A lead in the war against HIV

A series of important meetings are taking place that could decide the fate of upcoming HIV blocking drugs. Pfizer seems to have taken the lead, but there are other Pharmaceutical giants, including Merck which are closing in on HIV inhibitors.

A panel of experts meets in Rockville, Md., to advise the Food and Drug Administration on whether to approve Pfizer's maraviroc to fight HIV. If approved it would be the first in a new class of treatments that block HIV from entering white blood cells through a pathway present in some patients that carry the virus.

There have been numerous research directions that have given moderately successful results - with several candidates for cancer inhibiting markers being discovered. The fight against cancers is not completely won, but the progress has been commendable.

HIV, along with cancer remains the holy grail for the biotechnology world and all advancements in combating them come as great news.

The developments are heartening and the success of this research would not only go a long way in providing a boost to the Pharmaceutical industry,but much more importantly - help in saving lives.

The game of Consolidation ?

con·sol·i·da·tion
Pronunciation: k&n-"sä-l&-'dA-sh&n

2 : the process of uniting : the quality or state of being united; specifically : the unification of two or more corporations by dissolution of existing ones and creation of a single new corporation

As the world grapples with the new realities of a seamless world, there has been a marked change in the way business is carried out. These changes have stemmed from the development of better communication with the advent of the industrial revolution, and has been exaggerated with the digital revolution triggered in the 21st century.

This is an age where boundaries are getting hazier. It does not matter whether one is ensconced in a plush developed country or if one is in a relatively underdeveloped part of the world. The digital age and the modern age has brought a parity in the world that was not present before.

This new environment where 'boundaries' mean nothing has also drastically changed the way business is done. This is the day and age where any Industry would work best if it works 'across boundaries' rather than within them.

The boundaries I am referring to are not necessarily just political boundaries across countries. These could boundaries across locations such as states or cities or even boundaries across different corporate cultures, practices and different ways of working.

Consolidation is the name of the game right now - and we can slowly see many industries waking up to this reality.

Take a look at the changes in the very important steel industry in the last few years. Consolidation in the steel industry began a year back and is now a process which has snowballed into a trend where most of the major steel companies have continued on, by forming mergers and/or through acquisitions. The Software sector has seen a spur of activity primarily due to Google going through a slew of acquisitions, right from YouTube upto DoubleClick.

There has been some consolidation in the Financial sector with merger news from Barclay and ABN Ambro, Nasdaq improving its stake in LSE being the latest such news. The Pharmaceuticals Industry has seen some activity, with some acquisitions by Merk, GSK, Eli Lilly and Pfizer. The acquisition of MedImmune by AstraZeneca is the latest big acquisition in this Industry. The Automobile Industry has been relatively non-affected by the waves of consolidation as of now. But then, pure logic would point to a need of consolidation in this industry - perhaps a tie up between GM and Ford ?

The Consolidations that we have seen until now - may just be the tip of the Iceberg.

Are we going to see a wave of consolidations across all Industries in the future ? Time shall tell.

Long live the king, the king is gone.

Lara quitting from all forms of Cricket would mean him all but handing over his Test Cricket record to Sachin. That was the first selfish thought that came to my mind as I heard the news. But as I thought some more, I realized that Lara was never a man to run after records anyways.

His retirement just shows the kind of man that we know Brian Charles Lara to be - a great player who went on to break all the big records that could be broken - all done with the nonchalance of not needing to break them. That same aura of nonchalant brilliance could be seen in the way he batted. The slightly high bat lift, the slight jump as he shifted weight and then that exquisite flashy square drive. It is all etched in the memory of all cricket lovers for eternity.

I never confessed this before, but this may be the best occasion to come out clean. The best batsman in the world has retired.

Thank you for the entertainment ! There will not be another Brian Lara for quiet some while


P.S: I meant Test Batsman - but of course.

Tagore and Jasraj - A Classical Classic !

Here is a beautiful video song. The lyrics to this song were penned by Rabindranath Tagore, while the song itself is sung by the maestro - Pandit Jasraj.

The song is about a gathering of minds, about knowledge, about working for your motherland, and most importantly - about 'working for the perfection of the spirit of man and a universal humanity'

A song with meaningful lyrics, excellent music and a great vocal. The video is not bad either. Check it out.

Before it starts ...

There is nothing quiet like a good Joke about a beer. Before reading on, can you pass me that chilled one ? Please :)

Rest in Peace - a selfish world.

What happened in Blacksburg, Virginia some days back was a horrible and shocking incident. My condolences to the deceased.

The reaction that I saw in the media and on the internet after that though - is something I fail to comprehend.

Why are the deaths of these 32 people being blown out of proportion ? Do not hundreds of people die everyday ? Are not hundreds of people killed in Kashmir, in the Middle East - while we sleep cosily in our houses ? Do not thousands die in Africa out of hunger while we eat our McDonald burgers ?

Why are these deaths mere statistics to us - while the 32 who died in Virginia Tech hailed as heroes ?

The reason, I believe - is that humans have become too selfish. They do not grieve for the dead. They are just vicariously looking at the dead and hoping that they do not get into the same situation.

They know that they will not be killed in Kashmir. They know that they will not die of hunger in Africa. However, they could be walking in a campus or a superstore and get shot at by lunatics. And that really scares them. They are just selfish about their own well-being.

If we people were so genuinely compassionate about the suffering of fellow human beings - we would know that there is far greater suffering in the world than what we saw at Virginia Tech.

This post does not say that what happened in Virginia Tech was forgivable. Not the least. All I am saying is - please learn to put things in a proper perspective !

If there can be so much hue and cry about the deaths at Virginia Tech, We could also write articles about people killed in Kashmir and the middle East. We could raise awareness of people dying in Africa. We could do so many more things for the benefit of humanity.

We should raise concerns about humanity as a whole - not just about things that could only affect us.

If we want to claim to be good human beings - we should stop being selfish !

Just some food for thought.

Update:

233 people were killed in Iraq today, and I do not see any one even raising an eyebrow. No CNN headlines - no countless blogs - no orkut communities. What hollow people we have become !

25.999999999 ...

One more trip round the sun for me, and I happened to take a look at this.

At age 26:

American anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote her famous dissertation, Coming of Age in Samoa, which claimed that in some societies adolescence is not a particularly difficult time.

Albert Einstein published five major research papers in a German physics jornal, fundamentally changing man's view of the universe and leading to such inventions as television and the atomic bomb.

Benjamin Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, which was to play a large role in molding the diverse American character.

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Chereshkova became the first woman to travel in space.

College dropout Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer.

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, revolutionizing the economies of the United States and Britain.

Antoine Joseph Sax invented the brass saxophone.

"Johnny Appleseed" brought apple seeds to the Ohio Valley.

Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy.

Gon Yangling memorized more than 15,000 telephone numbers in Harbin, China.

Orion Krynen of Denver, CO reached this age without much incident.

British ethologist Jane Goodall set up camp in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve on Lake Tanganyika and began studying the lives of chimpanzees.

Ken Kesey published his first novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Thomas Pynchon published V., for which he won the William Faulkner First Novel Award.

Jimi Hendrix choked to death on his own vomit.

Kirsteene Luhrmann of Melburne, Victoria quit smoking.

Stephen Breen from Dublin, Ireland found this site.

Darren Blackburn became the first and only athlete of the Principality of Sealand, despite being somewhat lacking in athletic ability.

Syd Jesus co-founded the dUdU Art Collective in Oakland, California and turned an entire warehouse space into a conceptual art piece entitled "The $5000 Gallery."

Matthew Royer took a dog for a walk every day of the year in Minnesota, with a coldest daytime high of 0 degrees F. The average walk time was 30 minutes.

Derrick Pallas was horrified to realize he was losing his hair, just like Dad.

Jan Birkeland from Norway managed to get to work without hitting a single red light.

Angie Olson got so drunk on her 26th birthday, her friends were able to dress her up as a clown.

No stellar world-changing-achievements to report from my side as yet, and no major regrets in this unfinished life of mine too.

The last 26 rounds of the sun have been real good - lets see how the rest of the story goes.

Puneri Patya

One of "those" things about pune -- puneri patya !

"Patya" are notices/warnings meant for the onlooker, meant to convey some information. What sets some of them apart is when these 'patya' become overtly loud and informal in language. The result being - they become more a source of humor than of any real information.

Take a look at this sampling of puneri-patya and enjoy !

1. This one is self evident.




2. This one warns people from parking illegally, threatening 'deflating' the offending vehicles tires.






3. This one says " I am Donkey for parking in front of the gate " !





4. This one asks people not to 'chit-chat' near the doors. It explains that this is a business place and not a "chit-chat-hall'.





5. This one tries to shoo off inquisitive onlookers. It says " Do not look inside. There is nothing interesting here".




6. This one says "Do not stamp your feet ". [ do not make noise while climbing the stairs]




7. This Cycle-repair shop proudly calls itself 'A Cycle Hospital'.




8. The overtly proud Puneri here claims in the red letters - "The owner of this building is Mr. Shridhar Madhusudhan Marathe ".




9. This last one is a gem - my favorite one among this lot. It says "Oh Lord, be generous to all of humanity -- but start with me " !