolled in higher education too is the lowest among countries with which it must compete. Clearly, there is a need to scale up substantially the physical infrastructure and attract better faculty by offering market wages.
More Net Specials
Business Today,  October 22, 2006
 
 
TREADMILL
All-in-one Exercises
 

I'm a great fan of the deadlift. If there's one exercise that works and impacts almost every large muscle group of your body, it is the deadlift. If done correctly, the deadlift is an exercise that works all your back muscles, your quadriceps (front of the thighs), hamstrings (back of the thighs) and your glutes (butt muscles). In addition, other muscles involved in stability during the exercise-forearms, trapezius (the muscle stretching from the neck to the upper back) and the lats (the sides of your back)-also benefit to some extent. But the deadlift is a tough exercise to perform. Here's the technique: Begin by standing with a barbell on the floor in front of you with your toes under the bar. Now, bend your knees and hold the bar with both hands in an alternating grip (one palm facing you, the other facing outward). Your hands should be just outside your knees. While keeping your back and head straight, stand up. Keep the bar as close to your body as you can while doing the movement. Then slowly lower the bar to the starting position.

The downside of the deadlift is that bad form can cause injury to the spinal column and vertebral discs. Correct form requires keeping your back flat in its naturally arched position and your shoulders down through the movement. While standing up from the starting position you have to ensure that your hips don't rise up and the bar is as close to your legs as possible. Imagine forcing your legs through the floor as you rise up instead of bending your back or using your hips. It's sensible to use less weight in the beginning to get your form right before going heavy. A compound movement, which works several muscle groups, the deadlift is a traditional exercise that is a part of powerlifting and Olympic competitions but I have always found it to be a great total body workout.

If you're not sure of your technique, it's best to avoid deadlifts unless you have a trained supervisor to oversee your form. But don't lose heart. There's another exercise that benefits many muscle groups yet is simple to do. It's the one-arm snatch. Hold a light dumb-bell in one hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. With your back flat, bend at the hips and knees similar to the starting position for a deadlift (i.e., the dumb-bell should be hanging below your knee). See illustration 1. Then, with an explosive movement jump up extending your entire body so that you are on your toes. While rising, pull the weight up in front of your body and then fling it overhead without losing your grip on it. Remember, use the momentum generated by your jump to move the dumb-bell in one smooth movement. This is one repetition. Repeat 10 times for each arm. This exercise benefits both upper and lower body muscle groups, including your shoulders, legs and back muscles. Start with a relatively light weight to get your form right and then gradually increase the resistance.


write to musclesmani@intoday.com

Caveat: The physical exercises described in Treadmill are not recommendations. Readers should exercise caution and consult a physician before attempting to follow any of these.


FIVE STEPS TO CUT OBESITY

The world health organization says more than one billion adults around the world are overweight and 300 million are obese, putting them at a much higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer. Women, it says, are at greater risk.

Measure Yourself: Body Mass Index, or BMI, is the most common measure of obesity. Mathematically, BMI=Body weight (in kg.)/height2 (in metre). A person with a BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered to be of normal weight; a BMI of 25-29.9 means he is overweight; and a BMI of more than 30, indicates obesity.

Choose Your Diet: Low calorie diets will help you lose weight. Says Dr Aruna Gaur, Senior Consultant, Holy Family Hospital, Delhi: "Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and grain products. Foods rich in fibre are highly recommended. Fried foods and fatty desserts are best avoided. Drink water instead of coffee, tea, or aerated drinks."

Increase Routine Activity: "Incorporate more physical activity into your day. Start with at least 30-45 minutes of moderate exercise," says Dr Gaur. If you're a beginner, gradually increase your frequency, duration and intensity.

Ask Your Doctor: A doctor or a health instructor can help you build a proper, and safe, weight-loss plan. Successful plans may involve lifestyle and dietary changes for long-term benefits.

Sleep on Time: Says Dr Gaur: "Set a regular time for sleep and get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Avoid watching TV or working from your bed."


FLOTSAM
Nice Sound, Bad Price
Apple's boom-box for the iPod is sleek and simple but is it good value for your money?

Nearly eight months after apple launched it, the iPod Hi-Fi is here in India. It's a white box, sleek and very Apple-esque in its minimalist design and simple controls, which have come to be the company's signature for all its products. It's got an iPod dock on top and comes with eight dock adapters that allow you to play iPods of any vintage, Minis, Shuffles and Nanos. Pop in your iPod and plug in the Hi-Fi (it can also be powered by six D batteries) and you're all set. There's even a tiny remote that controls volume, skips tracks and switches it on or off. On the box, there are two touch-sensitive controls-again in true Apple-style minimalism, a '+'and a '-', for pumping up or dropping down the volume.

Putting it through the paces was easy. To kick off, I docked a 40 GB Gen 4. Selected a longish track from Ominous Seapods' Matinee Idols (1998) and sat back. It's live Seapods and what better way to check out the Apple box's sound than a languorous listen to Max Verna's guitar riffs. Verdict: great treble and mid-range. But the volume needed pumping up for the sound to fill my quite tiny office room. Then, to check how it handles bass, I switched to another live recording-Mad maverick Les Claypool with his Frog Brigade band at Bonnaroo 2002. The song: Locomotive Breath. Yes, you ageing Tull fans, do check out Claypool's version. Well, to cut a long track short, the bass didn't disappoint. Not at all. Nice thumping boom-boxy bass. Sweet.

So why am I not buying the Apple iPod Hi-Fi? It's the price. It retails at Rs 23,990. Compare that with what you pay for a 30 GB iPod (Rs 16,700) or even a 80 GB (Rs 23,900). Plus, for all its sleek simplicity, it weighs in at around 7 kg and is not portable. And, the sound? Sorry, it's not good enough to fork out 24K. I'm quite happy with my speakers and amp (with a dock thrown in) at home, thank you. And while on the move, there are plenty of third-party sound docks-from the pricey Bose to the nifty Altec Lansings and JBLS-to choose from. You don't pay an arm and leg (you do for the Bose, though) and, what's more, you can pop them into your carryon bag.

P.S. One more crib: What in the world was Apple thinking when it put a menu button on the remote? Hello, you folks up there in 'Frisco, what does that button really do?

Gas Machine
Petrol is expensive. Ergo, carmakers are coming out with alternatives-like this Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) WagonR from Maruti. So, is it worth it?

BOOT: So many good things come at a price. Thanks to the LPG tank, the spare wheel has been moved up and boot space reduced!

FILLER: The gas filler is on the right side, and LPG costs Rs 29.16 a litre in Delhi; this hurts a lot less than petrol. Running costs are around Rs 2.50 a km vs Rs 3.50 a km on petrol.

SWITCH: Can't find a gas-station? No problem; one press of a switch, and the engine does a little shimmy and you're running on petrol.

ENGINE: Detuned slightly, and feels a bit sluggish at lower revs, but it gets the job done.

VERDICT: It has next to no luggage space and LPG stations are few and far between, but it saves Rs 1 per kilometre. If you don't mind paying the Rs 24,000 extra for the LPG variant-the LXi model costs Rs 3.79 lakh ex-showroom Delhi-and want an economical runabout, give this a test drive.


PRINTED CIRCUIT

Human(e)ly Different?
Not satisfied with going to space, Mark Shuttleworth wants to make Linux 'human' again.

Ubuntu is a word derived from the xhosa language and it could be translated either as "humanity to others" or "I am what I am because of who we are." Whichever way you look at it, the word emphasises the role of the community.

After he returned from a week of weightlessness, Mark Shuttleworth felt that proprietary operating systems were too expensive and too heavy and that Linux had become too geeky.

Ergo, Ubuntu (or UbuntuLinux) was born.

Ubuntu is a 696 megabyte download, which, even if you have the highest speeds, will take at least a day to download from www.ubuntu.com. I downloaded Ubuntu release 6.06 which is the current stable release. The download is in the form of a 'Live CD' which means you can boot your computer with Ubuntu without needing to actually install the OS. If you really want to get the most out of it you will need to have at least 256 MB of memory. Installing it directly takes up 3 GB of hard-disk space.

However, running Ubuntu from the hard disk like I did not only keeps the CD drive free, but also means that the OS runs faster. However, I had a dual-boot system allowing me to switch back to Windows in case I started having withdrawal symptoms. If you will run Ubuntu in a networked environment, you will have to place a 'Help me!' call to your IT admin guys. However, if you know your settings, you can have Ubuntu up and running in about 15 minutes. Some problems might occur in a home set-up if you have a DSL/cable broadband connection, because the connection software may not be Linux-compatible. Check with your service provider for details.

The OS already comes with many applications pre-loaded, both the Firefox browser and OpenOffice are standard features in a regular Ubuntu download and it also comes with an Outlook-esque planner and email solution called Evolution. OpenOffice, which this column has tried earlier, is a smartly packaged free office suite. Though it is not as capable as MS Office, it's more than adequate for personal use.

Ubuntu also has the old Linux ace of having four workspace areas on the desktop, which means you don't have to clutter all your work into one workplace and all of them are easily accessible from the bottom right hand corner of the screen. So for example, while writing this copy and juggling other Office files, I was surfing the net on another workspace and playing Solitaire on a third.

In terms of other functionality, Ubuntu comes with the gimp image editor that is more capable than ms Paint, the Rhythmbox music player, which has hints of Apple's iTunes all over it, an audio CD creator (called Serpentine) and some other toys. But the Linux developer community is quite large and you can download a fair number of applications, 16,000 of them to be precise, to make your user experience quite complete.

Working on Ubuntu was a lot easier and far more pleasant than I really expected. I liked the clean layout and very easy to use interface. Ubuntu is what it says it is, a very easy-to-use piece of software, it does not give you more than you need and it is functional, but infinitely expandable. For example, there are language packs available for Ubuntu even in several Indian languages.

Is it a Windows replacement? No, and I don't think it wants to be one. This is a brilliant solution for first-time computer users, which I believe is Ubuntu's main target audience-people who buy low-end computers but want decent functionality.

 

    HOME | EDITORIAL | COVER STORY | FEATURES | TRENDS | BOOKEND | MONEY
BT SPECIAL | BOOKS | COLUMN | JOBS TODAY | PEOPLE


 
   

Partners: BT-Mercer-TNS—The Best Companies To Work For In India

INDIA TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | BT EVENTS 
ARCHIVESCARE TODAY | MUSIC TODAY | ART TODAY | SYNDICATIONS TODAY